European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 17, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday november 17,1990 the stars and stripes a a Page 25commentary Ilfeld Grunt still smiling in desert i Raymond Walters was in position with his ass platoon in the Northern saudi arabian desert jl4 he was feeling kind of Down and with Good Etas supposed to get married that Day. Instead found himself digging a foxhole and cuss my his icee Rhonda and a Guy by the name of Saddam cof you May remember Raymond. His Story geared on the front Page of the stars and stripes i month. \ Joseph Albright of the Cox news service reported u ordeal like this a saturday was going to be ice Cpl. Raymond Walters wedding Day but sad a Hussein and his Fiancee Rhonda have com led to give him the a. A a Walters 22, of Lebanon mo., was standing guard l in his foxhole the other Day when the rest of 1st Loon gathered in the tent for mail Call. A f his buddy walked the letter out to him at the Fox be. He saw Rhonda a writing and Tore it open. Quot a my Fiancee a letter said a maybe this was not Fean tto be a. He started Ray dug and dug to work off the aggression Al ight reported. A i dug Down 3vi feet deep just to get imy aggression. It used to be 4 feet deep. Now tinting sandbags it is about 10 feet of his girl left him. That happens. His life reads like a tear jerking script. Mother died cancer. His father was slain. Rhonda is somewhere Colorado. To make matters worse his sister sent him a walk in. The first Day he had it it broke. Ral mans Are in High demand in the Boring desert Jim writes. Wrote Ray to express my concern. To my Surprise Rob Staggenborg he answered the letter. I asked him about his views on sports life and the Man they Call Yosemite Saddam. Ray s letter goes like this a for the National league by Young Jay Howell of the pirates. I think he was responsible for How far the pirates went. In the Al Dave Stewart of the a a. The Guys actions speak for of course this letter was Witten before Doug dra Bek took Home that Honor earlier this week. What do i miss most about Home sports Wise i miss the football games the sunday ritual of pizza and Beer and a Day of football. In a a die hard Seattle sea Hawks fan through thick and thin. Its a Fluke on the pirates choking. About Boston i done to even want to talk about it. Clemens too bad a everyone who does no to have a Walkman stands around asking what a going on. But there Are a few radios with speakers so its pretty crowded around them. Everyone was pretty excited at world series time. The majority were pulling for the reds and about three people stood by the a a. I wished it had lasted Oakland fans Are glad it did no to. A on female reporters in the locker room that a a Touchy we can assume Ray that no Pun is intended Here a could no to they set up an interview room i mean i done to like anyone a Guy or girl a coming up to me when in a getting ready to take a Shower. A about the raiders yeah they re for re Al i think they re doing great. I think it has a lot to do with the hey Ray no body asked but How a bout Buster Douglas getting hammered a Holyfield was there for the title and i think he got what he wanted. The Man is bad. I think he can take Tyson too. Holyfield will be Champion for a Long rays no different than any of the some 300,000 troops living in makeshift quarters in the Middle of a desert. He loves his mail despite Rhonda a burning letter. A a in be had three negative responses. The rest is real supportive. There Are a lot of people out there who care and i would like to. Thank everyone who wrote me and. If you want to write i will answer All letters that Are sent my was. I love getting mail. It feels Good to know How much people care. We Hadnot gotten to see a lot of it until this by a this a in a assuming he Means the Rhonda thing. Wrote Ray a my address for anyone who would like to Send mail to me or anyone in my platoon is Cpl. Ray Walters k 3/9 1st platoon Fpo san Francisco 96608-8650. A How would i like this to end i want it to end peacefully without any lives lost. I am ready if it goes the other Way we did say Ray was a Marine right anyway i asked him whom he thought Saddam was rooting for in the series. A i like baseball so in a not going to insult one of the great american teams by saying one of them is Saddam a Rhonda sounds like you lost a Good Man. The stars and stripes Agassi pulls out of slam cup my Bubuc Syfox staff writer Frankfurt Germany a Andre Agassi had Little trouble beating Emilio Sanchez thursday night. Agassi a big trouble came after his 6-0, 6-3 sweep of Sanchez at the at tour world championship. He had to face the press which grilled the Las vegas showman for declaring his withdrawal from the grand slam cup. Agassi announced his a a not to the grand slam cup in a one sentence statement earlier in the Day. He filled his Post match press conference with a few paragraphs for reporters who questioned his motives in snubbing the cup scheduled dec. 11-16 in Munich. A i want this and the Davis cup final to be the end of the year for me a said Agassi the worlds no. 4 Tennis player whose Victory thursday clinched a spot in saturdays semifinals. The inaugural grand slam cup has run into controversy on two fronts 1. Its a product of the International Tennis federation conflicting with the association of Tennis professionals and 2. Its a $6 million event with the Winner pocketing $2 million. Boris Becker has called the prize Money exorbitant and is boycotting the grand slam cup. So Are John Mcenroe and Mats Wilander. Agassi had signed to play in the cup which was set up to take the top 16 players from this years grand slam tournaments. Then came thursdays announcement. A i did no to feel Good about the original decision a the 20-year-old said. When reporters reminded him that his contract re just because in a scared of something grand slam it be my Agassi Hasni to played in Wimbledon the last three years and he is planning to skip the australian open again. Asked if his move will Hurt the game since the it says the grand slam cup will feed Money into third world Tennis Agassi noted that he has a solid record of helping minority Tennis programs. A i think in a making a Good decision for Tennis a he said. Agassi rejected the notion that he pulled out of a major tournament. A the prize Money is big but that Sas far As that goes a he said. Agassi will follow his appearance Here by playing in the Davis cup final against Australia nov. 30-dec. 2 in St. Petersburg Fla. The Davis cup is an it event. A this is it for me. Bottoms up a said Agassi swigging a Glass of water. A the Davis cup and in a outta Here for 1990. Also on thursday Ivan Lendl swept Andres Gomez 6-4,6-1, and Becker slammed Thomas Muster 7-5,6-4. Fridays matches had Becker playing Lendl Stefan Edberg taking on Pete Sampras and Gomez meeting Muster. Up up to take the top 16 players from this year s grand fridays matches had Becker playing Lendl Steff cer tops Lendl in show of Pride tussle Bubuc Syfox Agassi wednesday because of a percentage of sets a it staff writer Majk tiebreaker that favored the no. 4 player from l a Germany a Boris Becker satisfied a $50,000, Becker was that much Richer. He insisted a it vegas pm a , no a a in Rio tort no i done to want to lose to him. Becker and Lendl had cliched semifinal Bert Bubuc Syfox or Nam staff writer Germany a Boris Becker satisfied a is Rowdy beating Ivan Lendl 1-6, 7-6 7- m tour world championship.bssssff"1 straight a this $2 my a Lisl a t0 Birt he will join Becker in the a which Start at 7 . Saturday at the fest today was to do our Best which we be Oli a ready for tomorrow a said Lendl r in Victory in the round Robin phase Means $50,000, Becker was that much Richer. He insisted a it was More for Pride today. I done to want to lose to him. He does no to want to lose to Becker will next play either Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras As the tourney moves into the knockout phase. Agassi 2-1, clinched his semifinal spot with a 6-0, 6-3 Victory Over Emilio Sanchez on thursday night. Sampras 1-1, had a shot at the semis As he faced Stefan Edberg in fridays second match. Edberg 2-0, needed a win to Advance. A 2-1 record for Edberg would eliminate the no. 1 player even though he beat sets won from Las and Lendl had clinched semifinal berths thursday but you a hardly know it by the sound of the 9,000 fans packed into this downtown Arena. If they weren to clapping they were singing and whistling. Becker admitted the crowd helped a a Little bit a especially when Lendl was ready to serve. Lendl no. 3 in the world silenced them in his first set rout of Germany a favorite son. But Becker no. 2 and still with a shot at no. 1 should see Becker on Page 27
