European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Sidon Schapiro St Patrick s Day celebrated by americans since colonial times is a Day of reverence for All things Irish intermingled with lots of. Ethnic Pride and a generous bit of Blarney a the Holiday in Honor of the Patron Saint of Ireland or the Ould sodas Many. . Prefer , is a Many sided affair a religious political and joyous full of the pleasures of Fellowship and conviviality. A Quot it. Is As Well a tribute to . Where grew the roots of More than 40 million americans 10 times and More the population of the Island itself Quot a new Yor newspaper editorial once noted. Quot and it is an act of glorying in the personal sense of Irish Ness that is a vital part of Many american lives and institutions  you must Wear a bit of Shamrock on. A. March 17,&Quot  visitor from county Clare. Quot if you Are found not wearing Shamrock on the Saint s Day a tis a very. Bad thing. Aii your old aunties will scold at.  hard As if you d missed mass Quot he said flashing the sudden Broad smile that a is Ireland s secret weapon.  a  faithful  Emerald Isle the / Shamrock is revered As the Plant used by St. Patrick to illustrate to their Pagana ancestors the mystery of the Trinity a the godhead joined in a single Stem a actually researchers found the use of the Shamrock As a Symbol to be worn on St. Patrick s Day dates Back Only a few centuries. Before that the practice had been to Wear Diagonal crosses made of. A. Red ribbon. A a a a a a a a the Shamrock started to replace the red Cross at the end of the 17th Century after a com was issued showing St. Patrick holding a Shamrock. A englishman travelling in Ireland at that time noted the beginning of the new custom with these words a / a -. A. Quot the 17th Day of March yearly is St.readers1 action line %fatricky0ay a bit of Blarney a lot of Green Patrick san immovable feast when the Irish of All stations and conditions Wear crosses in their hats some of pins some of ribbon and the vulgar superstitious by Wear shamrocks three leaved . By the end of the following Century the Shamrock had not Only superseded the Cross of red but also its use was so. J widespread that it led to the adoption of Green As Ireland s National color. A a \ a favorite tale to be heard on St. A Patrick s Day concerns the Patron Saint of Ireland s founding of the Cathedra at a a Armagh. A  / it tells of the mighty Pagan chieftain who was at Long last converted to christianity and allowed a Church to be built on Armagh Hill.  that Good St. Pat i. A arrived at. The scene preceded by a drummer a As always a. Stood next to the chieftain and began the Long Litany of a. Celebration. / a a a a. A a St. Patrick took his place drove his a a pointed Crosier into the ground to lean on during the proceedings and began his latin chant. When it was All Over and the ground Well consecrated St. Patrick. Looked Down to see that he had driven his. Leaning stick right through the irishman s. Foot. A. -. A Quot a Why did be Noi Tell me f was Hurtin be. My Man Quot bellowed St. Patrick a. A the Burly chieftain answered Quot Why yer Grace sure i thought it was part of the a a Celebration a. A the Irish enjoy laughing at their own j foibles of which they have As Many As the . Every Irish storyteller has a few Quot Pat and Mike Quot stories in his a. /  a repertoire / a 1 Quot / a lot of Irish american humor has a University of notre Dame foundation. The a irishman since he is of Stout Faith can. Poke fun at his religion without fear of offending his pastor. So notre Dame and religion Are. Called upon As sources for. Humor. A Quot a a a. Jim Russell a sportswriter Friend relates this one Quot. A monsignor in South Bend was really. Doing penance. It was a saturday on which notre Dame was playing Purdue for Thea National championship and Here he was. Scheduled to hear confessions. He listened to the game on radio and a a finally went out to the confessional to do v. His priestly duty. He was  Happy because the first Quarter was Over and Purdue was ahead 14-0 v. A after a time he recognized the voice of a penitent a 12-year-old boy and after a hearing the lad s confession asked him if. He d mind stopping by the rectory and a a. Returning with an update on the score Quot a. V fifteen minutes passed and finally the. Monsignor heard the lad s voice on the. Other Side of the confessional screen. A bless me father a the voice began Quot for i a have sinned. It s been 15 minutes since my last confession i Haven to done anything since and neither has notre a a. A a a Dame Quot a a a a ,.-���. A America s Only museum dedicated to preserving the heritage of Irish americans opened in june in the upstate new York Village of East Durham where shamrocks Dot the pavement. A a a a appropriately East Durham is in Greene county located in that part of the catskills known As the Irish Alps a flying both. American and Irish flags on its main Street and harbouring a  Irish pubs. A restaurants and inns. A a a a a a a a for years. East Durham has been a favorite summer vacation area for. Americans of Irish descent who live in new York City and its suburbs. The museum is on the grounds of the Irish culture and a sports Center which conducts festivals and gaelic football matches during the year. / a a  the museum is housed in a landmark / two Story Frame building built in the 1850s and recently remodeler. The museum was founded by the new York state american Irish legislators society which has about .60 members in Albany some 35 Miles to the North. -.-, Sid Schapiro a stars and stripes new York Bureau Retiree Lawers Irish Coffee on St. Paddy s  rules of family separation allowance can somebody please explain the Rule s for. Family separation pay for a Field exercise that lasts 30 Days or More enclosed is the policy As stated by the 8th inf div Mech. A. It says that Quot so Long As a Soldier who has dependents in theater stays away from Home station for 30 or More. A Days he gets fail. The 30 consecutive Days Rule is not interrupted by a trip Home for a weekend Holiday. Persona business social event etc., unless the Soldier is directed to resume a duty status at Home . What this says is that if a Soldier goes Home for say 10 Days for a reason listed above non duty during a Field exercise 30 Days or longer and is with his family during this time he gets family separation pay. But if a Soldier goes Back for two Days to do necessary duty then returns to the Field he does not get family separation pay a a even in he spent More time in the Field than the other Soldier. A. A. Like Many things in the army this makes no sense if anything it should be the other Way around family separation pay was created for soldiers who qualify when they Are away from their dependents family for 30 consecutive Days or More. Why is an exception made Here a a. Also do you charge a Soldier Field rations during a break for which he is authorized family separation pay. Name withheld Jim col. Duane g. Ingalsbe chief program budget and compensation policy division office of the Deputy chief of staff for personnel department of the army replies i am pleased to respond to your letter concerning. Family separation allowance. Family separation allowance. Fra ii provides eligible members compensation for the added expenses incurred because of an enforced family separation. Such a separation Rray occur when a unit is ordered on an. Exercise for More than 30 continuous Days. A /. The question posed by the writer is what conditions do or do not interrupt the computation of 30 continuous Days. The department of defense pay manual provides for conditions that would allow  temporarily return to the. Vicinity of their permanent duty station ads. Without forfeiting their entitlement to Fra. It should be. Noted that these exceptions apply to All temporary duty try away from the ads not just periods of Quot Field Quot duty. Unfortunately when the unit paraphrased the computation rules for eligibility to Fra a critical portion was omitted. The regulation Stales Quot periods of leave Quot hospitalization. Or Short visits to the ads do not interrupt the computation period unless the member is relieved irom the attachment to the try station or a member returns to the ads to assume Normal duty. A  critical Point being whether or Noi the Soldier s duty status  applying these criteria to the writer s examples the. Result would be slightly different and the intent of the regulation becomes clearer. On extended Quot Field Quot problems commanders May authorize soldiers to temporarily return to the ads for Quot personal Quot reasons for example emergency leave temporary problems at Home or Lor personal Hygiene to Shower or do laundry a All without endangering their entitlement to Fra. Similarly soldiers May be ordered Back to the ads for temp diary Quot necessary Quot duty without requiring forfeiture of their entitlement to Fra. For example Soldier could be ordered to return to the ads to testify at a court martial without forfeiting Fra a a conversely a Soldier May be released from the exercise and returned to. The ads Early to resume his Normal duties for example the battalion training no a May  from his Quot Field Quot duties and returned to the ads to assist a Soldier in preparing for school. The essential difference in these cases being in the first two examples the soldiers were not relieved fro their duties or responsibilities in the Quot Field Quot exercises or try . In the third example the training no was relieved of his Quot Field Quot duties and returned to Garrison ads to resume his Normal military duties. Regarding the writer s concern for Quot Field rations Quot soldiers temporarily returning to the ads normally. Continue to forfeit their Basic allowance for subsistence Bas a meals Are provided sing Field meal cards in other unit dining facilities. However if the Soldier is. A released from the Field Quot to resume his Normal duties his Bas entitlements would resume. A. Quot to write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment of. Questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. A a Page 16 a the stars and stripes saturday March 16, 1991