European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes wednesday july 13,1988 news update Coal mine disaster Kassel West Germany a a dynamite blast triggered an under ground explosion of Coal dust that left 51 miners dead in the june 1 Borken Coal mine tragedy Kassel s prosecuting attorney said monday. Shortly after the disaster officials thought methane Gas had exploded. Senate approves Cabinet level department of veterans affairs girl scouts two senior girl scouts have earned the Gold award the highest achieve ment in girl scouting. Melanie Moyer 15, has been involved with girl scouting for nine years. For her service project she planned and organized a toy drive. She arranged the collection and repair of toys later distributed during the annual army Community services Holiday assistance pro Gram. The Stuttgart High school student is the daughter of sgt. 1 St class George and Lorraine Moyer. Angela Stanaland 16, has had a five year career in scouting. Her service project was completed at a joint weekend camping event with . Scouts and German girl scouts. In her project she planned and coordinated the planting of Trees and the cutting and stacking of Wood at the Campground. Stanaland attends Kaiserslautern High school and is the daughter of  and Marchand Stanaland. To attain the Gold award a girl scout must fulfil requirements in the development of skills practical leadership Ca reer exploration and self awareness. Then she must Complete her Gold award project a Community service project that involves at least four months Effort. Washington a the Senate looking to protect the interests of 30 Mil lion veterans and their dependents overwhelmingly approved legislation tues Day creating a Cabinet level department of veterans affairs. The Bill was approved 84-11. Negotiators will work out technical differences Between the Bill and a version the House passed last november just a week after it was recommended by president Rea Gan. The Secretary of veterans affairs would be the 14th Cabinet Secretary and the fifth added since 1960. Voting against elevating the Veteran administration to Cabinet level were Sens. William Armstrong a Colo. Dan Evans a Wash. Jake Garnr Utah Gordon Humphrey . Nancy Kassebaum a Kan. James Mcclure r Idaho William Proxmire a wis. Dan Quayle Rind. Warren Rudman r . Alan Simpson r-wyo., and Ste Ven Symms a Idaho. Not voting were Sens. Joe Biden d Del. Orrin Hatch a Utah Jesse Helms, Paul Trible r-va., and John Warnerr a. For the first time the veterans administration will have direct Access to the president without an intervening party sen. Spark Matsunaga Dha Waii said monday As the Senate debate the measure. Earlier in the Day the Senate agreed tallow veterans to Appeal to the courts when their claims for benefits Are denied by a. Winter Man Euver damage claims Aga psf army still being checked by Rosemary Sawyer staff writer Frankfurt West Germany four months after v corps Winter exer Cise caravan guard German defens Cost officials still Are verifying and negotiating Man Euver damage claims against the . Army. While initial claims had to be submitted within three months of the exer Cise adjusted claims for some areas still Are coming in a Hessen finance office spokesman said tuesday. German press accounts citing High damage figures Are premature he said. One such report set damages for the Hes sen county of Wetterau at 10 million Marks about $5.49 million. Claims against the . Army fro Wetterau stood at 4.8 million Marks monday about $2.64 million according to Julio a. Gutierrez the v corps a never damage prevention officer. That figure represents Only claimed damage Sand not what actually will be paid which generally is less. Wetterau sustained the most damage because 8th inf div and 3rd army div troops had to traverse roads there for Assembly and initial exercise Days Gutierrez said. Most of the Man Euver damage was to roads which tends to be expensive he said. The Frankfurt defense Cost office which is responsible for counties that received about two thirds of the claims re ported As a result of the feb. 17 to March 4 exercise has not made any payment the finance office spokesman said. However the defense Cost office i Giessen that is handling the remaining third of the claims has paid 1.3 million Marks about $714,000, on claims total ing 1.4 million Marks or $769,000, said Nedrich Krummelbein defense Cost office director. Claim figures for Hersfeldt Rotenburg county and Fulda county were not available tuesday but damage was expected to be minimal Krummelbein said. Exercise caravan guard was scale Down by about 50 percent this year after mild Winter temperatures left the terrain vulnerable to heavy Man Euver damage. Originally 46,000 soldiers were scheduled to go to the Field but 18,600 actually were deployed. Final claim payment figures should be available at the end of the year. Election 88 Washington voting assistance officials have released primary election dates for september. Soldiers civilian employees and their family members should Contact their unit voting assistance officers for details on How to Register and obtain Absentee ballots. A completed Federal Post card application should be mailed Early to stateside voting authorities to ensure timely receipt of a ballot. Primaries in september include Guam on sept. 3 Florida and Nevada sept. 6 Delaware sept. 10 Arizona District of Columbia Utah Minnesota new Hampshire Vermont Wisconsin and the Virgin islands sept. 13 Connecticut and Rhode Island sept. 14 new York and Massachusetts sept. 15 Hawaii sept. 17 and Washington sept. 20. Correction dogs and cats no longer need to undergo a four month quarantine before being taken into Finland As stated i weekend editions of the stars and stripes. Officials relaxed the rules for import ing pets and now require Only health certificates and rabies shots before pets Are allowed into the country. Rabies shots should be Given at least month before travelling but not More than a year before according to a spokes Man for finn air the country s official airline. In yesterday s paper the continuation of the Story on Mikhail Gorbachev s speech to the polish parliament was inadvertently left out. Maryland sets deadline for scholarship applications Heidelberg students attending the University of Maryland european division have until Friday to apply for a number of scholarships offered by the school. Individual Grants ranging from $250 to $ 1,000 Are available including 58 Chancellor s Grants of $500 that can be used by those seeking any Bachelor of arts or Bachelor of science degree. Other Grants Are targeted for specific areas of study including social work education foreign language and computer science. The scholarships require written essays that must accompany the application form. Further details can be obtained at local education centers. Scholarship applications must be sent to the University of Mary land in Boss Eldorn 30,6900 Heidelberg. In West Germany Call 06221-378248 for More information. Vietnam returning remains of 25 believed to be mias Bangkok Thailand a Vietnam will return to the unite states on wednesday what it believes Are the remains of 25 missing . Servicemen the . Embassy said tuesday. An embassy statement said the remains will be flown from Viet Nam s capital of Hanoi to the . Army Central identification Laboratory in Hawaii for identification and return to next of Kin. Remains Are usually returned in a simple ceremony at Hanoi s Noi Bai Airport with . Officials saluting As a . Military Honor guard carries the caskets onto a . Military transport plane. The turnover would be the fifth since retired Gen. John w. Vessey acting As a special presidential envoy reached an agreement in Hanoi last August to significantly Speed up progess on the Issue. The United states was told about the remains during regular talk sin Hanoi last month Between technical experts of the two sides. The Lack of diplomatic relations Between the two countries has hindered the attempt to account for the fates of nearly 1,800 Ameri cans who remain missing in action. . Forces withdrew from South Vietnam in 1973 after the involvement Cost 58,000 american lives. The last return of remains on june 4, was the largest Ever. Vietnam returned 27 sets of remains it tentatively identified As those of Ameri cans and three other sets which it said were those of ethnic asian who might possibly be among the missing americans. Herzo Soldier killed in fall while climbing Mountain Garmisch West Germany a 22-year-old Herzo base Soldier was killed saturday when he lost his footing and fell 70 to 100 fee while Mountain climbing with a companion a Niernberg military Community spokesman said tuesday. Pvt. 2 Ronald r. Taylor of he Btry 3rd ,37th Field arty at Herzog Nakrach was Rock climbing on a Mountain near Garmisch when befell about 5 20 . And suffered severe head injuries spokesman Gerard Maloney said. The Soldier s companion went for help and Agerman doctor pronounced Taylor dead at the scene at 7 05 . His companion was not injured Maloney said. Taylor who was from Dallas is survived by his Mother d Juana Taylor of Montgomery ala., and his Stepfather Leroy Taylor of Kings Ville Texas. A memorial service will be at 11  at Herzo base. Hahn airman found dead of asphyxiation at Home Graben Trarbach West Germany a Hahn a airman was found dead of asphyxiation Friday in his off base Home a base spokesman said tuesday. The body of airman 1st class Stephen j. Sturgill 20, a Metal processing specialist with the 50th civil engr so was found by a co worker at approximately 5p.m., master sgt. Terry Walker said. Sturgill joined the air Force in september 1986, and was assigned to Hahn in february 1987. He is survived by his parents Lanny a. And Lois . Sturgill of Matthews . A memorial service will be at 3 30 . Thursday in the Hahn base Chapel. American military officials Are investigating the death