European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6the stars and stripes tuesday february 26, 1991 desert Fumm re pm Vitice Crawley mail is treasure with the 2nd army Cav regt mail cull brought hundreds of letters dozens of packages and some week old newspapers to the tank Crews of co 11, 2nd so. A the mails been generous to my Guys but its slow a said sgt. 1st class William Jackson a platoon sergeant with the tank company. Sgt. Don Adams sat in the Turret of his my and sorted through the unexpected Avalanche. A this is the Best part of being Here a he said thursday. A getting  the Crew members All get letters from one another a families. They get letters addressed to a any soldiers mixed in with Bills and junk mail. The town of Bakersfield calif., has an a adopt a tank program sending letters and packages addressed to the bumper number of each tank in co h. Some tanks have kindergarten classes writing to them and others correspond with Church groups. Spec Kent Howell s tank got a letter from a couple in their 70s, and 3rd platoon Leader 2nd it. Chris varhola got a letter from a stranger who it turned out had led the same platoon in l%5. In his first Day on the Job the stranger wrote he d sat on a bucket of wet paint then proceeded to go around meeting everyone for the rest of inc Day with a White Circle on the seat of his pants. The sister of another lieutenant at the regi input s Headquarters asked for names of soldiers that she could pass around her College dormitory. Now the soldiers at he troop get fan mail from coeds. Quot a a a. Adams 29, from Citrus Heights calif., got junk mail that said he was eligible to win $25,000, but when lie rubbed off the entry Blank with a Coin All he got was a statue of Liberty poster. A month ago he found out he might be a Fop 10 finalist in the publisher s Clearing House sweepstakes but the news reached his tank too late for him to respond. Mail Isnit a morale boost just for the Guys on the front Adams Saidi a email from the soldiers is the Only thing the wives have. Wewe got it rough out Here but i know they be got it a lot rougher. The waiting the not knowing if their husband is going to make it Back. Deciding should they stay in germ a Vair go Back to their family there a Gonna be a lot of changes in married life when this is All Over. A lot of husbands Are Gonna go Home and i if their wives running the  gis on the front done to need anything useful except maybe a batteries Adams said a pm amp is doritos pudding cups cookies those Are the big morale boosters one said. One of his crewmen held up a package of hot sauce trom a Taco Bell restaurant and he nodded his approval. One poor Soldier opened an enormous Box Only to Lind it contained shaving Cream toothpaste and other health items front Home nearly allot which is available from the military Supply system. The sergeant read the customs Label on a Box from a Church group which contained what he considered to be a nearly Ideal morale package "20 Hershey a kisses a baby Ruth chap.-. Stick Kool Aid one package gum one Box envelopes one pad stationery pen two packages cards kleenex soap and Trail mix.�?�. The Hershey a a kisses tasted a Little like soap but Adams really did need  Point pen. A another girl sent us , a phrase from Deuteronomy a a Adams said and the tankers seemed to Teel that this too had been an important gift. The stars and stripes War in the Gulf  Oil lit a a a a a a. A. A a Ita a a w a a a a a a a cd j a a a a a a a. A Quot. A a. A. A a a a a a. W a a it a. A. A. A a a a a a a a a v a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a. A a Ltd in kind a. A a reproduction of a leaflet air dropped on iraqi troops calling for their surrender. The headline reads a if you want to save your life follow these  it tells the Soldier to unload his ammunition and Point his gun barrel Down. The drawing depicts the iraqi Soldier thinking of his family. Allies say pow facilities can handle mass captives Riyadh saudi Arabia apr the powerful Allied ground assault has taken at least 14,000 iraqi soldiers prisoner but an Arab commander on monday dismissed fears that the Large number of pos would bog Down the offensive. The . Military command in saudi Arabia and a so Nior Pentagon official in Washington said monday that the allies took 14,000 pos within the first 24 hours of the ground War to free Kuwait from iraqi occupation. The commander of the joint Arab forces it. Gen a Khalid bin Sultan said later at a briefing in Riyadh that the number has reached 20,000, counting those taken before the ground offensive began. Khalid said he anticipated no problems from the mass surrenders. He said he had expected to handle up to 100,000 prisoners. Officials did not detail a Pierc or How the prisoners were taken but reports from the Field indicated Many surrendered without a fight and that Many were front line troops in Southern Kuwait. One British television Crew in Kuwait filmed an apparently wounded pow kissing one of his captors on the forehead As two saudi soldiers helped him walk. Reporter Sandy Gall of Independent television news w Hose Crew took the footage described the surrender Quot it was an amazing sight.,the saudis were jubilant and some of the iraqis looked just As Happy  their Battle was  a other television footage showed Long lines of prisoners being marched across the desert past Allied armaments. A senior Pentagon official said monday that Reserve and National guard military police units were Delous ing feeding bathing and clothing the prisoners and then transporting them to saudi Arabia. . Military officials in saudi Arabia have said they will not let mass surrenders hinder their assault into Kuwait and Southern Iraq and Khalid echoed those comments monday. But several Pentagon War planners said in washing ton on sunday they were concerned that too Many iraqi prisoners could slow the Allied Advance by forcing troops to  pos South to saudi Arabia under armed guard. Foe says Saddam won t give up Beirut Lebanon up a an iraqi opposition Fig ure says Saddam Hussein will flee or commit suicide if Allied forces thrusting into Iraq Corner the defiant president a a a Abu Martham Al Saghir a politburo member of the mainstream higher Council of the islamic revolution in Iraq also said the morale of Saddam s forces was at its lowest ebb. Al Saghir whose Headquarters is in Iran said a we know that Many iraqi soldiers want to get rid of  he also said that the allies still face a difficult task defeating the iraqis on their own territory. Quot Saddam is a harsh die hard bedouin Quot Al Saghir said sunday a this brain is engulfed by a harsh bedouin mentality that would prompt him to shoot himself or flee but he would never give himself  the allies will face a nation armed to the Teeth and Bent on fighting if the allies rach Central Iraq he said. 1 he iraqis will lose in Kuwait but an operation into Iraq will be very different a Al Saghir said. A it will be extremely Ditt cult for an invading Force to dig in inside  a. A. A a Independent analysts in War battered Beirut said they agreed with Al Saghira a assessment. Al Saghir said Saddam might seek Refuge in Jordan. Easier a Londt n apr foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd on monday said the allies May have to Deal with Saddam Hussein about reparations after the persian Gulf War and described the iraqi president As a Quot bogus puffed up Frog of a  a Hurd a former Diplomat commented guardedly in testimony to the House of commons foreign affairs committee that postwar talks a would be much less Likely to be fruitful if Saddam survived in Power. Then Hurd laughed and quoting . Secretary of agrees state James a. Baker Iii added Quot or As my colleague said. It would be a Heck of a lot easier if he was t  Huid said he could not answer questions from com Hrc members about immediate postwar plans be Mitt impossible to say what sort of government Yould be in Baghdad and a whether it continues to be menacing or not.�?�. But there  somebody in charge Quot said Hurd. They May not be in Complete charge and we done to know who that somebody will