European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Page 11ann Landers dear readers. Well you did it again and there arc no words to adequately thank you. In a talking about your Een Crous response to the second annual Valentines for vets program it was a stunning Success. Last year we were thrilled to receive l.5 million Valentines. This car the count was nearly 5 Mil letters a need for maps customs form questioned lion. ,. At Hines veterans administration Hospital in Chicago the Central mailing Point More than 100 volunteers worked hard and Long for three weeks to Box the Valentines and ship them to the other 171 a hospitals and medical centers around the nation. More volunteers were on hand at these facilities to distribute the Valentines to patients. More than 2,300 boxes each containing 2,000 Valentines were mailed to about 50,000 hospitalized veterans. That a about 90 Valentines for every patient cards and letters arrived from individuals schools churches Community organizations and businesses All Over the world including saudi Arabia Taiwan Australia Tokyo Canada the Philippines and Germany. Teachers once again made this Celebration a class project. Thousands of children sent brightly decorated handmade cards and wrote letters. Many enclosed poems and pictures of themselves and their pets. Several schools made banners and posters that the vets tacked up in the wards. Readers sent Beautiful handmade afghans quilts pillows bedroom slippers and Floral arrangements. It was obvious that a great Many people spent a lot of time and Money to make our veterans feel loved on Valentines Day. Tootsie Roll inc. Shipped 100,000 Tootsie Rolls to Hines a Supply depot for distribution to the 50 largest a medical centers. Once again the North Shore Hilton presented Hines with a 5-foot Valentine that had been mounted in the lobby and signed by hundreds of guests. The Hilton pastry chef baked a huge cake beautifully decorated for the veterans to enjoy. I rigged out shamelessly and it was delicious Kathy Mitchell my executive assistant went with me to Hines Hospital in a raging blizzard to hand out Valentines visit with the veterans and join in the fun. We spoke with soldiers who \ served in four wars. I chatted with two veterans of world War 1, 97 and 98 years old. They were smiling and Alert and you would have guessed they were in their Early 80s. Several soldiers who had served in world War ii wore their ribbons and medals on their bathrobes. One cheerful and Lively gentleman who greeted us at the front door was a survivor of the Bataan death March. There was a great Deal of laughter handshaking and hugs. Then the woman at the electric Organ who had been playing background music announced that a Veteran had composed a song for me. A hushed silence fell Over the Ward As Charles Branham a world War ii Veteran took my hand and in a marvelous Mellow voice began to sing a Mann Ann you Are so  i looked across the room at Kathy and saw tears in her eyes. 1 confess there were tears in mine too. So thank you dear readers for helping me bring so much pleasure to thousands of veterans. We must never forget that they fought for our Freedom and we owe them a debt that can never be repaid. All letters to the editor must contain the full printed name and address of the writer and must be signed. We do not read unsigned letters but we will withhold your name on request and protect your privacy. All letters Are subject to editing. I have just experienced another Absurdity. I went to the local Apo to mail a Small parcel a pm Psi to a Friend at another Apo address in Germany and to my astonishment the postal clerk informed me that i needed to affix a completed customs declaration to the parcel. I replied that the parcel was going from Frankfurt to Wei Brincken and that not Only were its contents exempt from customs duty the parcel would not even pass through a customs facility. He responded by showing me a . Post office department publication which lists Apos for which customs declarations Are required. I strongly suspect that this Section applies Only to parcels mailed to Apos from the United states. Either somebody within the Usa eur postal system has disseminated a misinterpretation of the publication or clerks Are mis applying it on their own. If in fact customs declarations Are needed for parcels travelling Between Apos within the country we can add another irrational bureaucratic requirement to a list which is already too Long. A name withheld Frankfurt West Germany editors note a William Tyler postal service analyst . Army postal group Europe 1st personnel come he Usa eur replies thanks for giving me the Opportunity to inform you and stars and stripes readers concerning the use of Intra theater delivery service id commonly referred to As  this service was established to allow the Exchange of personal correspondence within the european come at no Cost to the user. The ids system is integrated with the military postal system using the same transportation and is delivered through the same unit mail system. Neucom directive 10-4, postal and courier services Intra theater delivery system is the applicable regulation. Neucom directive 10-4 states a fall privileges and priorities currently applicable to items in the military postal system will apply to the ids this includes Protection and Security against theft and depredation service standards search and seizure procedures and customs  the military postal clerk was absolutely Correct in requiring a customs declaration. The regulation he she quoted along with Neucom 10-4 Are both current and proper. The reason for customs declarations on ids Are the same As mail. While in the military postal system both mail and ids Are subject to Host nation customs and military police customs examination. Mail and ids Cross International Borders such As Belgium Holland Italy England and Turkey to name a few. Also at times it May inadvertently be sent to the United states. None of the above fit your particular situation of mailing Apo Frankfurt to Apo Wei Brincken however rules can to be made to fit each specific circumstance. We will discuss with the proponents of Neucom 10-4 the Validity of requiring customs declarations for ids parcels. If we can be of further assistance please Contact us at ets 379-7811/7837 or write to commander . Army postal group Europe Apo 09168. Sgt. Overworked Isnit doing his Job in answer to the a dependent wife a the reason we have specialist Sham outs is because Sarge overworked Isnit doing his Job. With the infractions you mentioned i would have him out on his ear. Sgt. Overworked needs to get his act together a the other part of being an e-8 with 16 years in service. Most people would love to attain that rank at 16 years service if you Are getting this information from your husband Tell him to get his act together and Start chapter proceedings on Shamoff. You have to make it happen not someone else. A name withheld Schwabish Amund West Germany. In our unit 80 percent of the soldiers Are lower enlisted. They All have numerous responsibilities. Our Maryland considers Bills the Maryland general Assembly will consider two Bills . 441 and 322 this month which could affect your readers. The first would exempt civilian government employees serving overseas from Maryland state income tax. The second would provide scholarships at Maryland universities to veterans. Send comments and requests for information on the first Bill to Del. Tyras Athey 100 Lowe building Annapolis my. 21401 on the second Bill to Del. Anne Perkins 141 Lowe building Annapolis my. 21401 or on both to the association of Marylander serving outside the state inc. . Box 1240, fort Meade my. 207551240. Senior cos work right along Side the lower enlisted As a team. If a Soldier has to return to the same appointment three or four times obviously there is a problem that the Soldier cannot alleviate. This is when a senior no should step in and try to rectify the problem instead of standing in the background just wondering what a wrong. A while your so called a sergeant first class work hards Are a wondering if the Job is getting done Quot ours Are ensuring that the Job is getting done through Strong leadership delegation of authority and supervision. In reference to your comment about War breaking out our response is everyone who joins the service takes the same oath and regardless of their spending two months or 16 years in the military time and Grade have nothing to do with the will to defend ones country. There is no need for you to Knock the entire system just because a few soldiers do not pull their weight. We done to believe that budget cuts and troop reductions have anything to do with a the More experienced soldiers being weeded  senior cos have Long been a weeded out through the army sump program. This allows More deserving soldiers to ascend to senior positions. We Are both specialists in the army. We both started out ase is. We did no to get this far through spamming and dereliction of duty. We some Day soon will be cos possibly senior cos and we done to think we will Ever a wonder if the Job is getting  a spec. Janine m. Mckavish a spec. Michael j. Grant Mainz West German the so Gnu lillies european edition col. Gene e. Townsend Usan commander editor in Chiel it. Col. Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in chief is a Kin ski Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott lion manager managing editor circulation manager the Nita afer is an authorized unofficial publication for members of necessary my Kiv �s.�.v0rseas�?T con in s of the stars and stripes Are not depart Mart i a j views of. Or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. Sudnuimo�?ar2nc9 a a it ver Tising in this publication including inserts or tense or Truf c.0s no constitute endorsement by the department of Dene stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. 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