European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 12, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday. October 12. 1985 the stars and stripes Page 3 Al left Telephone operators keep Simsy in the i jaw Swilch Oarb is Woholo by Dave c Tarry Kilgore right works at the Patch panel in he i jibes technical control facility. Island base modernize communications by j. King Cruger . Bureau Lajes Field. A ores for Yea few Auto on lines have linked this base in the North Atlantic witty spout Side world. Lately things ruin Al ror cd to look up. Traditionally we had Tor Falls Here in communications by pc Are correcting this situations Pru. Col. Al Garcia commander of Floc air t orc s 1936th in Formali Orl a fms ? the of Hadron is the base s largest with 325  and 50 portuguese Yecs. Besides providing Communia tis and data automation services the Squadron gives air traffic control to All aircraft military and civilian passing through the area. It also supports the . European come s airborne command Post and the Navy s anti submarine warfare and intelligence missions. A new automatic voice switching net work link makes it possible to communicate directly to and from Europe via satellite. Previously any Auto on Calls be tween Here and Europe had to be routed through the United states or through operators at raft re Jari in England. Now an Auto on  be made from Europe to the Lajes Kov Ritch Board via satellite by dealing aut 11 10. Garcia said this link has result faster service and has improved the qual to of the connection. However while a Call May ring on the caller s phone no one will hear it on the Lajes switchboard. That s because the Call does t actually ring Here according to Garcia. The ring you hear when you Call Here is Only Means to make you feel  Garcia said. The ring has nothing to do with How our old fashioned switchboard works. Our operators have no Way of knowing you Are calling without actually plugging in and finding out that you Are calling. It s Alt a matter of Luck. That s he phone sometimes rings for a while be pc a operator answers  the to my Ilch Board through which All Auto on Piroh Liilian Calls must come is staffed by five Opal Lect All of them portuguese. I m convinced that  the toughest Job on the Field Garcia i More bodies found in puerto scan storm debris Ponce puerto Rico a the puerto rican government rushed emergency Money to survivors of this week s flooding ind mudslides and Rescue workers pulled More bodies from the debris. Officials said As Many As 500 people May have died. Civil defense chief Heriberto Acevedo reported wednesday that a total of 74 bodies had been recovered or located in the debris on the Island. Ponce s Deputy mayor. Angell Metrio Atienza said there May be 500 More bodies beneath mud in the nearby Hillside Shantytown of Mam eyes the hardest hit Community. Other local officials estimates ranged from 100 to 300. The new York times reported thursday that health officials feared a health threat because of the in recovered bodies at Mac yes where heavy Rains triggered a mudslide that buried hundreds of Homes and some inhabit ants on monday. The newspaper said officials had asked that the area be sealed with Rock and Earth As a mass grave. It is one of the most difficult and delicate decisions that the puerto rican government has Ever had to make it quoted Ponce mayor lose Dapena As saying. But it is a decision that has to be made quickly due to the threat to the rest of the  Edgardo Delgado the Southern Region s District attorney in charge of identifying victims said 70 bodies had been sent to the morgue at the medical Center in Ponce including victims from Mac yes Santa Isabela and other flooded areas. Gov. Rafael Hernandez Colon held an emergency meet ing wednesday night and ordered the distribution of is million in $300 checks to families left homeless or with serious damage to their property. The Money was part of a $10 million emergency fund approved by the Island s legis lature. The governor appealed to president Reagan to declare 40 of the Island s 78 municipalities most of them on the Southern coast a disaster area. He also asked the White House to help with the reconstruction of housing High ways and washed out Bridges. The american red Cross operation Headquarters in Alexandria va., said it has sent a 15-member administrative team composed of experts in damage assessment mass care supplies personnel health services family serv ices and other areas. Approximately 6,200 people Are staying at 33 red Cross shelters. The governor s advisers estimated 10,000 people arc Aerial View of the Mem eyes Shanly Lovon in the City of Ponce shows collapsed Wood and tin shacks. Without water and electricity. The National guard earlier estimated damage to build Ings agricultural land schools Public highways and Bridges will exceed $100 million. This is a tragedy for All of puerto Rico not just for Ponce and the affected families Hernandez Colon told mourners wednesday at a mass funeral and burial for 23 of the victims Many of them infants brought to Ponce from several Sites including Mac yes. About 5,000 sobbing and wailing relatives and neigh Bors jammed the basketball court of the City coliseum for the funeral. Thousands More lined the streets or watched from balconies As the coffins were carried from the coliseum to the municipal cemetery. Authorities said at least 31 bodies have been found in the Lake of mud left at the foot of the Mam eyes slide which toppled some 400 Wood and tin shacks along its half mile path. More than 150 National guardsmen civil defense workers and other volunteers braved the stench of decomposing bodies and continued to dig for bodies thursday. They were aided by four . Army corps of engineers scarch and re scum experts with sounding devices and six trained dogs. The specialists and the dogs were flown to Ponce on wednesday night from Andrews fab in Mary land. National guardsmen said it would Lake several weeks to Complete the cleanup of Mam eyes