European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 25, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Pago 10 the stars and stripes for Lav. September 25.1987 letters Wil Flecken spec. 4 defends the contras i m writing this idler in consequence of he a Eccl Accident involving the peace protester who Hail his legs mercilessly and purposely severed by a military Irain. Certainly i am greatly saddened by what happened id this gentleman and Hope that he will recover and once again espouse his beliefs As All americans should. What disturbs me however is the handling of the situation by his so called instead of being helpful and supportive As any Good friends should be these people have obviously found ii easier More convenient to use this horrible Accident for the furtherance of their political ends. Liberal groups such As these were outraged by the popularity of Oliver North and attributed this to conservative propaganda. Although in some instances 1 agree it is Clear to me thai hey Are now engaging in the same Type of activity. In seems evident to me that groups such As the one this gentleman belongs to Are mainly concerned with portray ing everyone but themselves and the sandinista As blood thirsty inhuman Savages just wailing Tor a Chance to pull Ibe rigger on any innocent women children and occasionally a Puppy or two. Although i do not consider myself a staunch conserva Tive 1 do take offence a bring portrayed As Genghis Khan simply because i stand for Freedom and Liberty through out the world the Liberty of determining for yourself the significance of current events without being Force fed the official stale View the Liberty of determining for your self where when and How you would like to live and most importantly the Liberty of deciding the course your nation is to take by your individual participation in the democratic process. Although i Admire the courage and commitment thai groups such As these have toward their cause i am appalled by their distortion of the revolution by the Nicara Gua citizens known As the contras. Some will say thai this docs not Mailer and thai it is a tactic used by both conservatives and liberate. Although i agree with this 1 am bothered by any group who places the seizing of the moral initiative above a True airing of he situation and facts involved in the Region. Attempts such As this have been made before. I remember a very definitive incident when i was six. We had gone to the los Angeles Airport to pick up my oldest brother after his second tour of duty in Vietnam. I will never forget the anger and resentment i fell after seeing a bucket of some Type of blood splashed on his Marine dress blues. Charges of murderer and baby killer were levelled not Only at him bul Al countless other men and women who served in Southeast Asia. Time has shown us thai our men and women were not deserving of these charges. Now we hear the same Type of propaganda directed to Ward another undeserving group. Just As then these charges Are made with the support and advocacy of Var ious groups the Media amnesty International Etc. To say the least t am sceptical of these groups and would like to know the percentage Ofman Clary and participatory support these groups receive from activist elements. To those who say that it is incorrect for the United slates to assist the Contra movement i say arc the con tras and their families not also nicaraguan citizens Arethey not entitled to at least some of the freedoms that we enjoy and sometimes i m afraid take for granted it is certainly difficult for me to believe that the average Contra Soldier loves his country or his people any less than his big brother Daniel Onega. Similarly it is difficult to believe that the average Contra possesses any less dignity or Honor than his soviet backed countrymen. It is not incurred for these nicaraguan citizens and their loved ones to insist upon political Freedom. If we arc to deny them his Freedom and the Means to achieve and sustain in be it material or political then we might a wet deny it to ourselves. Again to Hose who insist that t he contras arc totally incorrect and even presumptuous to insist on free Dom from the peace Loving sandinista i m glad that you weren t around during the american revolutionary War. If you would pc been i can guarantee you thai instead of debating this Issue As is Lite Ameri can custom we would be instead religiously drinking Lea Al four every afternoon. Spec. J Jose f. Aguilar wind Flucken Germany one Parent s plea invest time in your kids them both Hal being drunk is worse than being a nerd them doing things with them. Maybe you can All find and none of their pals at school Are Worth ruining their a family Hobby you would like to do together. Time brain cells Over. Both girls were shocked when i old attention and love arc More valuable to your kids than this has been eating away at me for three weeks and i think it s High time i write. No this Lime i m not complaining about situations in the government or about fairness and Lime i want to have a heart to heart talk with you about your daughter. Three weeks ago i was standing in front of my Stair Well talking to neighbors and just enjoying one of he few sunny Days we be had this summer. When the neighbor went Back Home your daughter and her Girlfriend came walking by and stopped to talk to me. Both girls were acting awfully silly but i remember How i was at 12 Yean old Loo still i had a gut feeling this was no Ordinary silliness so i casually asked hem if there were any cute Guys in the school or if heir teachers looked like super nerds or something. When the girls old me whet it was i went into Shock. I m still in Shock but hat Day i carefully conceal Edil for their Sake. Good parents it seems your girls were literally drunk off of their backsides i quickly pulled together All of my wits and told i i hem about the bodily harm drinking can do and i think 1 May have gotten through to them even if Only Lillebil. Okay so now you re saying thai because the girls like me As a pal hey were Only trying to impress me right i Don t think so folks. All the people Here know i m against any Type of alcohol or drug abuse and hat i profess worship of one s body like a Temple. Also the girls probably Sec me As an aunt figure because after three children and 30 years in this life i m not your typical teen age idol with my cell Ullic varicose veins and cynical sense of humor. Maybe your daughters want me to talk to you Andi his is my own Way. So Here i am. God knows i m not a great Parent myself and you can bet i be made lots of mistakes in my life but Lei s face it this is something i think you should listen to. Take time for your kids. Spend time listening to Lovall the neat presents Money can buy. God knows i be never Given the kids around Here any gifts but the love talking to me i m a simple and very Down to Earth woman and hey know hey can rust me. Kids can really spot a phony and it really hurts hem if it s their own mom and dad. So next time your child wants talk to you Don t shove them out the door with a 350 Bill or some empty material Promise sit Down and Chat. Listen when you two or Hryce or four Are through talking you will feel Good knowing you Veall talked. Fifteen minutes Here 15 minutes there it s really a very Small buttery valuable Lime investment later on. Your kids Are More valuable than All the Bank accounts in the world if you invest some of yourself in Ihm i m not putting my name Down because i m talking to All of you who Are now feeling hat guilty Pang in your stomach and heart. Name and location withheld Reader relates stint As base dog Constable ii was with More that just passing interest that i read the recent letter in which the writer complained because Aman threatened to shoot her dog after the animal barked Al him on the Street in 1982, while Al my last base we experienced a bad rash of dog related incidents after one particularly bad string of complaints about All night bark a thongs chewed up mailman and tormented hike riders and joggers my Boss the base commander called me in to give me a Little temporary extra duty my assignment was to write 2 mistakes caught i wish to bring to your attention to errors contained in articles in a recent Issue of the Stan and stripes. The first error is contained on Page 4 of the stripes Magazine in an article entitled Gestapo prison cells on exhibit in the article states one Section in devoted to he wan see conference where nazi Leaden meeting in a Lakeside Villa in what is now East Berlin this is incorrect. The wan see is a Lake in whal is now West Berlin. The second error is contained in Andy Rooney s column on Page 14. In Hal column Rodney Stales it Spandau prison Cost the allies 11 million a year to keep the prison open for him Rudolf Hess this is incorrect. Maintenance of Spandau prison like All of the allies budget in West Berlin is paid for by the West German government through the occupational Cost office. The Only expense of maintaining the continued occupation of West Berlin that is paid for out of he budgets of he Allied nations is the salaries of the troops stationed in West Berlin master sol Peter a Dowds or. Berlin a base pet regulation educate the Public and get this mess cleaned for he next five years and three base commanders this temporary Job a e up Al least 10-12 hours per week As ended up wearing the unenviable Crown of the unofficial base dog Constable. Although the vast majority of dog owners Are responsible and sensitive o other people there Are always a few folks who feel that the world has Loco form to the whims of their pet. While i Don l remember exact figures i la bet we or dered roughly 200 people to remove their dogs from the base. During Hose years i heard it All. Every Lime a dog bit someone he owners claimed that the victim provoked the when a cyclist took a Nasty spill because a Barking dog ran out and startled him the pet s owners asserted Hal it s not our fault that the Guy s so and when harried shirt workers would complain that they could t sleep because of incessant Barking the owners invariably came Back with we Don t hear it some peo ple just Don t like i Learned quickly that Here was no Point in trying to reason with some of these people but i m going to try one More time. Try o fed a Lidle empathy and walk a mile in someone else s shoes. Just As you took exception to having your pet and child threatened these strangers Don t like feeling menaced by your dog. In your letter you stated that similar incident happened when your husband was with the dog a year ago. This should Tell you that just because your pet is Small and Gimle she still packs a powerful May know thai your dog i a sweetheart bul these strangers obviously Don to especially when your dog is reprimanding them for the unpardonable act of walking Down the sidewalk. I m not anti dog but i m definitely pro human. Al though most dogs Are very possessive and territorial by nature we have to train them to live in our Community. We can t expect others to modify their behaviour to accommodate our pets while the Man who threatened your dog was clearly wrong he s nol the first person who said or did something foolish after being threatened or startled. I Hope that these incidents have brought you to the realization hat your pet is capable of eliciting embarrassing responses from pass ers by and that you will take responsible measures tonsure hat it does t happen again. Bob Sukle a Germany irritating error noted this is the first letter i be Ever written to any publication. This Lime however when your editorial of news staff or whoever docs hat sort of thing lifted a Story directly from a news service and printed it with out checking the accuracy it irritated me and probably a number of your other readers worldwide i m referring to the a article about Norwich University which states Norwich University Home to the nation s oldest military College. Now i m sure the alumni of that relatively new University founded in 1819, would love 10 make that claim but we West pointers must insist that the fact is our Vener Able institution founded in 1802, is still the nation s oldest military College. Surety the newspaper thai is the authorised unofficial publication for military services overseas should have caught that error. It. Col. John w. Thames or. Stuttgart
