European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 b the stars and stripes thursday october 3, 1991 Mannheim soldiers hailed for aiding autobahn victims by Crystal Laureano staff writer Mannheim Germany a four 97th signal in soldiers from Mannheim have earned the Praise of a senior German police official for their a a courageous actions at the scene of a fatal four vehicle Accident sept. 16 on autobahn s. The Accident happened when the Driver of a tractor trailer truck travelling South just past Rhein main a lost control of his vehicle and crossed into the northbound Lane. The Large truck crashed into two cars and a smaller truck killing All four occupants in the northbound vehicles and seriously injuring the truck Driver. The four soldiers were the first on the scene to Render assistance and were responsible for controlling the fires said Werner Schwebel chief police commissioner for the autobahn police in Darmstadt. Sgt. Charles Evans or. And his partner sgt. Thomas Mcghee were in a 5-ton wrecker bound for a disabled battalion vehicle farther Down the Highway about 11 . Directly behind them were spec. Shawn Wilkinson and spec. Rodolfo Barrios in a replacement truck. A fall of a sudden this truck came out of nowhere and two cars and a truck slammed into it a Evans said. A i stopped the truck quickly and they Wilkinson and Barrios stopped behind  upon seeing the Start of a fire and injured people the soldiers grabbed fire extinguishers and first Aid kits and ran to the scene. One car a Blue Toyota contained a Driver and passenger. The pais Senger died instantly and the Driver died before medical help could arrive. Barrios remembers being frustrated by his futile attempts to free the occupants. A the thing was the seats were pushed outside the window so they were trapped Between the Windshield and the door a he said. A there was just no Way to get them  the soldiers had better Luck with the Driver of a White Fiat. Using an a to chop the door Latch in half they were Able to open a door and pull the Man out. The Man later died from his injuries. The fourth victim was an older Man in a commercial truck. A a that a what i keep remembering a the Guy in the truck a Wilkinson said. A the was talking to people just like in a talking to you. He was pinned up so bad that he had a broken wrist but it would t  fire department personnel were later Able to free the Man but he died at the scene. A fall this time the fires  stay out a Wilkinson said. A we were running Back and Forth putting out the fire and trying to help people a Evans added. They emptied one Large and three Small fire extinguishers at the scene. Three Days after the Accident Schwes amps Crystal Laureano a fatal Accident on autobahn 5 remains vivid for these soldiers. In Back Are sgt. Thomas Mcghee left and spec. Rodolfo Barrios. In front Are spec. Shawn Wilkinson left and sgt. Charles Evans or. Bel wrote a letter to Mannheim German police expressing his appreciation for the soldiers actions. He asked that the letter be forwarded to the military police in Mannheim and to the soldiers commander. The details of the crash remain vivid in the soldiers minds and they Are eager to share the lessons they have Learned. A after seeing that Accident i have slowed my Speed on the autobahn a Evans said As another nodded in agreement. A they require people to carry first Aid kits but not fire extinguishers and that was our most important tool that Day a Barrios said. A the other thing i realized was that the first Aid kits that we Are required to carry Are useless absolutely useless in a serious Accident a Mcghee said. The soldiers also recognize their Good Fortune. Evans dropped his head and his voice trailed off As he said a if we were per haps five seconds faster a contributing to this report staff Waltar Rosemary Sawyer in Darmstadt . Flag lowered for last time at we Brucken by Peggy Davidson Kaiserslautern Bureau the american Flag made its final descent at we Brucken a Germany on monday afternoon following the signing of papers that officially transferred the base from american hands to the German ministry of defense. A a it a eerie to walk through base Headquarters and find it empty. All you hear is the wind whistling a said maj. Bruce Lewis an air Force spokesman at Ramstein a Germany. But some facilities on the former tactical reconnaissance base Are still under nominal . Care Lewis said. The base used to be the Home of Rf-4 phantom ii reconnaissance aircraft and c-23 Sherpa transport planes. A some of the hardened aircraft shelters Are nato shelters built with nato funds a Lewis said. A when you close a base there is a nato requirement to maintain those hardened facilities for a year after the closure announcement a that year expires feb. 26, 1992, said maj. Jay Defrank a 17th air Force spokesman. At that time the air forces responsibility for those shelters ends and a Onato will determine their final disposition a he said. Other hardened aircraft shelters were built with . Funds and have been turned Over with the other american facilities. Those facilities and the a a soft Side of the base which includes dormitories and the former support office buildings Are a ready for occupancy a Lewis said. German officials have not decided How the former . Military base will be used said Thilo Huble a we Brucken City spokesman. The base will be used by three communities Mausch Bach a Hombach and we Brucken he said. They cannot split it up but must develop a common plan. The base now belongs to the German government Huble emphasized and it must have a civilian use a not military. The last 15 air Force members left the base on monday after the Flag came Down. Some moved to the United states while others moved to air Force bases in Germany most to Ramstein Lewis said. Most furnishings from the base were distributed among other military units and organizations in Germany. Army units in Pir Masens and air Force organizations from the Eifel Region were the big beneficiaries of the we Brucken closure Lewis said. Distribution of remaining equipment and supplies became a matter of a the first person with a truck a he said. The items that weren to used by other units were taken to the defense re utilization and marketing office for resale. Those items Lewis said were mostly a things Tough to find a use  old mattresses and special use transformers were included on that list. A by and Large the equipment and supplies went where they were needed a he said. A i think we did a darn Good Job redistributing  contributing to this Story was Christine Borges in Kaiserslautern Germany Swift my action prevents blast at construction site Furth Germany a amps a an american military policeman prevented a serious explosion at a construction site fire in Birndorf on saturday according to German officials. Pvt. 2 Robert p. Scott and pfc. Shannon l. Gray of the 595th my co were on a routine patrol when they saw fire and smoke coming from a ground floor supermarket about 3 ., said Willi Dietz of the Firth police department. Scott entered the German building which was still under construction and pulled two tanks containing highly flammable acetylene and oxygen away from the Blaze. The wheels of the welding equipment were already on fire Dietz said. Gray reported the fire to authorities. German officials Are continuing to investigate the incident which caused about $600,000 in damage. They could not immediately determine the cause of the fire but arson is suspected Dietz said. Army says night vision goggles feature improved technology Washington a amps recent technology will increase the efficiency and safety of the advanced version of the night vision goggles an  spokesman said this week. The  last week awarded a contract to begin production of the Heads up display or Hud which will allow pilots to View critical engine and flight instrument data Over the video image seen through the aviators night vision imaging system an/avs-6said maj. George Rhynedance a spokesman. The Al defense corp. Of Alpharetta ga., was awarded the $10.5 million contract. The contract which is for five be Calls for 320 huds. Then there is a potential increase of to 600 systems to be produced each yet Rhynedance said. He added that the device will Virtu eliminate the need for pilots to do their attention from outside the cock to read inside instruments. The added capability is especially portent during Low level and Nap of a Earth night operations. These Are common operations for tack and reconnaissance Hel copt Rhynedance said