European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 a a a the stars and stripes wednesday september 26,1990 crisis in the Gulf tons of Gulf mail piled up in London. To ttua/1 in of nmn Moil to by Desdee Arrington Doke Kaiserslautern Bureau ramste1n a West Germany -. Mail headed for troops in the Middle East piled up at London a Heathrow Airport fast week creating a four Day logjam of 33 tons of letters and packages. Air Force officials on monday attributed the problem to miscommunication Between airline representatives in the United states and airline cargo officials at 1 Lea throw the most used of five european airports serving As hubs for desert shield mail. Carrier representatives in the United states were Overly optimistic about How much space would be left for troop mail after loading passengers baggage and cargo onto aircraft bound to saudi Arabia from Heathrow said it. Col. Edward t. Stanford commander of the 7025th air postal so at Ramstein. British airways and saudia the saudi airline Are the primary carriers used to move the mail from Heathrow to saudi Arabia. The pileup which began about sept. 16, also roughly coincided with the lifting of a . Ban on sending mail weighing More than 12 ounces to desert shield troops. At that Point air Force personnel who watch transfers of mail alerted Squadron officials that a not All of what was going in was going out a Stanford said. The accumulation was cleared Friday after air Force officials took Steps to Haft the flow to Heathrow and reroute some of the mail already at the London Airport. Several measures were used to move the mail on said Robert a Bents director of mail transportation for the 7025th. . Postal officials were asked to temporarily a turn the faucet off to Heathrow. A portion of the waiting mail was sent from Heathrow to Brussels and then from the be Vigian capital on to the Middle East. The military Airlift come at Raf Mildenhall England helped by sending some accumulated mail out on a cargo flight monday. The mail was trucked to the air base Friday. The commercial carriers also found additional space to help move the mail. With the pileup cleared 7025th officials believe similar situations should not arise again with desert shield mail. A i think we be got it under control at Heathrow which is the flashpoint because it is the no. 1 Hub hands Down for mail destined for desert shield a Stanford said. A we simply had to get a Good reliable handle for what the output can be. We have that  the airlines now estimate they can handle 13,000 pounds of desert shield mail a Day from Heathrow. The agreement is a not ironclad not guaranteed but a Good Faith commitment a Stanford said. The other hubs Are Amsterdam Netherlands Brussels Paris and Frankfurt. Stanford said those hubs Are handling a just about As near to 100 percent As you can get in this environment of the desert shield bound mail. Few if any other european airports can offer the regular even flow of transport necessary for the mail to travel to saudi Arabia. Additional help is being offered in the United states. Some mail is being sent directly to saudi Arabia from Dover fab Del. A a a it a be wonderful if we had our own indigenous aircraft lift capability to move All of it on non Stop c-5 flights a Stanford said a and god bless pm if they could do that. That a just not possible  about 27,000 copies of the stars and stripes bound for Dhahran saudi Arabia had been handled through Heathrow five Days a week until thursday when circulation managers Learned of the mail logjam. On Friday a new schedule began that involves the papers travelling through Amsterdam four Days a week through Paris one Day and through Heathrow on mondays and thursdays. An additional 6,000 copies Fly to Riyadh saudi Arabia directly from Frankfurt six Days a week and through London on the seventh Day. The stars and stripes is now sending 33,152 copies of the paper to 238 Apo addresses in the persian Gulf  begins free desert fax mail service at amp to is giving Savannah a. Up _ military families frustrated by slow mail delivery a speedy Way to reach out Ana touch . Troops in the Gulf letters by fax. The company began its free desert fax service Friday at at amp to phone Center stores nationwide As a Way to boost the troops morale. Letters Are sent by fax to a facility in saudi Arabia folded stuffed into envelopes and distributed to military personnel at mail Call said Bob Burgard manager of at amp to a Savannah phone Center. Desert fax letters can be processed and distributed in a couple Days while regular mail can take several weeks to reach the Gulf Burgard said monday. F. Its desert fax viewed of morale building. Its just at amp to a Way of trying to help maintain that line of communications. These folks Tell us there a been some terrible snafus in the delivery of mail and the soldiers Are asking them Why they Arentt writing Quot he said. Silvia Foote of Savannah came to the store monday morning to fax a letter to her husband sgt. Stephen Foote a member of the army a 24th inf div from Hunter army Airfield. She said she planned to return monday afternoon with the couples 6-Ycar-old son Stephen Foote Iii and let the child a make a picture for his  a a in la come in every Day probably. It takes them military personnel forever to get the letters. I know my husband got at least one letter because he called me once on the answering machine and said keep the letters coming a Quot Foo Esaid. A i really appreciate what at amp to is doing. We be been writing letters since they left but i done to think they get the letters. He should have had 30 letters by now a she said. There is no limit on How Many desert fax letters can be sent or How often family members can use the service Burgard said. A the Only requirement is that they use the de scr tax form that we have a he said. On the form family members Are asked to provide the recipients name rank service number unit or ship and operation desert shield Apo or Fpo number. The forms can be completed in the store or taken Home filled out and returned later Burgard said. More than 100 people have used the service since Friday and Burgard said he expects Many More to come in As word Odeser tax spreads. Quot today monday that Sall we be done so far. Every body a coming in a he said. A amps Vince Crawley 2nd it. Charles san Tell 24, from Minden la., reads out loud a letter from his Fiancee. Listening is Christopher Cantrell 23, of Oxford miss. Both Are with thc82nd airborne dive a cob 1st in 505th Parachute inf Reg letters news big morale boosters Home and the breakfasts blandness. A the newspapers and the mail a everybody goes for them a says sgt. Karl Dune the platoon sergeant. A a that a the Bright spot of the  sometimes the newspapers arrive three Days late. Or later. No matter Dune says. A a it a news to us. These men sleep in shallow depressions they scratch in the Sand and cover with a poncho or netting. At night they train. During the Day they train some More. Then they re Given time to sleep or try to. The heat and the flies Are formidable opponents to rest. So the mails arrival has brightened the mood of these soldiers who Are tired hot dirty and far from Home. Some read the Fayetteville times which shouts from its front Page about a population surge in the area. A a that Sall our wives boyfriends moving in a a Soldier quips. For the next few minutes More jokes Are made about stories in the newspaper from Home. Then one of the Reading soldiers reports a it does say we be become acclaim ated to the heat and our morale is  Heads a soldiers turn silent and simply shake their by Ron Jensen staff writer in the arabian desert a breakfast is egg loaf with Ham pork sausage links in brine a lots of Bree a Coffee cake donuts oranges and juice. And mail. The soldiers with this 82nd airborne div platoon Are still finishing their tin traded meals when the mail arrives at the Bush that is their command Post in the desert. A letter comes for sgt. Ted Minkevich from a girl named Carol. She a a dancer at a place called the cellar in Fayetteville n.c., near the divisions fort Bragg Home. A she probably says a since you re Over there you probably wont need any Money. Think i can have some a a Minkevich says As he opens the letter. A a that a the kind of Chick she  another Soldier receives a letter from a Bill collector and stands to give a Public Reading a dear customer a he starts a sorry to hear about the crisis in the Gulf. Hope you Are of. Send us our.  the performance is met with laughter and the men who have been living in the Sand continue to smile after the Soldier sits Down. The mail has made them forget a for a moment at least a the heat the distance from