European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 20, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes a Page 11 a i  dear Ann Landers for several weeks in be been hearing parents moan and groan about upcoming graduations. They complain about the Money they have to spend because their kids want everything a parties fancy evening gowns and rented tuxedos limousines and permission to stay out All night. Some teens arc even asking for Money to stay in hotels. Parents say a wok a because they done to want their kids driving around drunk. _ _ i am also hearing a lot of complaints from moms and dads because their children did no to make grades Good enough to get into the so called better colleges and universities. Some of these parents Are depressed and downright brokenhearted. I Hope this letter will help them be More realistic. My son who two years ago was a terrific swimmer and High Board diving Champion played the saxophone was sensitive and kind and had a fabulous sense of humor will not be graduating. He dropped out of school six months ago because he kept falling asleep in class and was flunking everything. When we caught him snorting cocaine in his room we put him in a rehabilitation Center but he was doing Coke again two weeks after he swore he was  so when you Are sitting in that school auditorium or standing under the hot Sun on that football Field feeling a Little unhappy because your child is a disappointment because he or she did no to live up to your expectations please remember us All the parents who would give anything in the world to be sitting there with you. Remember us and love your child for what he or she is not for what you would like him or her to be. Be honest enough to admit that perhaps you May have been living your life a bit too much through your child wanting the child to be what you wanted to be but somehow never were. Remember that there is Only so much room at the top and not everyone has what it takes to gel there. Being in the Middle is of too. When your child reaches out and gets that diploma be proud. Think of All the parents who wish they were in your shoes. A los Angeles Mother dear Mother you have written a moving  you for giving millions of people another Way to look at life. That a what this column is All about. Dear Ann Landers a while Back you had a column about people who help themselves to hotel Bath towels sheets and pillowcases. What i read in the Palm Beach Post recently beats anything in be Ever heard of. Here a the Story a Man who stayed at the Palms Motel in Ocala fla., apparently liked the accommodations so much he decided he  Bear to leave them behind. The Ocala police department reported that the guest who stayed eight Days and left without paying his Bill took the following items a $40 lamp two wooden chairs valued at $130 a $300 refrigerator a wooden table Worth $40 a $400 to a $425 air conditioner the Shower curtain rods and rings Worth $20 the Beds acts and Bedspread Worth $50 and a portable Heater valued at $32. Please Tell me Ann How could a person possibly gel away with that much stuff a dumbfounded in Florida dear founded he probably had a truck. C creators Syndicate writers discuss the lessons of holocaust we recently concluded holocaust remembrance week and i feel As though 1 need to speak out. I Hurt inside when i see depictions of the cruelties that were inflicted upon the jewish people and 1 am proud that our country had a pan in bringing that chapter of persecution to a close. Such an abomination was almost beyond understanding and All of us must some Day answer within ourselves a How was this possible a Only by accepting the truth in answering this question can we recognize the responsibilities we All share to avoid the recurrence of such inhumanity and it is in the recognition of this truth that we seem to be failing. Was the holocaust Only made possible by a uniquely monstrous group of people the germans or is it possible that All people share not Only the potential to seek Good and truth but also the ability to Excel in wickedness during the past few weeks i have heard the holocaust described As a genocide without parallel. Such impressions can Only Spring from the roots of ignorance. It seems that we might be accepting the easy answer but in so doing we arc failing to prevent anything and our Token remembrances May actually be subtly spurred on by the very influences we should be discouraging. We focus on the inequities of Hitler and forget the a great terror of Stalin. The history of Mankind is filled with plagues of death inflicted with the sword and our Day is not clean. Hiller lived 40 years ago. Germany has lived since then under the worlds Eye. So if Germany is not to blame How do we explain the 2 to 3 million people killed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia Between 1975 and 1978? arc they just another uniquely monstrous group they Are different from us and they do speak a different language. How Many More will die while we ignore the truth the cause is ultimately hatred though we May Label it prejudice or revenge. It can even hide itself behind a rationale of a in the name of  it is an addicting Poison which consumes us with misery and blinds us from current atrocities. Do we seek the same Justice for the perpetrator s of the a Beirut massacre Quot is the current cambodian government so evil that we should financially support the coalition of which the ousted Khmer Rouge is a member do we even care about the people there or do we dwell on the connection to Vietnam and try to work some kind of revenge when we see people fighting for dignity and the inalienable rights that we believe All men Are entitled to do we recognize them we must remember what we As americans Call those who demand representation within the body that governs them. We done to Call them terrorists we Call them Quot founding fathers Quot and we do so with reverence. If we truly want to prevent genocide we will recognize oppression whenever it raises its ugly head. Whether it is aimed at the jews in the Warsaw ghetto the peasants in Cambodia the Blacks in South Africa or the a non citizens Quot in Jerusalem we must recognize it for what it is and speak out. To Hope that we can ensure a belter future by dwelling on the past grievous brutalities of one group and remain unfamiliar with enmity s current face is naive. A Kenneth l. Ahern Heidelberg West Germany i went to a holocaust memorial service. I am not Tel Aviv traffic stops As people remember the holocaust. Jewish. Why did i attend because Over 6 million innocent jewish individuals and thousands of other innocent civilians wore brutally murdered by the nazis. The audience at the army Chapel was sparse. All of us need to remember this heinous genocide As heart wrenching As it is to face for two reasons. First of All in almost every piece of documentation and literature on the subject there is one urgent plea Quot do not  the tiny children the mothers the Sisters Brothers doctors plumbers teachers Ever it victim of this atrocity a died at the hands of rampant prejudice. Each victim was loved by someone each one had a name and a face All his own. The victims were not homogeneous but greatly sailed socially economically and religiously yes. Mans of the jews who died were protestants catholics atheists Etc. As Well As those who practice the jewish Lailah some were pretty some were Plain. Thev came from As Many different countries As there Are m Europe. They suffered inhumanely. I Hes died inhumanely from the ashes 45 years after the demise of the third Reich. Bios a can we come to terms with this senseless death what can we learn from it a t he second reason to remember is. In the words of Herman Wouk. Quot the beginning of the end of Star lies in  we can learn to re Egom a trial everyone has the right to live without persecution because of their race nationality or religion. When god looks Down on us he does not distinguish one human life As being Worth More than another. Neither should we. Anyone s life is just As important As yours. It you Don t want your Hie to be senseless terminated or All that you have Ever loved or worked Tor taken away from you. Then you must not allow that to happen to any other innocent person or group of people. It we continue to look the other Way when innocent people arc persecuted when they come for us. To take our lives and loved ones who will be left to speak up a Kerah e. Mite hell Stuttgart. West Germany All letters to the editor must contain the full printed name and address of the writer and must he signed. We do not read unsigned letters but we will withhold it our name on request and protect your privacy. All letters Are subject to editing. European edition col. Gene e. Townsend. Usan commander editor in chief it. Col. Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor m chill Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized in oficial publication Lor members of he military services overseas. 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