European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ebb vol. 50, no. 212 monday november 11,1991 authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces 350 d 8693 restore benefits vets Tell Congress Washington Apas America pays tribute to veterans of the persian Gulf War and past conflicts on this veterans Day it struggles As it has from revolutionary Days with the problem of paying them in More than words. The nations 26.7 million veterans Are eligible for benefits ranging from Home Loans to special clothing for the disabled but veterans groups say More Money for their medical care is desperately needed. Veterans lobbyists on Capitol Hill also Are seeking changes in Federal Laws cutting pensions for incompetent vets and burial benefits in National cemeteries but medical care is their chief complaint. Quot since there has been underfunding Over the past years the a is attempt _ to play catch up. It can to do it and the veterans Are paying a Price for it a said Dennis Cullinen of the legislative office of the veterans of foreign wars. It is a Price that has been paid before. After the revolutionary War the Continental Congress voted pensions for the estimated 184,000 to 396,000 men who served in the Continental army and state militias. But without any Federal appropriation to pay for them payment was left to the states. Only about 3,000 of the veterans Ever Drew a pension the department of veterans affairs says. Cullinen said a medical care funding has increased 10 percent since 1980, while the costs of care have More than doubled. Faced with the budget squeeze the government has shifted some costs to private insurers four congressionally chartered veterans service organizations noted in a recent report to Congress. The departments recently approved fiscal 1992 budget for medical and All other programs is $32.5 billion compared with roughly $34.2 billion recommended by the veterans groups. The current budget is $31.3 billion. Veterans groups also arc pushing for More help for homeless veterans estimated to number about 1 million by some counts. The a has a program under which it can sell at a discount for use As homeless shelters property that it has taken Over after a default on a a Home loan. A a that a a great idea a said Cullinen. A unfortunately it is so difficult and com see vets on Page 2separatists Force soviets to pull Back Grozny .s.r. A cheering nationalist fighters forced the Retreat sunday of nearly 1,000 soviet Interior ministry troops sent to secessionist Che Chen Inrush to enforce russian Leader Boris n. Yeltsin a emergency Rule. Gen. Do Hoar Dunayev a former soviet army general has assumed the presidency of the mainly Muslim territory of 1.3 million people in Southern Russia. He warned that Yeltsin is Likely to Send More troops soon. Chechen in gush a drive for Independence is Yeltsin a first major separatist Challenge and is similar to problems soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev faces on a National level by republics wanting to leave the Union. In Moscow russian legislators met sunday to debate the emergency Rule Over chechen in gush a government. Ruslan Kha Bulatov an ethnic chechen and chairman of the supreme soviet called Dunayev and his advisers a a group of  but Yeltsin a Interior minister in Grozny chechen native sakha Ibragimov protested the decree and resigned government run Ladio Rossiya reported. Other russian legislators criticized Yeltsin a decree and were locked in debate late into the evening. In Grozny thousands of people rallied on Central Freedom Square for the second Day to protest Yeltsin a decree. At the City a military Airport jubilant nationalist fighters a waving their Green red and White National Flag with a Crescent and a Star a escorted a Convoy of civilian buses with about 700 soviet Interior ministry troops to a town on the Border with neighbouring North Ossetia. Another 150 troops who were inside the Interior ministry also were sent to the Small town of Weslan. Duda Yevu a National guard which he claims numbers 5,000 armed troops took control of Grozny a Airport saturday and claimed to have captured the soviet troops arriving to enforce the decree. Cwt a Ulrich Galle German minister of labor and social affairs for Rheinland Pfalz and it. Gen. Clifford h. Rees or. Right watch saturdays unveiling of a Pion mint to the Berlin Wall at Ramstein a  unveils Wall Monument Ramstein a Germany a amps a Graffiti covered Monument made up of three original sections of the Berlin Wall was unveiled saturday at the . Air forces Europe Headquarters. A we wanted to place this Here As a constant reminder of what it the Wall stood for and what our Mission was Here a said a Safe a Deputy commander it. Gen. Clifford h. Rees or. A crowd of air Force personnel and their family members attended the ceremony. A monuments Are to Lead us to reflection a said Ulrich Galle German minister of labor and social affairs for Rheinland Pfalz the state where Ramstein is located. A they Are to help remind us that important events remain in our  on the Monument were Graffiti phrases such As a peace forever and a tear Down this  on nov. 9, 1989, communist East German officials opened the Wall for the first time since the Barrier was erected in 1961. Today Vietnam vet Battles his wounds and his fathers legacy see pages 14,15zest added to Field menu official says by Janet Howells Tierney Washington Bureau Washington Field duty is never a picnic but military officials Are working to make it More palatable. The 1992 version of the Pentagon a meals ready to eat or res will include hot sauce in each packet a Sweet treat in eight of the 12 menus and wet fruit packs said Gerald a. Darsch the food technology division chief for the army Natick research development and engineering Center in Massachusetts. Feedback from troops who daily munched on res during the persian Gulf crisis was taken into consideration along with other factors by a military panel that met in september to decide on the changes. A we did get grumbling Early on in operation desert shield about the rations but that was because service members were eating 7-year-old res a Darsch said. The dated res were from pre positioned War reserves he explained and had been stored in Many cases in ship holds where environmental conditions were less than Ideal for the usually sturdy rations. A unlike ? Fine wine res do not age vell in High temperatures a Darsch said. A once the improved versions Fil see menu on Page 2