European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 23, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Caring for the grieving families by Rosemary Sawyer staff writer whenever a service member. Is killed imprisoned by the enemy or reported missing. Formal military programs to. Care for his or her family s needs go into effect. A a a a a a a the army for example appoints a Soldier to serve As the family s casualty assistance officer. This Soldier helps with such tasks As arranging for Sale or. Shipment of the family s car and household goods helping survivors obtain benefits and entitlements and making funeral arrangements. When possible the specially trained. Soldier comes from the same unit As the a missing deceased or imprisoned Soldier. A an army Guidebook for these officers describes their task of helping grieving families As Quot perhaps the most sensitive duty Quot that they will face in their military careers v. The air. Force divides these duties among several people including a casualty assistance. Representative from the base personal affairs office a summary courts officer and in cases of death a mortuary officer. It. The casualty assistance representative assists the family with entitlements and benefits. A the summary courts officer acts As the family s Legal proxy helping with paperwork matters such As de registering. Cars and paying Bills. Often a summary courts officer will close out All personal affairs for deceased single airmen overseas so their next of Kin Don t have to travel from the states said master sgt. Fred Klock Safe personal affairs non. Commissioned officer in charge. The. Mortuary officer helps with All concerns related to shipment of remains and disposition of the airman a personal effects. A bodies of All service members killed in the Gulf Are being sent to Dover del., for burial preparation. Officials say it takes at least. 10 Days for the body to be released to the family. A the Navy and marines have what they Call casualty assistance Call officers who perform notifications and then provide the same assistance As the army s casualty s assistance officers. 4. Quot the Bottom line is we try to do what is right for the families and take care of their needs Quot said it. Cmdr Bruce Williams spokesman for the Navy military personnel come in Arlington a. Navy and Marine casualty assistance Call officers also help families of wounded sailors. Each of the Branch s casualty assistance representatives tries to Contact the relatives within 24 hours of their being informed a loved one has been killed is listed As missing or is being held prisoner army casualty assistance officers also serve As the summary court officer. In this capacity they work in concert with casualty assistance working groups made up of representatives from Community offices such As Public affairs finance. Transportation and housing. The casualty assistance officer relays the family s wishes to working group expressing emotions Richard Eichenlaub right of Centerton ark., father of capt. Paul Richard Eichenlaub ii who was killed in saudi Arabia talks about his son. The airman smother Audrey Eichenlaub Black sweater at left is consoled by a family Friend. Members who see that they re carried out said chief warrant officer 3 William. Doermann an army reservist in  casualty notification and assistance in Wiesbaden Germany. A in most cases families in Europe Nove Back to the states sometimes As soon As 72 hours after notification. However families of deceased soldiers and airmen can stay in government housing up to 90 Days after the service member s death if a service member is listed As missing. Or imprisoned the family s status does not change. This permits them to. Stay in housing indefinitely however they can move Back to the states if they wish. Families also can choose to return to the United states at government expense for the funeral. "1 think you re going to see a lot of. Spouses who will want to remain Here and a pack up their own stuff Quot Doermann said. Quot i already know that there Are ladies who say they will go Back for the funeral come Back Over Here stay in quarters for 90 Days to allow their children to Complete the school year and then go Back to the  a a a a a a -. Klock said spouses who Are foreign nationals often will choose to go to the states just for the funeral and return to live overseas. In casualty cases involving couples who Are both service members the surviving spouse is normally offered a compassionate reassignment. Army officials in Europe declined to say whether this practice would be carried out in Light of the current freeze on reassignments. Along with help from the casualty assistance officer members of the local com Mummy and helping agencies also support the grieving. A a a a a. Quot i think the air Force thinks of itself As a family Quot said maj. Carolyn Gavares chief of Safe s Force management division. Quot especially in the overseas area there seems to be a networking among family members. The groups seem much tighter. Knit and Thyr get much better prepared for  readers action line Deal you Don t feel so bad but i got one of each and Price differences at cafes i would like an explanation for tire Inigo puce differences of like items at the various cafes stores i be visited in Germany the variations do not seem to follow one Branch of service As illustrated by these examples seen while Christmas shopping example 1. Franklin Wor Mastor computerized dictionary thesaurus a Price at Hanau Mam Exchange army$49 Price at Rhein Mam Mam Exchange air Force$62. Example 2 a Yum uha Pss-290 electronic keyboard a pnce2at Giessen Mam Exchange Anny $9b. Price at ram Stem Mam Exchange air Force$74it is very Iru Stratig to be on the Short end of the Slick on one of these deals of course when you get a Good Don t think we should have to shop comparatively Between cafes outlets. I Felt it would be much easier to write a letter to the it. Stars and stripes since you have connections with the a cafes god than to track Down Quot managers Quot at the various stores looking for  Alan s. Patterson Rhein main a Germany master sgt. Dayton p. Strickland customer relations he cafes Europe replies a our prices Are basically the same at every cafes store although sometimes they vary managers do have the authority to reduce prices of selected items to manage their inventories a however it appears that m the cases you mention there May be other reasons for the different paces you did t indu ate when you noted the Price differences the Price of the f Rankin for Maate dictionary the Slaius dropped on dec 11> inn to $49 to y. Deana finn you  Toto a 11 eco of i a i in feb Ted of  vice. In Price from $90 to $74 Back in october v you say you did t want to track Down an cafes manager but the fact is the store manager is the Only person who can give you a prompt answer to a Price question. A. A. ,. A a a to write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort  to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available if you have a q in a on and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the bran and stripes Apo 09211-4211 Alt letters n ust be s Ned. And preference w ill be Given to to o o seeking Donna on Ottono Al Page 16 a the stars and stripes saturday february 23. 1991