European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday april 25, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 9 Over Here a amps Michael Abrams soviet teen agers answer questions left from students at Goppinger american school. Tatyana Shekhovtsova right is the Only girl among the  Dodds students launch a class Nosti by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Goppinger West Germany a Alert ten soviets have entered the Goppinger elementary Junior High school and they re escaping with Peanut butter cups Matchbox cars to shirts and other priceless Western wares but there a no need to Call the military police. The intruders Are invited guests. The soviets a eight teen age members of a club for spaceflight enthusiasts and their two adult chaperones a Are spending a week with Young americans who study spaceflight in a special class for gifted and talented students in Goppinger. In the process the soviets Are getting to know the entire school and a Good chunk of West Germany As Well. The eight students belong to the All Union youth aerospace society commonly referred to As a soyuz a or Union. They visited most of the Goppinger classrooms monday to talk about space travel. A what do you do when you have an engine failure in space a asked Bryan Castillo a fourth grader. A have any of your spacecraft blown up before a asked one of his classmates. Other students wanted to know How soviet cosmonauts land after a spaceflight How they train for missions and what the soviet shuttle is like. With their rudimentary English and the help of . Army linguists the visitors answered As Well As they could. A next Century is a Century of cosmonauts and i think our country will have a very big space program and i want to take part in this program a said Mikhail Frolov 15, of Moscow. Frolov a loth grader in a special space Academy was the youngest in the group and one of the most talkative. And the american youngsters gave him lots More to talk about than just outer space. A How do you feel about the Berlin Wall coming Down a fifth grader Michael Smith asked Frolov. A i am glad because i know that our country and germans a Mikhail said haltingly then he stopped. Mild frustration passed Over his face. Finally he shrugged unable to express his thoughts. A English is difficult a he said. Tatyana Shekhovtsova 16, said through an interpreter that she plans to have a career in astrophysics. She is the Only girl in the group of visitors but she said she expects career opportunities will be just As plentiful for her As for boys. Five of the other 29 members of her Union club chapter in Makhachkala a City near the caucasus mountains also Are girls. The americans wanted to know about soviet classrooms music on soviet radio stations soviet views on the Independence movement in Lithuania and Mikhail s. Gorbachev a performance As president. And what about that new Mcdonald a restaurant in Moscow a it takes two hours to get served a a said Boris Kulikov 17, redefining the fast food concept. Until last year the Prospect of soviet guests at Goppinger was about As Likely As guest lecturers from another Galaxy. Peter Ryshenko a Moscow lawyer accompanying the group because of his familiarity with Germany said the soviet unions recent relaxation of travel restrictions made the students trip legally possible. The students earned the Chance to make their first trip abroad by submitting winning projects in a space club Competition he said. The soviets Are staying at the Homes of Goppinger students. Their itinerary for the rest of the week is packed with outings to the West German space Agency in Munich the european space Agency in Darmstadt and the Institute for space research in Stuttgart As Well As some sightseeing Tours. Lynn Mcdaniel the Goppinger teacher who issued the invitation said a group of her space study students will make a reciprocal we Klong trip to Moscow and Leningrad next month. A we have coined a phrase class nost a Mcdaniel  sex Vincennes officers honoured by Navy by the Washington Post Washington a the Navy has awarded special commendation medals for a meritorious services to two of the top officers who were serving on the Vincennes at the time the Cruiser shot Down an iranian Airliner Over the persian Gulf with 290 people aboard. The citations for the special commendations to former Vincennes skipper capt. Will Rogers Iii and it. Cmdr. Scott e. Lustig who was the ships weapons and combat systems officer do not mention the Downing of the aircraft on july 3, 1988, an error that took the lives of the planets passengers and Crew. Instead the Navy citation to Rogers states a the president of the United states takes pleasure in presenting the legion of Merit a the armed forces second highest peacetime award a a for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service As commanding officer. From april 1987 to May 1989.�?� after describing the Vincennes skirmish with seven iranian boats minutes before it shot Down the civilian aircraft the medal citation states a Captain Rogerss dynamic leadership logical judgment and unexcelled Devotion to duty reflected great credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the . Naval  Lustig the Vincennes a weapons officer on that Day was Given two Navy commendation medals a one for his four years of service on the Aegis Cruiser the other for his role in the surface skirmish. The Navy praised Lustig for a heroic achievement in connection with firing on the seven iranian boats and lauded his a meritorious services As weapons and combat systems officer from 1984-88. Navy officials said this week that while Rogers and some of his officers made mistakes in connection with the shooting the commendations were awarded for their a contributions to the  Vincennes Over their entire tour on  the Navy in its official report on the jets Downing did not discipline any of the officers involved but blamed the shooting on a series of human errors that snowballed in the chaos of the ships combat information Center where Rogers and Lustig were positioned. A mistakes were made on Board Vincennes a retired Admiral William j. Crowe jr., then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff wrote in his review of the incident adding a this regrettable Accident a byproduct of the Iran Iraq War was not the result of culpable conduct aboard  but the skipper of another ship that was on the scene of the july 3 incident wrote in the september 1989 Issue of the . Naval Institute proceedings that the Vincennes had gained a reputation for being an Overly aggressive a Trobo Cruiser and a Likely provoked the sea Battle with the iranian gunboats that preceded the  a having watched the performance of the Vincennes for a month before the incident my impression was clearly that an atmosphere of restraint was not her Long suit a wrote cmdr. David r. Carlson skipper of the frigate sides which monitored the jets Downing. Carlson added a my guess was that the Crew of the Vincennes Felt a need to prove the viability of Aegis the highly sophisticated anti aircraft system on the Cruiser in the persian Gulf and that they hunkered for an Opportunity to show their stuff.�?�. Both decorated men remain in the Navy Rogers is commanding officer of a Navy unit that trains senior officers in military tactics Lustig is executive officer of another Navy Cruiser the Navy said