European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday july 7, 1990 the stars and stripes Pago 5 Alexandria a. Apr the army s top officer on thursday used the reunion of veterans Defeated during the first major . Battle in Korea to caution Congress on armed forces cuts. A we must not sacrifice the american Soldier on the altar of political expediency a Gen. Carl e. Vuono army chief of staff said at a reunion of Vuon Alaska is latest to be scorched by raging fires Anchorage Alaska apr a raging wildfire thursday forced residents of a Small town to abandon their Homes burned a coast guard station and other buildings and blocked the Alaska Highway the main Road into the state. A the fire is out of control. We re throwing everything at it we have a tankers bulldozers people and it Isnit working a said state forester Bob Dick. He could give no estimate of the fires size except to say it was a substantially larger than the 14,000 acres it had consumed by thursday morning. The Blaze was among 159 raging across some 172,500 acres of Alaska. The biggest fire covered about 30,000 acres near Beaver about 110 Miles North of Fairbanks but authorities said no structures were threatened there. Sirens sounded throughout Tok a town of 900 people about 175 Miles Southeast of Fairbanks and residents were told to leave their Homes and go to the town school. Flames were within a mile of houses near the Tok Airport and on the Southeast Edge of town. T the fire was burning the coast guards Loran station Tok which provides electronic radio signals to help guide aviators and mariners. Coast guard volunteers flew to the station earlier in the Day from Kodiak to try to Clear a fire line around the building. The Glenn Highway was closed thursday morning from about one mile South of Tok to about seven Miles Southland the Alaska Highway was closed Between the Tok Airport and the Tanana River crossing about 10 Miles East of town. A flames Are crowning Over the Tok Airport swelling up Over Trees and rolling real fast a said a state police dispatcher in Tok. A the sky is Black and the whole area is completely choked in. Most of the fires were blamed on heat Low humidity and a rash of lightning strikes. Temperatures approached 90 degrees throughout much of the Interior wednesday. The heat dries out alaskans forests and gives Rise to late afternoon thunderstorms and wind  of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. July 7, 1950 a Gen. Douglas Macarthur a Headquarters advised the Pentagon that the situation of american ground forces in Korea was a not considered serious in any Way Quot and an army spokesman denied that an american infantry outpost was a wiped out by North korean tank led forces.30 years ago today. July 7, i960 a president Eisenhower accused soviet Premier Nikita s. Khrushchev of making crude attempts to influence the american presidential election campaign.20 years ago today. July 7, 1970 a it. Gen. Haim bar lev the israeli chief of staff charged that soviet missile Crews fired their weapons at israeli warplanes in the Suez canal. 10 years ago today. July 7, 1980 a iranian militants holding . Hostages issued a statement that said the 53 american hostages had been transferred again to different parts of the country. On task Force Smith the first combat unit in Korea. A precipitous cuts of More than 35,000 Active component soldiers in any single year. Will fracture the combat capability that May be required to defend our nations vital interests a he said. Named for its commander it. Col. Charles Bradford Smith task Force Smith was hastily put together after North Korea struck across the 38th parallel on june 25, 1950. On the morning of july 5, with North korean troops already in Seoul task Force Smith was dug in on a Ridge commanding a Highway and railway line about 22 Miles South of the City. The officers and enlisted men of task Force Smith were looking Down on a Miles Tong column of North korean trucks jammed with infantry and soviet made tanks. The unit had been issued six High explosive antitank rounds capable of piercing the Armor of that Type of tank. But the soldiers soon made a number of unpleasant discoveries. They found Many of their weapons either did no to work or were Loo Light to do the Job radios had corroded batteries and could not be used to Call in artillery and no arrangements had been made for the resupply of ammunition. There was no medical evacuation system. The most seriously wounded had to be left behind when the order came to withdraw and they did not have any maps of the area. A the . Army the Victor in the Quot greatest land campaigns of this Century Only five years Ore was an empty Force a Vuono said. Gre be it a Mitch Snyder right Beds Down on a steam grate in 1987 with actor Martin Sheen in Washington to urge support for Aid to the homeless. Sheen played Snyder in the 1986 movie a Samaritan the Mitch Snyder  by the Cox news service Washington a Mitch Snyder the sex convict who became a controversial advocate for americans homeless was found hanged thursday in the shelter he helped open for the Street people of the nation s capital. A Handwritten note on yellow Legal paper was discovered near Snyder a body in his third floor room and police called the Case a an apparent suicide by  police spokesman de Wilson said the note contained references to suicide. Other officers said the note indicated a despondency Over personal problems. An autopsy was to be held. Snyder 46, had an on and off relationship with Carol Kennelty another advocate for the homeless for the past 15 years. In May the couple announced plans to marry next fall. Daniel began the Radical priest who met Snyder in prison two decades ago was to perform the ceremony. A we Are greatly saddened by our loss a Fennelly said thursday. A we Are More committed now than Ever to continue our struggle to advocate for homeless human beings and to continue our fight for overnight shelter and affordable  Snyder burst onto the National scene in the Early 1980s with a series of life threatening fasts that focused attention on the plight of the homeless. His 51-Day hunger strike in 1984 ended Only after the Reagan administration agreed to renovate a shelter in a federally owned building. Later that year Snyder helped win passage of initiative 17, which guaranteed overnight shelter to homeless people in the District. But Snyder had encountered setbacks in recent months. Some of his fellow advocates argued against him this Winter when Snyder refused to cooperate with the census Bureau in its first Ever attempt to count the nations homeless. Snyder said the nationwide one night headcount was doomed to failure and the resulting under count would undermine the cause. The District government also dealt Snyder a setback in june when it cited budgetary considerations and Cut Back on initiative 17 s absolute guarantee of overnight shelter to the homeless. In the Spring Snyder announced plans to spend time in a Trappist monastery in Virginia. He told reporters he needed to a renew Quot his a relationship with god Quot and Quot do simple work like baking bread. After serving in the Vietnam War Snyder drifted for awhile ending up in Federal prison after being convicted of Auto theft. There he got to know Daniel and Philip Berrigan the Antiwar priests who were serving time for destroying draft records. After his release from prison in 1972, Snyder joined the protest movement against the Vietnam War. Snyder initially made news in Washington on Christmas Day 1973, when he and another Antiwar demonstrator were arrested climbing Over the Fence around the White House where the Nixon were having their Holiday dinner. Later joining the Community for creative nonviolence Snyder shifted his energies from the Antiwar protest to speaking out for the homeless