European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday August 31, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 9over Here Ains by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau Naples Italy a . Navy chaplains shepherding their flocks afloat Are keeping alive the tradition of the circuit rider the travelling clergy who once served Flung Frontier churches. Today the chaplains Are More Apt to arrive by helicopter than horse but the ride can be almost As jarring on Small ships without flight decks a circuit rider must be lowered on the aircraft a survival Sling. In the Mediterranean the a holy a clog circuit includes 6th Fleet ships at sea and those visiting port said chaplain Tom Keenan a Catholic priest who wears the rank of lieutenant commander. Although there Are a Small number of chaplains assigned on ships operating in the med most of the vessels rely on Keenan and two other chaplains assigned to the Fleet chaplains office. Before the Middle East crisis about 15,000 sailors were serving aboard 20 ships in the Region. A the first Day aboard a ship is usually a Long one a said Keenan who shares the circuit with a protestant minister and a rabbi. A i usually go from 5 30 . To 11 or 12 at night. A i Start of by providing an Early mom ing meditation. Then i hold an ecumenical service before lunch mass before supper and a scripture study at Keenan and other chaplains often find that life is As important As Liturgy to the sailors stationed on ships in the med. A for about 60 percent of the people in a ships Crew this is their first time in the Mediterranean. They re having All kinds of problems such As culture Shock homesickness and Girlfriend problems a Keenan said. A being the new Guy on the Block i spend a Tot of time listening letting people talk about their the chaplains also make time for discussions with Lay leaders and those involved in the ships alcohol recovery and other counselling programs. Although assigned to the chaplains office at the Fleet Landing in Naples the staff spends much of its time aboard ships. Keenan for example has spent three quarters of his time at sea in the two years he a been assigned with the Fleet. Coordinating the chaplains assigned to ships As Well As keeping tabs on the circuit riders is no Small task according to sa5. Gary Millor chaplain it. Comdr Tom Keenan right assists Cardinal William Baum in mass aboard the aircraft Carrier Dwight d Eisenhower in Naples Italy. The 6th Fleet chaplains office helped arrange the Cardinal s visit from the Vatican. Chaplain Mike Burt a lutheran minister who As a Navy Captain is the senior circuit rider in the Mediterranean. Ships in the med Are updated regularly on the location and denomination of chaplains on the circuit. Such coordination Means sending volumes of messages putting the tiny chaplains office in the same communications league As much larger commands in the Naples area. A communication is a big part of the a Job. We read and write a considerable number of messages Quot said Petty officer 1st class Harry b. Arden one of two religious program specialists assigned to the chaplains office. Many of the messages involve tracking the chaplains when they re at sea since they done to always stay on the same ship he said. A we get them out to the Fleet and Back. It gets confusing at times because one chaplain will be going out and another one will be returning. But we Haven to lost anyone yet Quot Arden said. Arden and co worker Seaman Pedro a. Aquilo also conduct Tours of important Naples churches. A a it a a free positive Liberty experience for 6th Fleet sailors visiting Naples a Arden said. Everyone at the chaplains office also pitches in to arrange papal audiences for Fleet sailors. They also take sailors to easter and Christmas mass at the Vatican. A a we la take from 650 to 1,200 people to Rome for Christmas mass Quot Arden said. A a we take them by the bus Load to the mass feed them and give them a Lour of Rome at about 2 . After the the 6th Fleet chaplains office also coordinates religious Tours for sailors on ships that visit Israel Egypt and Turkov where the Virgin Mary was reported to have spent her last years at Ephesus. Quot but we re not a travel Agency a Keenan said. A your main Mission is giving the Fleet religious Marine seeking to overturn death sentence Washington apr a military appeals court was asked thursday to overturn the death sentence of a Marine in a racially tinged Case. Accused of killing his platoon commander and the commanders wife Ronnie Curtis then a Lance Corporal faces the first military execution in 29 years. Curtis who is Black contends racial taunts drove him to kill it. James and Joan Lotz on april 13, 1987 Curtis confessed to a state trooper and investigators. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of the slayings in a military trial and reduced to the lowest enlisted Grade. He is being held at fort Leavenworth Kan. Lawyers on both sides see his Case As a test of the military death penalty. Among the Many intervenor a is the a act Legal defense and educational fund which said his 1987 court martial was tainted by racial Bias. Three civilian judges of the . Court of military appeals were asked by Curtis lawyers during Oral arguments thursday to overturn his sentence on grounds that the military death penalty is unconstitutional. For the first time the court permitted television cameras to air its proceedings live on the a Span Cable network. Curtis was sentenced by a nine member military panel even though All states with death penalties require 12-member sentencing juries in capital eases. Military Law requires Only five panellists a provision his lawyer. To Beta Morin said could deprive pendants of Quot substantial input and quire a 12-person Papel and that defendants can get fair sentences with fewer members. Curtis lawyers also argued that Congress never granted authority for the 6-year-old executive order permitting the military to sentence a murder defendant such As Curtis to death. But government lawyer Thomas Miller said the order was a natural outgrowth of presidential a Curtis Lull e the cd a in Neil said the Constitution docs not re Hority and military Law and that congressional permission was not needed. Curtis the adopted son of a couple from Wichita Kan., did not attend the arguments. If he loses the Appeal Curtis could take his Case to the . Supreme court. A military panel found Curtis then 21, guilty of fatally stabbing Lotz a Scranton fa., native who was his Section officer at Camp Lejeune . Curtis also was found guilty of stabbing lol is wife and sexually abusing her As she Lay dying in her Home. Military lawyers appointed for Curtis said in Appeal papers that Lotz antagonized Curtis by imitating what lie believed were Black mannerisms and by calling cur tis a a bebop and the relationship Between Cun is and Lotz Quot took on a dynamic like that which existed Between a slave and his master Quot the Legal of the National association for the advancement of coloured people said in a a Friend of the court Quot Brief. A you wanted a dog you snapped your fingers you called me names you wanted a dog Here s your dog right Here a Curtis said at the court martial. The military said that Lotz did Call services members by nicknames but that the trial record showed the use of the names was a not racial and that the lieutenant was not the court martial panel included three Blacks out of nine enlisted men and officers. The a act said the military judge allowed prosecutors to a revoke racial Bias by permitting such evidence As mrs. blood soaked underwear which prosecutors said was relevant to their Case. The court plans to consider the Appeal in two stages. A ruin mfg is expected by Lute september on the first part a a Challenge to the death penalty in military murder cases. I Curtis loses the constitutional Appeal he will be permitted a second Appeal that co uhf consider the composition of the military jury and other racial issues lawyers said. A a a Soldier was hanged in 1961 tar rape and at tempted murder. The military has not executed anyone since then but it has built a new chamber at fort i was Epworth designed fur lethal injections. It
