European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 26, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes wednesday october 26,1988 vets planning mercy Mission give plaque to Viets at . New York a a group of former marines extended a peace offering to Vietnam on monday in Advance of a mercy Mission to that country in which they will look for land mines that might still be in place 20 years after they planted them. The americans presented a plaque at the Vietnam Ese Mission to the United nations saying in the Hopes of preserving the peace we come to Vietnam once again this Lime to help the the preservation of human life. I Ullh engineers january 1989," while the nine Day trip to be made by six former marines from the 11th engr in 3rd Marine div is a private and. In some ways sentimental journey funded by an Anonymous businessman it has the Blessing of both the . And vietnamese governments. The Jan. 9 trip is the latest in a series of moves Between the two countries to improve relations. Vietnam one of the poorest countries in the world is seeking diplomatic relations with the United Stales american Aid and invest ment now banned by a . Trade embargo. A member of Vietnam s National Assembly and a key economic adviser Nguyen Xuan Oanh made a rare visit to the United Stales earlier this month to Confer with american businessmen. He also repealed Vietnam s intention to withdraw its troops from Cam Bodia by March 1990, one of the things Washington i insisting upon before recognizing the Hanoi govern , just last month the United states and Viet Nam began joint searches for witnesses of wartime plane crashes in efforts to find the remains of some of the 1,757 americans missing in action and presumed dead. The United Stales says it has no evidence that any of the missing Are Ai ivc but it has demanded they be accounted for one Way or another As a second condition for establishing diplomatic relations. At a joint news conference monday there was a diplomatic difference on whether land mines and unexploded bombs still threaten vietnamese civilians. The vietnamese said the mines had All been cleared Al the Cost of thousands of civilians killed particularly from the end of he War in 1975 until 1978 when land was being cleared for farming and housing. "1 can assure you that those mine Fields have been cleared said ambassador Trinh Xuan Lang head of the vietnamese Mission to the United nations. They will be there As tourists he said of the six former marines. They May return to the locations where they were stationed  the americans said they wanted to look and document whether the mines and bombs had been re  t. Spanos a Ros Cronl iii., police officer who is one of the leaders of the group said the 1 Ullh Engi neers planted about 100,000 mines below the demilitarized zone Between 1966 and 1969 and left them intact when they pulled out. Spanos said american veterans visiting hospitals i Vietnam have seen children who had been killed and maimed by old mines. Thousands cheer parading shuffle Crew Cocoa Beach Fla. A the five astronauts who flew the discovery on the first Post challenger space shuttle flight were honoured monday by several thousand people who applauded them along a five mile motorcade route. Cocoa Beach is just South of the Kennedy space Center and is Home for Many of the workers who helped launch the discovery on sept. 29. Astronauts Frederick a Hauck Richard 0. Covey George d. Nelson John m. Lounge and David c. Hilm cars flew to Patrick fab from their training base in hous ton and climbed into convertibles for the motorcade. Along the route the astronauts were greeted by High school bands congratulatory signs american flags and applause. Hundreds of Green ribbons the Community s Green forgo Symbol for the Mission were visible. The motorcade ended at a Cocoa Beach Motel where a s2s-a-plate dinner featured a film with High lights of the four Day journey that returned americans to space 32 months after the challenger disaster. In the 1960s, Cocoa Beach regularly held parades for astronauts who returned from space flights. But the one monday was the first since the Apollo 12 Moon Landing Crew was honoured in 1970. Stateside Maine planes intercept soviet bombers again Limestone Maine a for the second time this year Loring fab fighters have intercepted soviet bombers off the North american coast base officials say. The planes intercepted two soviet bombers about 360 Miles from the coast of Labrador on oct. 4, base officials said  incident involved Del 1, fighter interceptor Wing planes that scrambled to Nicl the soviet planes officials said. The planes were the third and fourth soviet bears intercepted this year by Loring  soviet aircraft were Tu-95 Bear a planes used to launch cruise missiles the base office of Public affairs said. Surfer attacked by shark manages to free his leg Cannon Beach Ore. A a 21-year old surfer attacked by a great White shark washable to pull his leg out of the shark s Mouth. Wyndham Kapan of Cannon Beach received 21 stitches in his right knee following the attack said his Mother Jan  s very Lucky he did t lose the leg his Mother said monday. . Man killed at party by exploding Beer Keg Albany. . A a Man wan killed when a Beer Keg placed on a Bonfire exploded and a piece of Metal severed his spinal Cord authorities  Viola 22, of Niskayuna died at an outdoor Beer party police said. He had been standing about 5 feet from the  one quart of Beer remained in the Bot Tom of the Keg when it was placed on the fire and the liquid began to boil causing steam and pressure to build up until the Keg  autopsy determined that Viola was killed instantly when a piece of the Keg entered the right Side of his neck said Albany county Coro Ner Timothy Cavanaugh. Electronic Bible Frank a runs an official at Georgia stale University in Allan Demon Strates a computer Bible he developed As i Handy speedy reference source. The Battery operated computer contains two translations of the old and new Testa ments plus a concordance an alphabetized list of Impo Tarl words used in the scriptures. The s4ss computer will hit the Market Eaily next year. Lights lines warn pilots after 9 near collisions Grapevine Texas a Airport workers at giant Dallas fort Worth International Airport have painted Lin Sand installed Strobe lights to separate taxiways and a runway that pilots say Are so confusing they nearly caused nine collisions of Delta jets in the last year. Federal records show the latest Inci Dent of Pilot confusion was aug. 31, the same Day another Delta plane crashed on Takeoff. In the taxiway confusion one plane about to take off had to Stop with in a few Yards of another plane that had mistakenly got on the runway. In was pretty scary. That could have easily been a terrible Accident said Tower manager Norm Scroggins. The Pilot of Delta flight 297 left the aircraft parking ramp outside Delta air lines terminal turned on a runway in Stead the taxiway. And into the path of Delta Feighl 638, which was cleared for Takeoff according to Federal aviation administration records he said it was the Only Lime two planes reached the runway at the same time. A Tower controller spoiled flight 297 on the runway just after it turned and Lold its Pilot to Hall while another con troller told flight 63 8 to abort Takeoff records show. An Faa investigative report indicates right 638 come to a Slop a few Yards from flight 297, it was a relatively Low Speed abort but the Pilot decided to let his brakes Cool for about 10 minutes before heading Back up the runway Scroggins said. A few hours later Delta flight 1141 bound for Salt Lake City crashed just after Takeoff killing 14 people. That crash is still under investigation. The runway confusion first occurred in october 1987 after the Airport covered grass islands Between the parking apron and inner taxiway with Concrete. A lot of pilots use the grass to guide them said Richard Petit the Airport senior director of planning and Engi Neering. Problem was there were a Bunch More who Cut the Corner Short and their Landing gear went into the grass after the Concrete was put in be cause there is no grass Between the rampant the inner taxiway we had several pilots who believed the runway was the outer taxiway Scroggins said. In recent weeks workers have painted thick Black stripes outlined with yellow to Mark the inner taxiway and have identified the taxiway with 10-foot Meliers and Strobe lights. Officials said procedures for directing Delia flights to the runways also have changed so planes avoid taxiway 29, which leads directly from the ramp area to runway 17 a the first of two parallel runways on the Airport s East Side Delta spokeswoman Jackie Pate told the fort Worth Star Telegram the airline has hand delivered notices to All of its pilots alerting Ihm about the taxiway