European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 the stars and stripes january 1981 returnees Fly Home on Freedom one continued from Page i Derschon Surg and theres no place like Home Brad and then a group of fully Back into the spirit of being appeared on the second floor smartly dressed in perfectly pressed new Complete with spit shines and new White Wall on seeing some of those in the crowd of nearly 500 stopped their Clatter ing Teeth to sing the Marine then came an inspection of the parked in front of the with sniffer police dogs that went Over them from the engine compartments to the a was ready shortly before 10 when the first of the former Robert of North Little emerged alone from the Hospital to Board one of the three waiting buses that would take them to Rhei main a near Frankfurt for the flight to the United dressed in a new Dar Blue Blucker waved a Small american Flagin his right hand and smiled broadly amid cheers As he headed for one of the once he continued to wave the next came the stepping out several saluted the while the others waved or gave the thumbs up sign while on their Way to join Blucker in the then came air Force officers and followed by the rest of the former Many carrying gifts and wearing the heavy parkas they were issued before their they needed no words to express How they their smiles did they knew now that they were truly going Many of the As Well As some of the wore yellow one of the Elizabeth Anne of Wash gave a thumbs up signal to the crowd As she headed toward the and Jerry of Sherman yelled to a television Crew you people have been Beautiful to we love during their four Days at the the group members took a Battery of phys seconds away from reunion some unidentified former hostages look for and wave at waiting family members As they disembark from Freedom one1 at Stewart the returnees flew to the states from Rhei main a photo former hostages reunited with families continued from Page i boarding buses for the drive to West All along Highway 9 West leading Here from local Well wishers waited in the cold their pickups and cars formed a far More pleasant Gauntlet for the former hostages than the one they had been forced to walk when they boarded an air Algeria plane in Tehran last some car hoods held gallon vacuum jugs and other picnic most of the people held some sort of hand lettered Wel coming of the ubiquitous yellow All Day there had been much speculation about which route the buses would bringing the reunited families from Stewart to hotel Thayer on the Academy it probably would have been easier to find out who shot one my at the Gate concerning the tight Security now wrapped around the 170room named after the Academy first superin a guests were shooed out of the gov Enmen owned hotel at noon saturday to prepare for the families All food and drink for the former hos tages and their families were on the House and a widescreen television set was set up adjacent to the Hudson lounge so that returnees could watch the super bowl sunday television sets were also in each room for those who wanted More hundreds of pounds of Turkey and Steak awaited the nine electronic games were installed in a basement game the Academy was probably picked be cause of the Scenic facilities and privacy which it can one Soldier serving on the Alert Force for crowd Bill said he thought West Point was chosen it is a its really out of the Way 15 Miles to get a Mcdonalds of is one of 30 sol Diers who have been on Roundt Hemlock duty since preparing for the families and former hostages All Are members of he 1st 1st inf and served As Relief for the who came Here from fort icy Hudson River hotel Thayer sits on a Hill at the Edge of the Academy grounds and offers a breath taking View of the icy Hudson River and the surrounding snowy no program has been set for the released hostages and their so the Only hint of a scheduled Public event is a tuesday morn ing press scheduled shortly be fore their planned departure for washing by sundays arrival had none of the pomp and circumstance that president Reagan has planned for them egyptian police recover relic of pharaonic Era Cairo a police have recovered a priceless Limestone slab stolen from the Ankara pharaonic a tourist at traction 20 Miles West of the weighing 150 pounds and Chis eled out of the Tomb of one of the was found buried in the desert Sands 200 Yards from the police sources earlier a choked up Reagan told the a hostages dear thank thank you for the return of their he met with 199 family members at the White House four hours before they departed on chartered buses with yellow ribbons in every window for Andrews fab for their government financed flight to escorting police had yellow ribbons on their Motorc the most of whom were casually wore name tags with an representing the old Oak which is the other half of what has become the and the theme tie a yellow ribbon round the old Oak the presidents formal remarks were he said that the courage of the 52 former hostages was known to but i think it might be appropriate Here to say a word about the courage of All of you the dignity with which you have borne the courage when All you could do was wait through the Many his voice broke and his eyes appeared moist when he said since we didst All go to Church this can we just dear thank thank you for what youve he also asked that god give you the understanding and the patience that youll need now with regard to this Homecoming and his were not the Only moist eyes in the several family members were seen to wipe their eyes As he but they recovered whipping out Small cameras to snap pictures of the president and requesting ical psychological tests and other the 52 had arrived wednesday morning in two when they left the Hospi Tal they were in three that was because personnel from the Hospital wanted to accompany them part Way to Rhei main on this final leg of the trip state department spokesmen said Dur ing the week that some members of the group were suffering from depression and that several were More deeply scarred psychologically than the All of them were Able to make the trip As they boarded the the crowd broke into god bless when the last one was the crowd let out a sustained Kathern of Radiant at the Prospect of what Lay said All that needed to be said just before bus doors closed behind turned to the crowd and not unlike a child at were going Home bands play at the Safe band from Ramstein and the 3rd army div band from Frankfurt played anchors a the Marine hymn and other patriotic music As the buses carrying the for Mer hostages neared the moments before the buses the crowd of More than 500 cheered As a 50 foot american Flag was raised on the Side of the air base control the buses wheeled onto the Tarmac at and the former hostages stepped off to the strains of tie a yellow a song which became part of americas resolve not to forget the Security men sought to direct the group up the ramp of Freedom an air Force vc137 military version of the Boe ing but Many of the 52 resisted and walked toward the Many of whom had stood in sub freezing tempera Tures for More than an grateful for support the returnees moved along the line of shaking hands and thanking Many for the support they had Given Dur ing the 444 Days in the senior Diplomat among the former Bruce Laingen of said before boarding the plane in feeling a great a great Pride in Pur friends in Europe and our great Pride in the american people for supporting our families Are waiting for and that the finest part of this three stage flight to in after their handshakes with the the group moved Back to the ramp of the and most paused at the beside a Yard wide yellow ribbon Hung on the air Craft to wave a final a Marine corps Honor guard of four men and two women in dress Blue uniforms snapped to attention As the returnees boarded the the plane pulled away from the loading area at after an eight minute wait while other traffic cleared the Busy Frankfurt International Airport the Jet lifted off at the plane stopped two hours later for a 109minute refuelling Stop at and then flew on to Stewart 17 Miles North of their eventual the military Academy at West Central Europe forecast for monday mostly Cloudy to Cloudy skies with occasional ral showers and Snow showers mixed during the Day Snow or Snow showers during the Patchy morning locally dense in Tow lying High temperatures tows Sunset monday Sunrise monday at Outlook for tuesday Calls for continued mostly Cloudy to Cloudy skies with occasional Snow or Snow showers and Patchy morning tempera Tures will be about the temperatures recorded sunday 4am 4pm m p m p r m 42 36 43 43 48 32 46 36 38 41 45 34 36 Fig m f it m f 4pm 28 34 38 48 30 54 14 36 41 46 34 50 28 32 Iraln hair a Cloudy Pearlly Cloudy a mostly Cloudy Del 7lh weather so