European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Film documents anguish of Viet widows>1 Small american Flag and a photograph pay silent homage to a victim named on the Vietnam veterans memorial. File by sue Anne Pressley the Washington Post after Barbara Sonneborn began talking to other widows about losing their husbands in Vietnam she had a Long and terrible Nightmare her husband Jeff Gurvitz was dying again and again a in All the ways those other men had died. Quot it was Jeff. Every time it was Jeff Quot said Sonneborn 47, a Berkeley calif., photographer. A the was shot in the Back. He was missing in action and i would never know what happened to him. I was supposed to swim across some horrible dark water to let him know  the recent dream destroyed the careful detachment Sonneborn had maintained As she began filming the first documentary on the widows of the Vietnam War. Called regret to inform it has revived the worst memories of her husband s 1968 death in a mortar attack yet has helped her to understand for the first time the strange unsettled status of the women left alone. Quot this film is the vehicle for our sorrow whether he died then or of agent Orange three years ago or killed himself last thursday Quot said Sonneborn who spoke on veterans Day at services at the Vietnam veterans memorial in Washington to Mark the addition of eight names to the Wall. These widows have been a disregarded group , never attaining the respect accorded civil War widows or widows of world War ii. Instead they Felt angry and helpless scorned As troublemakers if they questioned what happened to their husbands haunted by the feeling that the deaths were largely pointless. There is so Little organization of Vietnam War widows As a group that Sonneborn has been unable to determine the number of women who lost their husbands in Vietnam. It has been estimated she said that 10 percent of the 58,000 men who died there were married. Because there is no Central listing she is putting out a nationwide Call for any Vietnam War widow to Contact her. Quot a lot of these women have never had the Opportunity to talk about it Quot said Sonneborn whose project is financed in part by a Grant from the National endowment for the arts. So far she said she has interviewed six California widows in depth the experience As she questions them on camera and they talk about their lives has been  Quot for Many years it was hard for me to think of anything about Jeff except his death Quot said Sonneborn who has remarried. Quot All i could see was him being blown up by a mortar. Who he was As a person was obscured. In the process of doing this it s As though in a meeting him again and it gives me such a feeling that its almost like  he died on her 24th birthday. They had been sweethearts in Chicago since the age of 14 and had married the summer after they graduated from College. He was Quot a class Leader sort of kid Quot she said Quot a magnetic  he left for Vietnam on Jan. 2, 1968, and was dead within two months. A there was no reason for him to die a she said Quot although i was proud of the Way he died. His radio operator was wounded he crawled out to Rescue him and they were both killed. Seven of them were  Sonneborn said she got the idea for the documentary on the 20th anniversary of her husband s death. She woke up one morning and began to write him a letter about How unreal his death can still seem sometimes. The letter has become a part of the movie alternating with the stories of other widows. The women she has interviewed a for the movie and for a planned archives of film clips a spoke with deep anger about the War. They talked about standing at the open Graves wanting to throw away the folded . Flags officers had Given them wanting to scream at the sound of the 21-gun Salute. They talked about How much they have missed the men who  action Lin health worker erred on after hours policy it one of our daughters was injured while on the playground she busted her lip and her gum above Hor top Teeth was Cut. Darmstadt dispensary was closed so we went to 97th general Hospital after waiting three hours we wore refused care and told to go Back to Darmstadt unknown to us Darmstadt s policy for a dental emergency is to go to the or station they Call the dental cd charge of Quarter who Calls the doctor the doctor for Darmstadt was try which the maps passed on to 97th. Anyway Darmstadt s cd told us we would have to go to Babenhausen which would then Send us to Ascham Lenburg first we did t know her injury was dental not did we know of Darmstadt s policy. Needless to say we went Home and cleaned her busted lip ourselves at 10  Why should anyone to refused can1 at 9 7th general9 Paula f. Adkins Darmstadt Germany be or. . Icenhower acting chief primary car department 97th general Hospital and it. Col. Lavelle Ford officer in charge of the 97th general Hospital dental services reply the 97th general Hospital emergency room log shows that the patient arrived at 7 26 ., was examined 40 minutes later by the triage nurse and was referred to the Hospital dental clinic at 8 25  Within the Hospital s dental services the responsibility for ensuring that All patients requiring emergency treatment be treated promptly and appropriately is Given to the dental clinician on duty. The charge of quarters cd on duty at the dental clinic that evening erred when he referred the patient to another clinic without consulting with the dental officer of the Day the cd was subsequently counselled and a policy letter was sent to All clinics and personnel involved in after hours care we regret the incident occurred and have conveyed our apologies to the parents we have also examined the child to assess the status of the injury Healing the procedure in place for after hours dental emergencies in the Darmstadt Community is through the my station to obtain the closest military dental care for medical emergencies patients should be seen in the nearest open medical facility because the health clinic at Darmstadt is not a 24-hour facility and within 20 minutes of a 24-hour military medical facility Darmstadt has an agreement with a local Host nation 24-hour facility to provide emergency medical care to Active duty family members. Under this Neucom demonstration project agreement the Active duty family member does not incur Hampus deductible charges. More information is available from the health benefits adviser in the Darmstadt health clinic. In addition each of 7th medical Comdr a hospitals and clinics has a patient representative officer who will gladly assist in the timely management of problems such As this so that administrative or unique situations done to interfere with Quality health  to write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving 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 question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes Apo a 09211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 a the stars and stripes Friday november 29, 1991