European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 m a a a the stars and stripes sunday december 9,1990 d crisis in the pull  Janet Howells Tierney and Chuck Roberts staff writers military officials Are seeking blood donations to boost european reserves that will be tapped if fighting erupts in the persian Gulf. While current blood supplies in  adequate for peacetime the military is enlisting help from communities to provide Quot the excess inventory needed to be on hand in Case of hostilities a said maj. Michael Fitzpatrick the . European come joint blood program officer in Stuttgart Germany. Blood donations traditionally plunge during the holidays and the problem is compounded this year because thousands of potential donors Are deploying to saudi Arabia. Quot with the doubling of the Force Over in saudi Arab Awe need military donors to come Forward and give blood wherever they can a said col. Anthony j Polk director of the armed services blood office in Washington . The amount of fresh and Frozen blood in military stockpiles is classified and cannot be released but officials said donations Are needed to maintain emergency Levels. The military blood program accepts voluntary donations Only rom service members government civilian employees and family members. Until about three weeks ago the largest blood collecting unit in Europe the 655th medical co in lands uhf Ger. Many was collecting an average of about 300 pints of blood each week. Now collections have dipped to about 200 units weekly Fitzpatrick said. If War broke out in the Gulf injured service members would be flown from saudi Arabia to hospitals in Germany and England. However the main blood Supply used in desert hospitals and european medical centers would come from the United states. If would take about a week to get the blood pipeline flowing from the United states. Officials have planned blood can cover that Early period. Scientific breakthroughs at the naval blood research lab in Boston have changed the business of collecting and storing the life giving liquid. In the late 1970s, researchers there developed a method of freezing whole blood thereby giving it a shelf life of up to 20 years. For the process to work the chemically treated blood must be Frozen within six Days of donation. It is then stored at minus 120 degrees Polk said. Fresh blood has a shelf life of 35 Days who i stored at a temperature of 33 degrees to 42 degrees. Polk said the military has been Stock Frozen blood since 1986. Two drives at several medical facilities in Europe to make sure blood supplies there saw Hospital ships now in the persian Gulf the mercy and the Comfort Cany thousands of units of Frozen blood he said. Other blood supplies Are being stored in saudi Arabia and in medical facilities throughout Europe. Currently blood is being drawn at 84 military blood Banks in the United states eight in the Pacific and 12 in Europe Polk said. Before operation de Sert shield Europe had Only four blood Banks. If the blood requirement were to exceed supplies the military has contracts with the american association of blood Banks and the american red Cross Polk said adding that such support was not necessary during the War in Vietnam. Military communities have always volunteered the necessary bloody supplies he said adding Quot their incentive to donate is that our Supply is their  the 655th medical co will conduct a number of blood drives. In Germany it will take donations tuesday at Sembach a thursday at Derheim . 18 at Coleman Barracks in Mannheim  19 at Ramstein a and  27 at Kleber Cavern in Kaiserslautern major air bases in Europe also plan blood drives for the upcoming weeks. Naval medical facilities in Naples and Simonella Italy and Rota Spain will sponsor regular blood drives in Decera be shipping most of the blood to Germany. Anchorage Alaska up up to 60 tons of priority mail destined for . Troops in the Middle East including the persian Gulf has been grounded in Alaska the . Postal service and Federal express officials said Friday containers of mail for troops stationed in the saudi arabian desert ended up sitting outside in sub freezing cold and Snow on the Tarmac at the Federal express terminal at Anchorage International Airport. Sixty tons of military mail bound for troops in Asia and the Middle East has been delayed in Alaska , postal service spokesman Lou Eberhardt said. He blamed Federal express which has a government contract to Fly the mail across the Pacific. Federal express acknowledged that military mail got stranded in Anchorage but disputed the amount officials claimed that about 40 tons and perhaps much less was still in Alaska awaiting flights to Asia and the Middle East. A mailbag tatted Quot Bah Quot for Bahrain in the persian Gulf sat in containers in the Snow Friday while Federal express tried to sort out what happened and explain it to postal authorities who have launched an investigation. A Quot a Quot its a failure to perform a Eberhardt said from . Postal service Headquarters in Washington he noted that. Federal express was subject to a $10,000 Fine for every incident of Quot failure to get mail aboard their planes within a certain amount of  mail sent to military addresses on the West coast a Seattle san Francisco acid Oakland Calif. A for troops stationed overseas goes first to the Federal express International Hub in Anchorage on the Way to Korea Japan the Philippines and beyond. But tons of such military mail failed to make it out of Anchorage on schedule during the past several Days. Eberhardt put the amount at 28 containers totalling 120,000 pounds mail for troops in the Middle East failed to make a scheduled flight tuesday from Anchorage to Japan and then the Philippines where military officials were toy take it for further distribution r Federal express Hub manager in Anchorage Dennis Bird said the company had 20 containers of military mail waiting in Anchorage hut that some of that arrived after tuesdays flight to the Philippines and was grounded until the next available flight sunday. Bird acknowledged that at least three containers holding More than several tons of mail were delayed inadvertently in Anchorage but he conceded that the amount might be closer to what postal officials claimed. A a in a not absolutely certain there was a major amount of mail bumped a Bird said. Quot that a what we re working with postal authorities to find  Quot Federal express flies from Anchorage to Tokyo every Day but flights continue to the Philippines with persian Gulf mail Only on tuesday and sunday Bird said. Mail that missed tuesdays flight has had to wait five Days for the next flight.  a a a a a a a a -,.y a a a a. 7bird said tuesday s flight was full but he denied that Federal express purposely bumped . Postal service priority mail to make room for its own customers packages due at various destinations across the Pacific. Federal express is required to put priority mail on the next available plane. Eberhardt said the company Sim did no to do it. Bird said that if priority mail was jumped from the flight Quot it had to be an  mail involved in the delay Likely was mailed during the first few Days of december since Federal express received it in Anchorage on  4, Bird said a Bird acknowledged that All mail involved in the delay was priority military mail. _ As for the containers sitting outside in alaskans Winter weather Bird said Quot we done to know what a in those packages. We cover it with plastic and put it in con tamers Quot 7 ,u.-. Some of the mail was brought inside after an Anchorage television news Crew came to film it sitting out in the Snow. But clearly labelled Bahrain bound packages also remained outside. Pay Bur contest set lip Washington a amps soldiers in the persian Gulf can win As much As $1,000  sharing their experiences in the desert shield creative writing contest the contest sponsored  Arroy creation centers and army libraries will award More than $12,000 in . Savings Bonds As prizes to 25 possible winners. Prizes will be awarded for first second arts third place in five writing categories ten honorable mentions will receive $100 each. First place winners will get a $1,000 Bond second place a $750 Bond and third place a $500 Bond legibly Handwritten or typed entries will be accepted in the following categories Short stories fiction up to 2,000 words essays non fiction up to 2,000 words Short poems up to 36 lines epic poems 36 to 500 lines and anecdotes humor in Umfort style is words or less. Official contest rules and entry Rorm were shipped at the end of november and should get top Audi units in late december or Early january entries must be mailed  april 30 to desert shield creative writing contest. Sac Csc attn Csc or 2461 Eisenhower ave. Alexandria a 22331-0310, a desert shield briefs vehicle Accident kills airman in saudi Arabia in Eastern saudi Arabia a an airman with the 4th tac fighter wings civil engineering squad Ron was killed saturday in a vehicle Accident military officials said. A \ the airman a name was withheld pending notification of relatives he was stationed at Seymour Johnson fab n.c., before being deployed As part of operation desert shield officials said. Athe Early morning Accident occurred at an airbase in saudi Arabia. The air Force is investigating the airman was the 50th . Service member to die since the deployment began. Of those deaths two were from natural causes and one was a suicide. The rest were in accidents. A a Iraq i 11 allow pacifists to set up peace Camp Baghdad Iraq apr Baghdad has authorized a group of Western pacifists to establish a peace Camp Between the armies of Iraq and its multinational opposition a British peace activist said. A we Are a Neutral autonomous group who offered to be Between the two sides to Stop War getting started Pat Arrowsmith said. Quot we Are telling them that if they want to fight they will do that on our own  Arrow Roith said the first 100 of the volunteers will establish their Camp . 17, she said several Hundred volunteers Are expected later. A _. She said the group asked to be camped on the iraqi saudi Border and in Kuwait itself to avoid being identified As siding with Iraq in the crisis. The group the Gulf peace team said it would ask saudi Arabia to let it establish a similar Camp in saudi Arabia along the Border with Iraq v pc rash kills French Pilot on desert reconnaissance Paris up a a French Mirage Jet crashed in saudi Arabia while on a reconnaissance Mission killing the Pilot defense ministry sources reported the Pilot who was hot immediately identified was the second French military officer killed in saudi Arabia since Paris sent some 5,500 troops to the desert kingdom according to the sources. The crash occurred Friday ,. In november a French officer was killed in an Auto Mobile Accident in the saudi City of Khaled another officer was wounded in the Accident