European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page. 6 the stars and stripes Friday january 25, 1991in the Gulf Back Home wife s newsletter shines Light at end of Tunnel Savannah a. Apr one military wife is keeping up morale at Home by putting out a publication she Calls Tunnel the totally unofficial newsletter for families with loved ones fighting the persian Gulf War. Betsy. Hoit Thetford whose husband is an Apache helicopter Pilot launched the twice monthly newsletter in september. Because she has Complete editorial control Hoit Thetford said the news is always Good. Subscribers live As far away As Pennsylvania California and Hawaii. Tunnel fare brings the front closer to Home. One column in the newsletter called a letter from re Abia a compiles paragraphs culled from letters families receive from the troops. Other typical items include information about family support services Community projects that. Benefit families and an account of scorpion fights a popular desert diversion a instead of giant Boom bomb squad hears meow Savannah a. A officials called in an army bomb squad when a a a suspicious Box was found outside the Chatham county courthouse. T he soldiers blew a Hole in the Box freeing. A White cat. A a the Box with a note attached to a Lisa a looked Odd sheriff Walter Mitchelljr. Said. Worried about the threat of possible terrorist attacks related to the persian Gulf War authorities called fort Stewart on wednesday. Streets were roped off and the bomb squad blew a Hole in the Box. When the smoke cleared a meow was heard and the cat apparently not seriously injured emerged authorities said the cat would be taken to a veterinarian. Yellow ribbon efforts get Long and Short of it Reno Nev. Apr a yellow ribbon 23v Miles Long a big enough to tic around a Forest of old Oak Trees a is How people in the neighbouring cities of Reno and Sparks plan to show their support for . Troops fighting Iraq. Volunteers intend to Start laying the ribbon on roads around the two cities sunday morning. Maybe they could share some of that ribbon with people ii Florida where yellow a ribbon is so much in demand that its getting hard to find. A we just sold the last piece a said Lola Hicks Saleswoman at Joann fabrics in Lauderhill Fla. Debra Vanderlaan owner of Flower Jungle Florist in Lake world Fla called As far North As new Jersey in search of the makings of the popular mementos. V Vietnam veterans launching anti War drive in Germany by Luke Britt Staft writer Worms Germany a the Vietnam Veteran watched in silence last week As . Pilots described on television the Success of their bombing raids on Iraq. When he finally spoke his words were bitter Quot this is criminal a Darnell Summers said. A they re boasting about w hat they be  and then More softly he said a please let them Stop this  to kelp bring an end to the fighting. Summers and a group of veterans at e organizing a resistance movement among military members in the United states Germany and saudi Arabia. A David Blalock ban Chambers and Summers have been commissioned by the Vietnam veterans against the War anti pm Penalise to organize the resistance. The Seattle based group is not affiliated with the Vaw which was created in 1969 by veterans who opposed the . Presence in Southeast Asia the anti imperialist group was formed in 1979 by former members of the Vav a. A the three veterans Are Basing their a Stop the War brigade in Germany although their aim is far More International. A a a a. A a we Are appealing to veterans around the world a Blalock said. A a that a veterans who have served in any War in any country on any Side. We want to use their experience to convince soldiers that this is not the War for Freedom that the government wants them to  Blalock served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 and Chambers from 1970 to 1971. Summers went to Vietnam in 1969 but was extradited to the states five months later on charges of killing a police officer during a Detroit riot. He was acquitted of the charges but never returned to Vietnam. He completed his tour with the army at a stateside unit and was honorable Dischar  Blalock and Chambers both leaders of the group have been working to develop an anti War movement in the states since August. They arrived in Germany on Jan. 12 with plans to extend those efforts. Summers has been living in Germany since 1972 and is a longtime group member. A Upa  a Quot Summers said about 5q  veterans Are expected to travel to Germany in the coming weeks. Lie said the veterans arc paying their own travel expenses but donations from various peace organizations private citizens and the anti imperialist group Are helping to support the brigade. Pop. Germany is the key to the veterans action because of the country a importance As a primary staging area for troops and equipment bound for saudi Arabia and because of the country a Strong peace movement Chambers said. A a 1 a.  .�?�. A a a this is More than a matter of establishing an Antiwar movement a Chambers said. A a we re Here to support the g1 resistance we know is  one Soldier w to is working with Summers and who was interviewed on the condition of anonymity said a the . Is always putting Dovon some weaker country. Summers Blalock it s not right. In a in the military but in a not letting them pick my enemies for me. That a my  to press its Campaign in the War zone the group will use the a any service member mail system. Such mail is delivered randomly to troops deployed m the persian Gulf a and they can look for us at any place frequented by americans a Summers said a we cannot get onto military installations but we can approach soldiers in every Public place. That show it will  a the veterans also said they can put service members in touch with groups and people who specialize in helping resisters such As the War resister league in new York.  up a Quot Quot a pm pm a your focus will be political education for soldiers a Summers said a a we re sure that if we can expose the hypocrisy of the . Government through the Media and at demonstrations we will be very effective.�?�. The three veterans said their hostility toward War was fostered by their experience in Vietnam. They also said the United states has done much since then to feed the antagonism of veterans and a eau  a Beirut Nicaragua Grenada Panama and now saudi Arabia a Summers said. A the list of . Aggressions is Long Man. And its always been in the name of Freedom but look what a going on in those countries now. . Interests is what its All about. What about the interests of the people who suffer after we get our Way a v i b p a a. A a Blalock criticized president Bush so new world order policy which the president has claimed will emerge after the confrontation with Iraq. In a september address to Congress the president said the Alliance of nations against Saddam Hussein will last after the persian Gulf crisis and form a a new world order. In which All nations can Prosper and live in  a with the soviet Union in economic disarray and Japan a heavy Reliance on foreign Oil the . Stands to re merge As the number one Power by taking control of the Middle East and its Oil a Blalock said. A Bush sees this new world order with him on  soaring to Ltd the Washington Post washing Ion a military pilots Call it Quot punching  some describe the sensation As surreal a seemingly  experience in which they step outside their planes and watch them Drift away. But ejecting from a crashing Jet fighter is anything but slow motion. Less than two seconds elapse from the pilots tug on an ejection handle to his Safe Perch in the Clouds under a fully deployed Parachute. Add one More second if the plane is travelling faster than 250 knots about 2<57 Raph. Operation desert storm is providing to Para the first Battle experience for a new generation of a a smart ejection seats that have saved hundreds  in crashes in the Post Vietnam Era a and occasionally embarrassed a student Pilot who panicked a 11 he a to n g pro m e n t. The new seats have proved to he High tech marvels allowing ejections in conditions ranging from a plane sitting still on a runway to crashing upside Down Only 150 feet from the ground. Ejection scats Are Likely responsible for the survival of most if not All. The pilots who have been taken prisoner in Iraq. Videotapes of the first prisoners of War showing puffy bruised and scratched faces raised questions whether they received their wounds at the hands of their captors or from ejecting. According to the experts the answer is probably not from ejection although pilots have been Cut and bruised from Landing in Trees or Brush. A eth cd done to have any exposed flesh at ally As they eject said Jeff Eckhart program manager of escape systems for Mcdonnell Douglas missile systems co. But because of uncertainty about where they might have landed Quot it s absolutely impossible to determine How the bruises and cuts happened he said. A Mcdonnell Douglas is the largest . Manufacturer of ejection seats second Only to the Martin Baker aircraft co. In Britain. The. Weber aircraft co. In Ful Lei ton Calif also makes ejection  germans developed the first ejection scat in 1944 for use in the world s first Jet fighter., the Messerschmitt-262, a crude device that essentially catapulted the Pilot out of the plane. In the years since then ejection seats have gone through a High tech evolution w ejection scats saved Many pilots in Vietnam but a number of pilots broke arms or legs because their harnesses were too Loose allowing limbs to flail about in the sudden blast of air outside the plane. That problem was solved in later models with harnesses. That tightened automatically on ejection. Almost All aircraft involved in operation desert storm have the new generation of ejection seat the major exception being the b-52, which has older style seats. A. A Martin Baker supplies ejection systems for most Navy jets such As the a-6 intruder the f/a-18 Hornet and the f-14 tomcat. Mcdonnell Douglas supplies most of the others including the a-10 Thunderbolt ii the f-15 Eagle the f-16 fighting Falcon and the f-ll7a stealth. Me Donnell Douglas Calls its seat the aces ii for advanced concept ejection scat. The aces-1i has saved 209 pilots in peacetime plus those who have been saved in desert storm. It failed in one Case because of improper maintenance and on a few occasions when the Pilot waited too Long and ejected a outside the envelope a essentially too close to the ground