European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday september 8,1990 the stars and stripes a Page 11 letters a explanation Given on arc reservations inn Landers dear Ann Landers several years ago you printed a piece in your column titled a dead at 17.�?� Well now my youngest brother is going to get his License soon. Please Ann help me to teach him that life is fragile and that driving is a privilege. I Learned an awful lot from that column. It really opened my eyes. Please run it again. A grateful teen Ager in Shelburne it. Dear grateful teen Here it is after Many years but As relevant As if it were written yesterday. Thanks for asking. Dead at seventeen agony claws my mind. I am a statistic. When i first got Here i Felt very much alone. I was overwhelmed by grief and i expected to find sympathy. I found no sympathy. I saw Only thousands of others whose bodies were As badly mangled As mine. I was Given a number and placed in a category. The category was called a traffic  the Day i died was an Ordinary school Day. How i wish i had taken the bus but i was too Cool for the bus. I remember How i wheeled the car out of mom. A special favor a i pleaded. A fall the kids  when the 2 50 . Bell rang i threw my books in the locker. Free until tomorrow morning i ran to the parking lot excited at the thought of driving a car and being my own Boss. It does no to matter How the Accident happened. I was goofing off going too fast taking crazy chances. But i was enjoying my Freedom and having fun. The last thing i remember was passing an old lady who seemed to be going awfully slow. I heard a crash and Felt a terrific Jolt. Glass and steel flew everywhere. My whole body seemed to be turning inside out. I heard myself scream. Suddenly i awakened. It was very quiet. A police officer was standing Over me. I saw a doctor. My body was mangled. I was saturated with blood. Pieces of jagged Glass were sticking out All Over. Strange that i  feel anything. Hey done to pull that Sheet Over my head. I can to be dead. In a Only 17. In be got a Date tonight. In a supposed to have a wonderful life ahead of me. I Haven to lived yet. I can to be dead. Later i was placed in a drawer. My folks came to identify me. Why did they have to see me like this Why did i have to look at momus eyes when she faced the most terrible ordeal of her life dad suddenly looked very old. He told the Man in charge a yes he a our son. A the funeral was weird. I saw All my relatives and friends walk toward the casket. They looked at me with the Saddest eyes in be Ever seen. Some of my buddies were crying. A few of the girls touched my hand and sobbed As they walked by. Please somebody a Wake me up get me out of Here. I can to Bear to see mom and dad in such pain. My grandparents Are so weak from grief they can barely walk. My brother and sister Are like zombies. They move like robots. In a Daze. Everybody. No one can believe this. I can to believe it either. Please done to Bury me in a not dead i have a lot of living to do i want to laugh and run again. I want to sing and dance. Please done to put me in die ground i Promise if you give me just one More Chance god ill be the most careful Driver in the whole world. All i want is one More Chance. Please god in a Only 17. C creators Syndicate a recent letter in the stars and stripes questioned the need for arc to charge members for Short notice cancellation of arc reservations. I would like to request further clarification based on a recent experience at arc Garmisch. I requested reservations in writing in Early january followed by numerous phone Calls. What i needed was two adjacent rooms for my wife and myself and our Niece and her infant daughter for seven Days. When two rooms were not available the helpful and considerate Central reservation agent Dave suggested a suite. A min suite was available at the Patton for five Days and another suite was available at the von Steuben for two. I reserved each of these placed first night deposits on each and received written confirmation. During the weeks before going to Garmisch i repeatedly called Central reservations to see if there was a cancellation at the Patton which would allow us to remain there and avoid the very inconvenient move during the Middle of our planned ski week. There were no cancellations each time i checked and Dave indicated that the reservations computer could not retain my request for the two extra nights at the Patton. During our stay at the Patton we continued to inquire whether there was a possibility of remaining. The manager was very discouraging saying that the hotel was overbooked and that some arrivals would be placed in a contract  we did in fact move from the Patton to the von Steuben. When my wife arrived at 11 . I was skiing the desk clerk told her that they had no suite for us and that they too were overbooked and would have to Send some guests to a contract  they offered her two adjacent double rooms which were adequate for our remaining two Day arc stay. I have a couple of questions regarding my experience 1.1 would have been charged for one nights room charge had i cancelled late or not shown. However there was not even a room available for the reservation which i had prepaid besides very poor business practice surely it also Borders on illegal or at least unethical. 2.1 overheard a desk clerk matter of factly notifying a calling guest that he she would have to stay a downtown in a hotel and to a Stop by for  for a family or individual planning their vacation around the advertised arc facilities and conveniences that is a pretty harsh Surprise when the reservation is prepaid guaranteed and in Cancellable with Short notice without forfeiture of first nights Deposit. 3. If this policy continues could arc in its advertisements at least advise patrons of the potential for being placed a a downtown i expressed my concerns to the von Stueben manager or. Guggemos who stated that the overbooking was done at Central reservations and caused repeated problems at the hotel. He was sympathetic and helpful. I think this policy of overbooking should be reviewed. Furthermore i think there should be a review of the records to see How Many patrons who were no shows or late cancellations have forfeited their deposits when in actuality no room had been held for them. A name withheld Kapaun As West Germany editors note a Harry Connors jr., Public affairs manager armed forces recreation Center Europe replies the word a a overbooked is wrongly used by the letter writer and unfortunately by numerous employees of arc. Arc does not a overbook a it books overflow. What this Means is that we have contracts with sever Al German hotels in each of our areas which allow us to Send our overflow guests to their hotel at arc room rates. The major flaw with the contracts is that we cannot offer this service during the German High season or on German holidays As the contract hotels Are normally at 100 percent occupancy then. For example due to the passion play in Oberammergau this summer it has been very difficult to obtain overflow booking in Garmisch. The Way overflow booking is supposed to work is after we have reached 100 percent predicted occupancy personnel calling in requesting rooms Are to be informed that we Are a booked out a however we could offer them a room in a German hotel equal to an arc hotel for the arc rate should a room not be available remember the 20-plus percent no show Factor when they arrive at the arc hotel. As our overflow booking is restricted to 10 percent of the available arc rooms in each area the majority of the personnel arriving under this agreement end up staying at an arc hotel. During the week in question the occupancy was 98 percent with Only the third night of their stay at 100 percent. This was the Only evening that arc guests should have been referred to a German hotel. Please note that i have been noting a supposed to work and a should  our employees Are Only human and sometimes mistakes happen. After researching the letter writers complaint one happened Here. Since arc has so few family suites we do not normally overflow Book in this category. This problem was either caused by a mix up at the hotel caused by a guest overstaying his or her reservation or a mistake in reservations. In any Case arc apologizes. Guests who have a confirmed reservation by Deposit Are guaranteed a room. At the time of Deposit they should be told that the room May be in a German hotel if they Are in an overflow status. Arc utilizes overflow booking As a service in an attempt to allow As Many personnel As possible to obtain a reservation. As with any service organization we Are not infallible. I Trust this explains questions posed by the letter writer and apologize again for the misunderstanding during his family  write for free pamphlets one of our readers John Nolan earlier this year alerted us to the availability of a pamphlet titled �?o101st Congress amp state governors 19891990. Communicating with Congress a put out by at amp to in cooperation with the Federal voting assistance program and the office of the Secretary of defense. We helped Nolan pass out his Supply until they ran out. The stars and stripes letters staff has now caught its breath received a fresh Supply from at amp to and is ready to hand out More of these pamphlets which list All addresses and Telephone numbers of members of Congress and state governors. It even provides useful instructions on How to go about writing an effective letter. If you would like a pamphlet free of charge write us and enclose a self addressed business size envelope. Send requests maps to the stars and stripes letters to the editor Apo 09211, and Mark the outside envelope pamphlet. A editor european edition col. Gene e. Townsend Usan commander editor in chief it. Col. Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in chief Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official views of or endorsed by the . 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