European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Ann Landers Friday August 31,1990 the stars and stripes Page 11 letters editor s note Ann Landers is on vacation. The following column is one of her favourites. Shell be Back sunday. Dear Ann Landers my husband passed away three months ago at the age of 67. We were married 37 years and i must confess they were not Happy years. We were always poor. Our three children wore hand me Downs. It was nothing for me to walk three Miles to save 3 cents on a can of soup or a Nickel on a can of Beans. We never owned a car. The Only trips we Ever made were to funerals. Whenever i think of my husband i picture him turning off lights or turning Down the heat a to now All of a sudden in a a Rich widow. Three Days before my husband died he told me to look in his Toolbox for some papers. I was shocked to find a life insurance policy payable to me for $78,000. A week later i found a Bank taped under a Kitchen chair and discovered he had leather Pouch sayings Book under a Rug in our bedroom. He had started it ml949 and saved $8,200. Instead of being Happy i am becoming hateful and bitter. I feel that his whole life was a lie. Why did he make us live like paupers when we could have had a decent Home College for our children and vacations please answer this question and help me enjoy what years i have left. A rags to riches widow dear Friend your husband was mentally ill. In a strange Way he but the past is Over and done with so forgive him dear and go on from there. I sincerely Hope that you and the children will enjoy the comforts so Long denied you. Treat yourself to some luxuries and have some fun. You deserve it dear Ann Landers Kenneth and i were married a year ago this month. His sex wife remarried the same week. I am writing about their children 3 and 7. Kenneth sex wife has custody. She has left the children alone on numerous occasions. Last week Kenneth went Over there and found the kids alone again. It was 7 30 . When he asked Quot whereas Mommy a the boy replied a she went to get Tom her new husband. He a drunk How a that for a 7-year-old? 1 hate to see these two Lovely children raised in such a Crummy environment. My husband is furious. We have no Money for lawyers and court action. Who can we turn to a color us Blue dear Blue you can turn to Legal Aid. Look in the phone Book. And if you done to find it listed you can turn to the juvenile authorities the next time your husband finds the kids alone. If your letter is an accurate report it be difficult to obtain custody of the children. Confidential to sick of this anaemic relationship in a not surprised. It sounds As if the Money in his blood is eating up the red corpuscles. I Promise you that marriage will not improve the deficiency. It will probably make it worse. Please read the first letter in this column. How interesting that your letter and hers should arrive on the same Day c creators Syndicate of service commitment policy discussed with All the reduction talks and military cutbacks being proposed there is a group of us in the armed forces which has just received some rather startling news. Just prior to entering the service i signed a contract promising seven years of Active duty for the Type of training that the service could offer me. With a three year tour Here in Europe a one year Extension followed by a follow on three year assignment 1 would break relatively even with my contract. I Hope by saying that i am an air Force Pilot that people will not close their minds toward often misconstrued stereotypes but rather help me answer a question of newly Quot developed policy that to me sounds ludicrous. For years the air Force has been working on a retention program to help curtail its loss of pilots to civilian jobs. One such Way has been to simply extend the service commitment of newly hired recruits to help a payback Quot the Cost of initial training and follow on training. Even now the one year plus seven commitment has been increased to one-year-plus-10 for new arrivals into Pilot training. I done to have a problem with that however because people coming in have a Choice on whether or not to accept before entering. What i am questioning is a new policy whereby current pilots in the air Force who change types of aircraft which in this business can be expected As often As changing ones socks will now Nave a five year commitment in that aircraft not including the training time. This in Many cases will completely invalidate the initial contract we signed. Retention programs to me mean motivational policies whereby an individual has a harder time making up his her mind whether or not to separate. If this is the wave of retention programs soon to come we had All better Duck when the air Force feels the need to a Hammer Quot people to stay. Will people be allowed to stay in their current aircraft and serve the rest of their commitment or is this a Force fed policy encompassing everyone i will be the first one to admit a leather jacket is not going to Sway me either Way. Nor do i feel the air Force should compete with airline salaries. If anyone is expecting that then they Are in the service for the wrong reason. However not leaving people a Choice in their career Field and ignoring past contracts is no Way to do it either. Tac tac air come has had this commitment for years but people knew about it before signing i admit that i done to have All the answers but a Little stability in policy making would be a Good Start. Another suggestion for retention a pilots for years have been asking to Lessen the non operational additional duty responsibility. What about getting a High or percentage of follow on assignments tailored to individual requests not just for pilots but for every Onei am still on the Fence and Haven to decided whether or not to make the military a career. 1 am very con ceded however of a policy Tike this being ample men cd because it May tip the balance for Many qua Ity people. With the Scal Down commencing the military can afford to work better with its people to help keep a unified qualified and most importantly motivated Force no matter what the final size. A name and location withheld editors note a it. Col. Valerie a. Elbow chief Public affairs Liq . Air Force military personnel Center Randolph fab Texas replies the Active duty service commitments a dec for combat Crew training in recent years had lost their relationship with the particular Type of training provided. For example the Cost of the f-16 initial qualification course had exceeded $ 1 million yet the ads for the training was Only three years. Due to the increased emphasis on fiscal responsibilities and a declining budget authority it was time for the air Force to re evaluate its payback ads for combat Crew training. Which ads an individual receives for combat Crew training will depend on aircraft Type Mission and previous flying experience. In almost every Case the individual who incurs an ads for combat Crew training will remain in that aircraft until the ads expires. In response to tailoring assignments to individual desires every Effort is made to match individual do sires to air Force requirements. However each air Force member knows that Tolnai Tain our commitment to National defense the needs of the air Force must come first. Esso sign fuels Drivers Coupon problem i would like to take this Opportunity to inquire or at least warn other americans about a recent problem in be had in Southern Germany Bavaria. After a wonderful Day of driving around anti seeing the sights with my wife we pulled into the Esso station in Dinkl Buhl to tank up so we could make it Back to Ansbach. That a when my problems began. After walking up to the counter with my a a pc signed 31 liners Worth of Esso Gas coupons and knowing my pump number so As not to be a nuisance i was then told that my Gas coupons were not acceptable. In my Best German i asked Quot Why not a Quot because Esso a the Man said. At this Point i thought maybe i had imagined the big red sign with the letters Esso on both sides of it sitting by the Road so i looked out the window. Yep signs still there. So i asked the Man Quot if you re not Esso who arc you a Quot we Are Brunsch Quot the Man said. Quot we represent Vert ten i ended up paying 36.24 Marks. Can someone Tell me Why an Esso that a not an Esso has a big red sign Esso outside but refuses the Gas Cou Pons As far As my German dictionary says the word Vert ten Means to represent or substitute. I would appreciate an explanation or at least to warn my fellow americans about these Quot fake Esso stations. A spec. James Rutland Ansbach West Germany editors note a g. Nitzschke military sales Esso a West Germany replies please be informed that Esso operates about 1,800 service stations. All these stations must accept Aafke Esso pol coupons. Moreover Esso a has in Germany about 300 branded resellers who Are showing the Esso logo. But these resellers so called a Vert retune Der Esso age do mainly make bulk deliveries to local customers like schools hospitals Small firms Etc. These dealers Are not authorized to make tax unpaid deliveries of Jas and diesel into privately owned vehicles of . Service members. We therefore recommend that cafes customers ask any Esso dealer whether he does Honor 101. Coupons before filling up the tank of his car. European edition col. Gene e. Townsend Usan comi Nander editor in churl it col. Suzanne l. Phillips. Usan Deputy commander Edilow in chief Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication Lor members of the services overseas contents of the Stais and stripes Are not necessarily the of or endorsed by. Me go err ment. Tie department of defense or the european command the appearance of advertising m this publication including inverts or supplements. A. Not constitute endorsement by the department of defense or tie stars and stripes of the products or services a Over lived advertised sri tins publication shall be made Lor Purchase. Use or Mage without regard to race coir Quot reunion sex. National orig n. Age. 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