European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 27, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A double deck Highway collapsed in the oct. 17 earthquake in the san Francisco Bay area. From Page 15 oct 17 the second deadliest earthquake in us history rumbles through the san Francisco Bay area registering 69 on the Richter scale. Oct. 18 the Navy and air Force announced they will follow the army s Lead with random drug testing of civilians in certain sensitive jobs. Oct 25 firebombs with timing devices explode under three cars belonging to . Military personnel from hell Nikon a Greece. Oct. 26 television evangelist Jim Bakker is sentenced to 45 years in prison. Oct 29 five people Are killed when a Navy training Jet crashes on the deck of the aircraft Carrier Lexington in the Gulf of Mexico. Nov. 1 the Fri is investigating several people believed to have worked in a Large spy ring with retired us army sgt 1st class Clyde Lee Conrad of bad Kreuz Nach. West Germany. Nov. 3 retired us army sgt 1st class Zoltan Szabo connected to the Conrad spy ring is convicted of espionage in an austrian court. Nov. 4 one million people in East Berlin converge on the capital to rally for Freedom and democracy. Nov. 6 the East German Cabinet resigns. Nov. 9 East Germany announces it will allow citizens to travel freely for the first time since the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. The year in review nov. 10 workers begin punching holes in the Berlin Wall nov. 11 More than f million East germans pour into West Germany and souvenir Hunters snatch up pieces of the Berlin Wall. Nov. 14 Usa eur announces that command level sports have been axed. Nov. 15 the Navy ceases routine land sea and air operations for 48 hours following a series of seven unrelated accidents since oct. 29. Nov. 18 several . Senators cast doubt on the Navy s probe of the battleship Iowa blast. A defense department official accuses Safe of hindering a probe into the renovation of the Ramstein a officers club. Nov. 19 an sex Ramstein no club manager tells Congress that Safe brass pressed him to misuse funds. Nov. 20 More than 200.000 people in Prague. Czechoslovakia demand free elections and the resignation of hard line leaders. Nov. 24 Czechoslovakia s hard line communist leaders resign nov. 30 Alfred her Hausen an influential economic adviser to West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and chairman of West Germany s leading financial institution the powerful Deutsche Bank was killed when his limousine was blown up near Frankfurt. Responsibility for the murder was claimed by the red army faction a terrorist group dormant for three years. Dec. 1 president Bush arrives in Malta for a superpower Summit with soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Dec. 6 East German president ego i Krenz and his entire party leadership resign. A gunman shoots 14 women students Al the University of Montreal using a semiautomatic Rifle. He had claimed feminists spoiled my  dec. 9 the air Force sharply curtails civilian hiring citing 1990 budget restrictions. East Germany s communist party apologizes for leading the country into a crisis and overwhelmingly elects As its new chief Gregor Gysi a 4 f year old reformer known for defending the rights of the opposition. Dec. 10 Czechoslovakia gets its first mull voiced non communist dominated government since 1948 through a peaceful revolution. Dec. 12 the army facing major cuts in . Forces in Europe and a declining budget proposes reshaping itself largely into a fast reaction Force based primarily in the United states. Televangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced oct 28 to 45 Yean in prison or fraud. Britain s forced repatriation of 51 vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong to Hanoi arouses International criticism but Britain vows to continue expulsions of boat people from the Crown Colony. Dec. 13 Petty officer 3rd class Kendall Truitt says that his former Friend and shipmate Clayton Hartwig did not cause the fatal explosion aboard the battleship Iowa. Dec. 14 a Pentagon spokesman says the army and air Force must Cut a total of 25,000 military personnel this fiscal year to accommodate part of a $1.7 billion reduction in defense spending. Andrei d. Sakharov the Brilliant physicist who built the soviet Hydrogen bomb and became an unwavering Beacon in the cause of human rights Dies of an apparent heart attack. He was 68. Dec. 16 the East German communist party changes its name and appeals to Reform minded members to set a new course for the discredited party an off duty . Officer is shot to death in Panama City Panama. Dec. 17 . Soldiers in Battle gear surround some . Military installations in Panama. I love the to ads for nostalgic children s Board games that asked the question what do you think people did before to a lot of these games Are languishing in cellophane under the tree at this moment beckoning mom dad two and a half children and one cute dog into a laughter frenzy. God forbid the commercials showed a real family playing these games. They re not the Brady Bunch Silling around the Kitchen table snapping their fingers and. Smirno . Page 16 White when a player buys a Vowel that in t there real kids rip the lips off their brother and leave Home. I hate to say this but our family never bonded Over Board games. We were always too competitive. We equated losing the game with losing the will to live. We did them All clue Candy land monopoly Uncle wiggly. And enough electronic sports boards to create a Battery shortage but the one that really split the family apart was a game called sink the  i never understood some of the emotions thai surfaced during this Quality  basically we Are a family of pacifists. We Are never cruel or unfeeling. We never put a cat in a dress for a Parade never wanted to bomb California Over the me Fly never argued with neighbors who Cut across our Lawn. Every year we could hardly wait until miss America announced her goal was world  then we All applauded wildly. All of that changed when we sat Down to play sink the sub " the premise was rather simple blow up your opponents submarines before they blew yours up. Forget Pat Boone Apple pie Kate Smith and love thy  just keep Youri Majjie son the to Tiger by the end of the evening no one in the family was speaking to each other you did t think i d pop Corn for someone who humiliated me before i even got away from the Dock did you it s Small wonder that when a 7-Inch screen came into our Home and a Man called Milton Berle walked on the sides of his shoes every tuesday night we went for the alternative to War. Today win lose or draw and trivial Pursuit have lost to mouser Cize my Mother the car reruns math rap Congress sleeping on Cable anything it takes to keep this family together. The stars and stripes wednesday december 27,1989