European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday october 2, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7model plane attack Downs Goodyear Blimp Carson Calif. Up a Pilot Nick Nicolai said he did not see the two planes that attacked his Goodyear Blimp As he was bringing the 192-foot-Long Airship in for a Landing and no wonder a the a a bogeys measured Only 4 feet. Nicolai was at the controls of Goodyear a Blimp Columbia on sunday when the big Airship started losing helium. A i was making a Normal approach and i Felt a shudder on the rudder pedals a Nicolary said. A the first hint we had a problem was when the ship began to get heavy with the nose High and Tail Low. I knew i was losing helium but did no to know  the reason was that a couple of pranksters were buzzing the Blimp with their radio controlled Model planes from a nearby parking lot. One of the planes hit the Blimp ripping a Hole in its Side and forcing the Pilot to make an emergency Landing with six passengers on Board. The deflating Blimp landed safely and there were no injuries. Witnesses told deputies two men were flying Model planes from a Holiday inn parking lot about a half mile from the blimps Home Airfield South of los Angeles and joking that they were buzzing the Airship sheriffs it. Paul Harman said. Late sunday night deputies said John William Moyer 28, Redondo Beach was booked on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and held on $5,000 bail. His 4-foot-wingspan Thunder Tiger Remote controlled plane was confiscated. Crew members at the Goodyear Airship operations Center patched the 1-by-l-foot Hole in the right Side of the Silvery Blimp to prevent it from further deflating and causing structural damage Harman said. Nicolai said the Blimp would be out of service for several Days while a special machine sucked the Gas out of the Craft and replaced it with pure helium. The blimps skin is a Dacron fabric impregnated with the rubber like substance neoprene to Seal in the helium that makes the ship lighter than air. The National transportation safety Board and the Federal aviation administration were investigating the incident Harman said. Goodyear tire and rubber co. Said it lost a few thousand dollars Worth of helium from the Blimp which is operated As a Public relations vehicle. The Columbia which began service in july 1986, is one of three blimps flying Tor Goodyear and was returning from Redondo Beach on its seventh passenger run of the Day Nicolary said. Goodyear has flown blimps since 1925, and they and other lighter than air Craft have become fixtures at such events As football games. Nicolary who has been flying blimps for 23 years said he had never heard of one being brought Down by such an incident. A Deputy said he recalled someone firing a shot at a Goodyear Blimp about 12 years ago but it did not Pierce the skin. A the reason we have to Patch it is unsettling a Nicolary said. A usually Mother nature is the Only person that gives us  Parade welcomes Polhill Home Beacon . A after 39 months of Captivity in the Middle East and another five months recovering from Throat cancer Robert Polhill returned Home on sunday to a welcoming Parade and hundreds of Well wishers wearing yellow ribbons. More than 500 people lined beacons main Street to catch a glimpse of the former hostage and attend a Brief ceremony held in his Honor. A a in a overwhelmed with All these people a said Polhill smother Ruth. A it was a remarkable  a it makes me Happy to see that Robert was not forgotten a said Polhill a wife Ferial. A remembrance is  she also read a Brief message from her husband whose voice Box has been removed because of his Throat cancer. A the warmth of your Welcome overwhelms me a Polhill a message said. A i regret that i am not sufficiently fluent to Greet you  Polhill 56, waved to the throngs As he Rode with his wife in a limousine. Police flanked the route and fire trucks and a Small band joined the procession. Folk Singer Pete Seeger dedicated a god bless american to Polhill As a part of the festivities. Polhill was finishing a four year stint As an assistant business professor at Beirut University when he and three other faculty members were kidnapped by moslem extremists on Jan. 24,1987. He was released on april 22 and was hospitalized at Walter Reed army medical Center in Washington for diabetes former hostage Robert Polhill gets a welcoming hug from Lee Carbonaro upon his return to his Hometown of Beacon ., on sunday. And malnutrition. After a growth taken from his vocal cords was found to be cancerous Polhill a voice Box was removed. The original Homecoming plan was called off while Polhill remained As an outpatient at Walter Reed living on the medical Center grounds. There Are 13 Western hostages being held in the Middle East including six americans. The longest held is Terry Anderson 42, the chief Middle East correspondent for the associated press who was kidnapped March 16,1985. Nyc doctors seeing Young wave new York up a children Are so often the prey of bullets in new York City these Days that a new medical speciality has emerged As doctors grapple with increasing caseloads of tiny gunshot victims. A every year we see More children shot or stabbed a an a pert at a Hospital in the heart of one gun Ridden neighbourhood where the caseload has doubled. A i think what a happened to us unfortunately is that penetrating trauma in children is just exploding a said or. Wayne Longmore director of emergency services at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn a East new York Section. Many of the severe child shooting cases that have made headlines recently were treated at Brookdale a private voluntary Hospital that serves As a trauma Center about a dozen Miles from Manhattan. In 1986, Only 17 percent of Brookdale a serious trauma patients were children now they make up 30 percent of the trauma Load he said. The first in a series of tragic cases to receive National attention last summer was that of Veronica Corales a 9-Vear-old shot in the head As she slept on her mothers Lap m the family car. She died at Brookdale july 24. Seven More new York Gay children have been fatally shot and More than two dozen injured since. Emergency room staffs at hospitals like Brookdale Are Shell shocked. The latest victim was a 13-year-old boy who was playing in a Brooklyn Park sunday. He became the 10th new York City child to be shot in september. The youth suffered an Arm wound from a Bullet fired by a drive by attacker police said. The shooting took place at 4 p.m., when a car passed by a group of children playing in a Park and an occupant fired two shots one striking a youngster in the upper Arm. The victim who was not identified was taken to Brookdale Hospital where he was listed in stable condition. The boy was the 24th child to be struck by gunfire in the City since july 22, and the sixth in the last 10 Days. Eight of the Young victims including a 3-week-old boy and two 13-year-Olds shot last week have died. A when you look at the news in Kuwait for example we know there a a problem there a Longmore said. A but there a also a problem in Brownsville East new York. We re just flabbergasted by the amount of penetrating trauma in children and by the increase in the last few years and months. A one of the worst cases i Ever saw was a 4-year-old who was shot in the Chest in his own apartment. His parents never came to the Hospital a said Longmore an Miami escalator Accident kills cuban woman Miami apr an elderly cuban immigrant taking her first Steps in the United states was crushed to death sunday in an escalator Accident at Miami International Airport police said. At least five other passengers were injured. Bertola Agrispina Acosta Bereda 75, was killed under the weight of her fellow passengers As they fell on an escalator to the . Customs service and immigration offices said police officer Ralph Fernandez. A was they came up the escalator someone fell causing other people to fall. It was a Domino effect. A number of people were falling on her in a Chain reaction a he said. Dade county medical examiner Arthur Copeland said the woman ended up at the Bottom of the escalator. Witnesses said mrs. Acosta Bereda fell first an Airport official said. A she cried out she screamed. And then she fainted or had some Type of attack a said Nancy Brizuela. A she fell and then the others who were right behind her just went Over her and they were unable to Stop and they trampled her. A a a it a possible they be never seen an escalator before a Fernandez said. Airport spokeswoman Amalia Fernandez said the six arrived on an Eastern airlines flight a weekly charter from Havana bringing cuban immigrants to the United states and exiles Home from visits. Of victims emergency room Veteran of 17 years. A we never did get a name on this child a who was dead on arrival. Longmore whose emergency room each year sees 90,000 patients one fourth of them trauma victims recalled treating a 3-year-old Cut through by an automatic Bullet after beg used As a shield in a gun Battle. A her Mother was walking her out of a Nursery school and one of the Fellows picked her up and the other fellow shot the Guy right through the 3-year-old,�?� Long More said. A the Bullet went from her right Side to her left Side just under the heart and just in front of the big vessels one said. A when this child came in with two big holes right near her heart it was an incredible  the child recovered. On the same Day that Veronica Corales died 1-year-old Yar Timi Fruto was brought to Brookdale with fatal gunshot wounds. And punctuating those deaths has been a constant barrage of unpublicized adolescent and teen age injuries. Often carrying guns themselves youngsters 13,14 and 15 years old make up the bulk of the paediatric gunshot victims