European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday december 21, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 3 gis refuse to yield to yuletide blues you Hove to seek out others Santa advises by Janet Howells Tierney staff writer facing a Winter month in the Field is a cinch com pared with spending Christmas in the Barracks Ameri can soldiers in West Germany usually agree. So some gis have found unique ways to Deal with the Holiday Barracks blues. One Brawny fellow has substituted his Battle dress uniform for a cheery red suit with a White fur lining for the past two Christmas seasons and this year he s got similar plans. December 23rd through the 25th Are very Busy Days for me said spec. Matthew g. Cunningham a single Soldier who has lived almost three years in bar Racks on the Rock officially known As Ayers Cavern in Kirch-g8ns. Cunningham an infantry mortar Man with 2nd ,32nd Armor has been invited As guest of Honor to at least half a dozen Holiday parties. When you re the Star attraction that s an awesome thing the 26-year-old Lowan said. When a Little bitty 3-Ycar-old Calls out hey Santa please Don t forget me my heart goes out to her. I wish i had a million toys to give to Cunningham s Surprise Many hard Core soldiers Don grins at the sight of Santa Claus and arc As eager to get free treats As the youngsters arc. All adults have treasured moments from their childhood christmases they can never recapture he said. Young adults or old All of them want the holi Day to be like it was. Santa allows them to be that child again even far from but thinking about children and he past Only makes one misty eyed Soldier feel empty inside. Spec. Merrill e. Spencer 25, a radio telc typer with has co 4th trans come at Camp King in Obj Rursch left his wife and three children in Georgia on oct. 12. His youngest a daughter was Only six Days old when the plane carried him to West Germany. Hell live in the Barracks until he can find housing and Send for his family. It takes something from you when you re 6,000 Miles from your wife and kids Spencer said. It does t seem like Christmas is right around the Corner. I be got nothing to look Forward i in sent some postcards and pictures of West Ger Many to his family and expects to talk to them on the phone dec 25. Another father spec. Harold g. Harris a scout from has co 4th in 32nd army regt at Ayers Ca sern has been keeping in touch with his family in Texas through frequent Calls. Sis Lynda w. Sparks Santa drops by the Rock at Kirch Gons. I talked to my kids but it was hard to understand the 2-year-old," said the father of five children who been away almost a year. My 3-Ycar-old kept hanging up the phone and it s hard for my wife because this will be the first Christmas i be been and it s not easy to find a substitute for the Chil Dren. This is so much the children s time Spencer said. Went to another a Nily s Home for thank Eivina but it Only made me ache for my own kids More. I won t do that for however Many soldiers do find the Holiday spirit in the Homes of their supervisors. Lots of married cos with families Here look out for the single soldiers and invite them Over for Din Ner said spec. David a. Krausch a single go with Camp King s 570th my platoon. If another Soldier in t doing anything we get together in the Barracks. There arc always a few who arc depressed so you help them. It s really hard for the first timers who ass Lynda sue. Harold g. Harris it s hard for my wife Haven t been away from Home Long. I be Krausch will spend his third Christmas in the bar Racks this year then plans to travel to Berlin to Cele brate his 27th birthday dec. 27 with a brother stationed there. Along with the usual office decorations some Ca Serns have found other ways of keeping lonely soldiers in the Holiday spirit. Strains of Jingle Bells and other bouncy carols spread Over Ayers Cavern from the Headquarters Loudspeaker arid one unit commander has written letters to the parents of his single soldiers assuring them that their son or daughter is being care for Over the holidays. It takes a lot survival skills to make it Here Cunningham said dropping his Santa Jol Linss for a moment. The single soldiers want something they can t have. But for any Holiday you have to seek out others Todo things with. You can t mope around waiting for something Good to happen. You have to find your own Way to be Nunn says Tower won t get kid Glove treatment Washington a the Senate armed services committee will not play the old boy game with former sen. John Tower president elect Bush s Choice to head the defense department committee chairman Sam Nunn said monday. The committee will have a higher set of standards. For the entire team from Tower on Down through the Penta gon s top set of managers Nunn d-ga., told a group of reporters in a wide rang ing interview. Asked whether Tower would receive kid Glove treatment at his confirmation hearing next month before the panel he formerly chaired Nunn said we Are not going to play the old boy game this defense analysts and congressional observers have predicted that Tower chairman of the panel during the first half of the Reagan administration would receive deferential treatment and Breeze to confirmation. But Nunn said he did not want to re peat the mistakes of Tower s Early tenure As chairman when former top Pentagon official Melvyn Paisley was now figures prominently in the government s defense procurement fraud Case. On other subjects Nunn said the government should focus its at Tention on cleaning up nuclear messes at its aging nuclear weapons production facilities around the country and restoring safety to neglected reactors including those at the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina Southeast of Augusta. While the South african govern ment has cased restrictions on some Well known anti apartheid activists like Nelson Mandela it continues to imprison younger non violent protesters with out apparent cause. Nunn returned Fri Day from a two week trip to South Africa Kenya and Zaire. It would be unrealistic to expect anew vote in Congress any time soon on renewal of military Aid to Nicaragua s Contra rebels. The new Bush administration should instead focus its first Atten Tion on working with neighbouring coun tries in Central America to make sure the leftist sandinista government lives up to promises made to its neighbors in a regional peace plan he said. He will introduce Early in the 101st Congress legislation that would provide for a Broad new program of voluntary National service for Young americans be ginning at age 18, Board fires teacher who refused to Wear tie Point pleasant . A a High school mathematics teacher who repeatedly defied a new dress code requiring him to Wear a tic was fired monday night. The Mason county Board of education voted to fire teacher Bill Webb for insubordination accepting a recommendation of school superintendent Charles Chambers. Earlier the Board had delayed action on Cham Bers recommendation pending a closed door session last wee first of All Well file the necessary papers for Appeal Webb said monday night. "1 have work 1 have contracted to do in my body shop and Proba Bly after the first of the year i will go Hunt a the 46-year-old teacher who lives in Gallipolis Ohio and owns a farm and a body shop there had said he expected to be fired. He had already been suspended three limes for not wearing a lie and the dispute engendered considerable controversy in Mason county. I Felt All along that the Board would Back the superintendent on his recommendation he said. In August Chambers issued a memo saying male teachers would have to Wear tics to work and that All teachers were prohibited from wearing Denim. Webb was suspended for four Days with pay in september when he refused to Wear a tic after Princi pal Michael Whalen and Chambers asked him to do so. In october he was suspended for 11 Days with out pay and on halloween the Board suspended him indefinitely without pay. A state hearing examiner has heard evidence on the second suspension and a decision is expected by Jan. 5
