European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 26, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Joe Mapother Bremerhaven Bureau duty on syut. A North German resort Island renowned Tor its nude beaches is an Eye opening experience Tor those who operate the coast guard directional radar  the Bare Bottoms and expensive sports cars Are seasonal distractions. Winter Means empty beaches closed shops and isolation. Most of the Island s residents like the approximately 40 coast guard personnel and family members Are More interested in who stays behind when summer ends than in whose behind is parked on the Beach in August. Grocers butchers Bakers and doctors Are the important people on an Island ii you live there. Heidi Ritter a who came to Sylt with her coast guard husband 14 months ago. Said her local meat Market will close Lor Lour months in Winter. Many stores in nearby Hornum and Westerland will take turns closing during the Slack season and the schedules of closings and reopening is a topic Lor All conversation among coast guard wives. We were told it was an  Heidi Hitler said. We were told it was the most Northern part of Germany and that you go on a Fain to get to the Island. But they did t say it was so  the car train that crosses to Westerland on raised tracks is also on a Winter schedule. The Basic round trip Are is about $36. You Don t go to. Or leave from Sylt on a whim. Several coast guard members travel to the Mainland 1 about once a month. The coat guard Community is close knit. Most families live within minutes of the 625-loot Tower that stands above the Loran a site that sends a continuous Beacon to ships in the North Atlantic. Heidi Ritter s husband. Petty officer 2.c. Floyd Ritter is Well known in the coast guard Community. As head of the dining Hall Floyd also Sells american food items picked up on weekly runs to the commissary several hours away in Flensburg. He makes up Bills for his customers at the end of each month. We be gotten so used to doing without things Heidi Ritter said that we Don t mind it anymore. When we go Down to the commissary we look like Little kids in a Petty officer 3.c. Cynthia Griffin at Home. Candy  a combination of local schools and correspondence courses is available to educate the american children in the younger grades. Children in higher grades of whom there Are none in the Community have the option of dormitory living in the Bremerhaven area where the nearest department of defense dependents school High school is located or attending an International school in Hamburg. Melody Manning has two children Ages 3 and 5. Her 5-year-old is a pre schooler at a German kindergarten. She is preparing to become her son s correspondence course teacher. Local medical facilities Are augmented by regular visits by doctors from the . Army Hospital in Bremerhaven. News of the outside world comes from the nato teletype machine video cassettes and delayed newspaper delivery said it. . Edwin Thiedeman. The 25-Yeair-old station commander. Our support service is the whole group of us Thiedeman said. We try to help each other out the Best we   Philol by Tony Nauroth Petty officer 3.c. John Mcshane Check a Reading. Religious services can be a problem for americans on the Island. Thiedeman s wife. Therese was raised in the roman Catholic Faith and is Active trying to organize a Bible study group. The mass Structure is the same Therese Thiedeman said about visits to the local Church. But we really can t understand  said Heidi filter my husband and i Are both mormon. We did t realize How Active we were until we came Over  Petty officer 3.c. John Mcshane 23 and single rents an apartment in town. When he in t working he likes to drive around the Island. I m not the kind of Guy who will put on a coat and a Black tie and party with the porsche  Mcshane said. I d rather go out Lor a Beer at a Beach pub. It s funny to see someone go to the Beach in a Winter hat. Gloves. And nothing else " Winter weather will put clothes on the Back of even the hardiest late season nude bather. It s bad weather Mcshane said of Sylt. But it s Good people and warm places. It s not like we re on a Barren  by Joe Mapother Bremerhaven Bureau soldiers in Flensburg. Germany do no mutter As they stand in line at the military banking facility or the snack bar. There is no Bank. There is no  , the winds of change Are blowing steady and Strong in the form of increased services that will include a new Community service Center Bowling ahoy Auto Craft Center and fitness Center As Well As an expanded Post Exchange. The importance of these changes reaches far beyond the 300 soldiers and family members in Flensburg. This Community is the major sup port facility for americans North of the Elbe River said it. Col. Carl Schott 294lh arty group commander. As the northernmost . Army unit in Europe the 294th Falls Well outside of mainstream american military life entered in Southern Germany. The argument can be made that Community services have suffered As a result. We re not part of Northam Northern army Groupie re not part of Cental Central army group. We re a North Schott said. Allied Force North is nes quartered in Oslo nor Way. But Schott said his direct Chain of command is to the 59th Ord brigade hundreds of Miles South in Pirona Sens. Germany. The primary Mission since their arrival in1974 has been to support nearby nato forces. The lifelines to and from Flensburg stretch a Over the map. And for the people stationed in the Baltic port City that Means a Tot of time spent on the Road. Pir Masens is 10 Orl hours drive away and the nearest american pro Aryh of Tal in Bremerhaven is about four hours away about Nesame time it takes to reach Copenhagen. Denmark. Recent Usa eur command emphasis on upgrading Tho lives of soldiers stationed in Remote Sites has paid on in tens Burl. Where americans occupy buildings on the German army s Briesen Cavern. Although an television is not a �5eeabietuture." Schott said plans Are under Way to relay 1985 us photo by boat tied up at the Flensburg Harbor. Joe Mapother american forces network radio through German Telephone lines to Flensburg where it would be piped into american housing areas through electrical circuits. Schott says he Hopes the project would be reality within six months. About 80 percent of the military Community live in government housing said maj. Jesse Beaty executive officer at the 294lh. The Auto crafts Thop was targeted As a particularly Welcome improvement because of the Scarcity of parts for american made cars. The parts situation had be come so crucial Schott said that service members coming to Flensburg were advised to take care of Pend ing major repairs before arrival. Costs for the new Community Center will be kept Down by use of a building donated by the German govern ment Schott said. A four Lane Bowling Alley will be built and the facility will also have a Barber shop another first Lor the Flensburg Community. The completion Date for the new Center is next summer. Schott said. For Mona and John Bloomer the fitness Center will aug ment the German body building Center they visit in Cappeln where they live about 40 minutes South of Flensburg. Mona works part time in the Flensburg education Center. Her husband is a sergeant stationed at a Small site in Schleswig. In Augsburg a military Community of 15,000 people where the couple previously was stationed we were in housing and it was hard to be involved with the German Community she said. Or. John Shurtleff is principal at the Dodds elementary school which has three classrooms and 48 children rang ing from kindergarten to eighth Grade. Although several grades Are taught together. Shurtleff said the individual attention available to a student offsets the problems of teaching several Grade Levels simultaneously. This is where the rubber meets the Road said Shurtleff who also teaches. The children can t hide and neither can we. We Are Small. This is not Shangrila. But we provide a service that keeps the Soldier and family  the stars and stripes Page 15