European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 4, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Page 9 Ann Landers letters dear Ann Landers a while Back you printed wonderful piece about the Flag. It reminded me once again How millions of americans sit backhand take that Symbol of Freedom for granted. Will you please print it again Ann we need to see that essay at least once a year. Thank you. A sergeant tin Germany a who reads you  the stars and stripes dear Sarge a 21-gun Salute to you and everyone else who preserving your country so far from Home. Here is the piece you asked for and on a most appropriate Day the fourth of july. Remember me some people Call me old glory others Call me the Star spangled Banner but whatever they Call me i am your Flag the Flag of the United states of America. I remember some time ago people lined up on Bot sides of the Street to watch the Parade and naturally i was always there proudly waving in the Breeze. When your daddy saw me coming he immediately removed his hat and placed it Over his heart. Remember and you i remember you standing there straight As a Soldier. You did t have a hat but you were giving the right Salute. Remember your Little sister not to be outdone shews saluting the same As you with her hand Over her heart. Remember what happened i m still the same old Flag. Of have added a few More stars since you were a boy and a lot More blood has been shed since those parades Oblong ago. But i Don t feel As proud As i used to. When i come Down your Street you just stand there with your hands in your pockets. I May get a Small glance Burthen you look away. I see the children running around and shouting. They Don t seem to know who i am. I saw one Man take off his hat and look around. He did t see any body else with his hat off so he quickly put his Back  it a sin to be patriotic anymore have you forgotten what i stand for and where i be been Anzio Normandy Omaha Beach Guadalcanal Korea and Vietnam. Take a look at the memorial Honor Rolls sometime. Look at the names of those who never came Back in order to keep this Republic free. One nation undergo. When you Salute me you Are actually saluting them. Well it won t be Long until i la be coming Down you Street again. So when you see me stand straight place your right hand Over your heart. I la Salute you by waving Back. And i la know that you remembered. Dear Ann Landers please Contact your authorities and come up with an answer to this question is it harmful to Swallow Chew ing gum our 6-year-old swallows several Sticks a Day and i have decided not to let him have any More gum until get an answer. Palo Alto calif., Mother dear Mother or. Jay Arena chairman emeritus of paediatrics at Duke University medical school said there should be no problem if one chewed stick of gum is  obstruction could occur if a wad of gum is continually and habitually swallowed. This however would Bevery unlikely. The main danger is that a child who runs or plays with a wad of gum in his Mouth could choke onit. Also the sugar in several pieces of gum chewed daily could cause dental cavities. Sorry about that or. Wrigley writer says slow mail Cost Chance for Job these particular problems have been on my min for some time and i am writing now because the prob lems just Cost me a Chance for a Job. Those problems Are our Apo system and its practice of taking an unusually Long time to get mail delivered locally and the application procedures at the civilian recruitment Center arc. I applied for a position that was open in the Kaiserslautern area. The application was to be mailed to the arc in Heidelberg to be received by close of business on the 21st of the month. I mailed the application packet on the 18th. When i got the application Back twas stamped the 26th. It took eight Days for it to go about 50 Miles. I have also received mail from Pir Masens on two separate occasions and it took 10 Days both  is less than 30 Miles from Here. I can t for the life of me understand Why it takes so Long for Mai to go such a Short distance. I know you Are going to say i should have mailed i earlier. Well let me explain the problem with that. Special announcements Are Only open for two weeks at arc. The information is then distributed to local pos. Although we have a local Telephone number with a recording to find out the latest local Job open Ings when it in t broken have never heard the announce openings originating from arc. I Don t know Why not since i would have to Call co anyway and ask someone just to find out about the openings in Heidelberg. That defeats the purpose of the recording. After hearing about the position going to co Roget the application packet writing the Uksas knowl Edge skills and abilities which by the Way takes a great Deal of time and thought getting supervisors appraisal and copies of various documents there is not much time left to get it to Heidelberg. Now you say i should have hand carried it to Hei Delberg. That would be Fine if i was t employed. Ican t just take off from work and run to Heidelberg every time i want to apply for a Job. This brings me to another Point the arc had a Rule at one time that stated that applications had to be postmarked by close of business of the closing Date but the folks there changed to the present Rule of arriving in their office by the close of business of the closing Date. The rationale for this is because they could never get the referral list out because applications kept com ing in weeks later according to arc thanks to our Apo no doubt. I would like to suggest a few ways of handling this situation. Because of the situation described above it makes better sense to state on the announcement applications postmarked by closing Date must have arrived in this office by close of business two week Slater or something similar. Another solution could be to leave the announcement open for three weeks in Stead of two. The third solution is to find out what the problem is in the Apo system and Correct it asap. Probably a combination of the suggestions above would solve the problem. Although these suggestion would come too late for me they should help with future applicants because they could be assured that their applications will arrive on time if they Are not in a position to hand carry their applications to Heidel Berg. Also the folks at arc can still get their referral list out in a reasonable amount of time with Les complaints from applicants. Name withheld Kaiserslautern editor s note we received two replies to this letter. The first is from staff sgt. Colleen v. Smith mail services Branch postal operations directorate,1st personnel come he Usa eur we appreciate your taking time to write us concerning your mail service and regret your inconvenience. In addressing your problem with the Intra theater deliver system ids we realize that items addressed As maps should not take eight to 10 Days for delivery. If Correct procedures Are followed most ids item should be received one Day after mailing. However fac tors such As mis routing missed transportation dispatch times or mishandling by organizational mail and distribution centers May cause delays. Without knowing the exact route of your item and the pos marking information we cannot explain what happened or identify where the delay occurred. In the future if you note delayed mail Between specific Points please note the Date of receipt and take the envelope to the postal officer at your servicing Apo. By examining the envelope most routing delays can be explained and problems identified. If we can be of further assistance in this or another postal matter please Contact us at ets 379-6364, civil Ian 06202-80-7643 or write to 1st personnel come attn Teupe pod Ops so Apo 09081. Editor s note the second reply  from Leah Meisel chief support Branch civilian recruit ment Center Arche Usa eur the Usa eur civilian recruitment Center arc issues its special vacancy announcements by electronic message. These go to All Usa eur civil Ian personnel offices co at least one week prior tothe opening Date of the announcements and All announcements Are open at least two weeks. The co publicize these announcements within their Community As Well As making them available to interested persons. This Means individuals have a minimum of three weeks to prepare and submit an application. In the past arc did use announcements which specified applications had to be postmarked by closing dates. However this procedure had several problems. One problem As the writer indicates was application being received after the referral had been issued. To minimize this arc delayed issuing referrals after the closing Date which increased the time necessary to fill the vacancy. Another problem was that envelopes were often no postmarked by the postal service which made it impossible to determine when an application had been mailed. To overcome this it was decided to Issue these announcements a week before the opening Date and re quire All applications to be received by the closing Date. While not a perfect solution this system provide adequate time for persons to apply and minimizes the time before management can receive a referral. Pen pals please list us in your pen pal column. Florentine Romanillo or 28 Alfonso Lezada or 29 he National guard of dept., . Box 87856 Riyadh 11652, kingdom of saudi Arabia i would like pen pals. I am 17 years old. Ann Alcyone e. Delgado . Box 091, Makar wharf general Santos City 9701, Philippines i would like to correspond with people in other countries. I am 20 years old. I like walking read ing magazines and collecting Stamps. Analiza Teves . Box 091, Makar wharf general Santos City 9701, Philippines i would like pen pals. Naime Harman Gazi Pasa Mah 619 so no 63 Adana Turkey i am 19 years old and would like pen pals. My hobbies Are listening to music Reading cooking and collecting Stamps Post cards and ballpoint pens. Maria Marlene d. Landrio san Roque Makar wharf general Santos City 9701, Philippines i am a 17-year-old girl who would like to have pen pals. My hobbies Are Reading watching mov ies swimming and playing table Tennis. Ailyn v. Quinanola Polop Antao Jimal Alyd Negros Oriental 6509 Philippines the and file Solo a european edition col Jeffrey m. Cook Usa commander editor in chief it col Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in chief Marie Kominicki meet Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official views of or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorsement by the department of de sense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. 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