European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 10, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 3troops in chemical arms move cited by de Reavis staff writer German and american soldiers and civilians were honoured in Bonn Germany on monday for the role they played in removing chemical weapons from West Germany in 1990, a spokesman said. The ceremony which took place at the German department of defense was presided Over by the German inspector general Klaus Naumann and Usa eur Deputy commander it. Gen. Paul g. Cerjan. Naumann a position is equivalent to the chairman of the . Joint chiefs of staff. A about 26 germans and americans were invited to the ceremony As symbols of the hundreds of people that made the operation successful a the spokesman said. The withdrawal of chemical weapons from West Germany began in july 1990 after a May 1986 agreement Between then president Ronald Reagan and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to remove All such weapons from German depots by 1992. The last shipment left Germany on sept. 19,1990. A it was a phenomenal feat which we called operation Serpent a the spokesman said. A it involved moving More than 100,000 american chemical weapons on trucks trains and ships without  the trucks travelled a variety of routes for safety and Security reasons from the town of Clausen in Rheinland Pfalz to Miessau about 30 Miles away. The shortest route used was a 25-mile stretch Over autobahn 62, which was still under construction and autobahn 6. The other route used was a 37-mile stretch taking autobahn 8 toward Wei Brincken and then autobahn 6 to Miessau. Each Convoy included 20 flatbed trucks loaded with the chemical weapons stored in airtight steel  containers were packed in steel military vans. Each Convoy also included 60 escort trucks including German and . Security forces emergency Crews and Decon sex officer talks of sabotaging Hitler s plan by de Reavis staff writer a chemical weapons Are outlawed in our world even Hitler Wasny to crazy enough to try to use it during world War ii a said Vernon Walters former american ambassador to Germany commenting on the 1986 . Decision to remove chemical weapons from the Clausen depot near Pir Masens Germany. The ambassador was wrong. Hitler did order it used during the last Days of the War but basically against his own people. Like Man who knows the most about the nazi intentions is Guenter Zoller the Man who risked execution to sabotage the plan. Dller a major at the time commanded the wehrmacht chemical weapons depot in Urlau located in the Beautiful Allau Region of Southern Germany. Today Urlau is the site of a German army munitions depot three Miles outside the town of leu Kirch on the Road to Wisny a i arrived in Urlau on the first of March 1945,�?� Zoller said in a Telephone interview from his Home in Aachen. A i was Only stationed there for six weeks but they turned out to be very important  in the last weeks of the War the wehrmacht in Urlau collected All its Poison Gas stores they feared might fall into Allied hands. A there were approximately 20,000 tons of chemical weapons in the depot. There was Poison Gas from world War i but also the newly developed gn3 nerve Gas called  in addition there were about 14,000 tons of explosives stored in the depot a Zoller said. He said the depot was wired with explosives following a personal order from Hitler that the warehouse be blown up in Case of an Allied invasion of the area. A i kept the key to the detonation device with me at All times a he said. A there was never any question in my mind that i would not Cany out the order despite the threat of death by the local District commander. A i was the Best informed about the enormity of the crime Hitler wanted committed and i lived in the greatest fear that some Accident would trigger the  speculating on the extent of damage that an explosion would have caused Zoller said it would depend upon on the direction of the winds. A we can safely say that an area ranging from Urlau to Lake Constance in the South to the town of Kau Beuren in the North and into Bavaria on the East would have been a death zone. The tragedy probably would have reached Nagasaki proportions a Dller said referring to the atomic bomb dropped by . Warplanes on Nagasaki Japan during world War ii. Dller said at the time his Best ally in Hood winking the nazi command was the local minister pastor Willburger. A Willburger would announce from the pulpit a Date for the detonation and for the evacuation of the population a Zoller said. Quot but of course Only Willburger and i had any idea what kind of catastrophe an explosion would have meant. The population had no idea about the Poison Gas. A then Willburger would announce that the detonation was cancelled for some reason or other. That s How i gained time until the allies  Dller had alerted the directors of the surrounding Post offices to notify him As soon As any Allied troops were in the area. When he heard French forces had reached the town of leu Kirch Dller sent his Young medical officer Friedrich Jung on a bicycle bearing a White Flag to surrender the depot. Jurig returned to the depot sitting on the Lead tank with his White Flag. The French waited for Dller and his men to defuse the explosives before accepting the depot. The French later removed the stores of chemical weapons by train to a North sea port Zoller said. A i done to know what happened to it after that. Its too bad your army Wasny table to remove its Gas from Clausen without All the fanfare. But i guess you press people Are to blame for that a Dller said. Jung the medical officer is currently professor for pharmacology and toxic by at Humboldt University in East Berlin. He was an expert witness during the hearings on chemical weapons held in Geneva last year. Dller is now 81 and a retired Engineer. Last year he finally received official thanks for his refusal to obey hitlers order to destroy the depot. In july the City of leu Kirch awarded him a citation for his act of bravery. Otto Baumann lord mayor of leu Kirch to which the Community of Urlau belongs said most people in the town now know the Story but agreed that their expression of gratitude was late in coming. 4kennedy son says drugs overcome Providence . A sen. Edward Kennedy a younger son Patrick acknowledged he had a drug habit while a teen Ager but says he overcame it in 1986 by checking himself into an exclusive rehabilitation Center. Kennedy 24, a state legislator in Rhode Island issued a Brief statement late sunday in response to allegations by a former patient of the new Hampshire clinic. The former patient said Kennedy told him that he had a $4,000-a-Day cocaine habit. The allegations were published in the National enquirer a tabloid weekly. A that i can Tell you is ridiculous a a $4,000-a-Day cocaine habit is ridiculous a a Kennedy aide Christopher Nocera said monday. Kennedy did not disclose what drug was involved. A a it a something that happened in High school a Nocera said. A a he a not getting into what drugs Are involved. What relevance does it have to his Job As a state representative and his adult life a Kennedy was not immediately available for comment. Lamination teams. Sea. Southwest of Hawaii. The containers were then loaded onto at the port they were reloaded onto there the weapons Are Schul Dulce to special trains at Miessau for the trip North . Navy ships for transport to Johnston be destroyed in specially built inc Infra to the port of no Denham on the North atoll in the Pacific about 700 Miles tors. British spouses of . Airmen Appeal judge s ruling on poll tax by Amy Geiszler Jones who now works for Franklin Auckland joint incomes of spouses exempt . Bureau solicitors in Oxford. Tax such As american Semcer by Amy Geiszler Jones . Bureau an Appeal is being filed against a British judges ruling that British spouses of . Civilians and military members assigned to the United kingdom must pay the Community charge tax a lawyer says. A British judge ruled nov. 4 that the spouses were liable for the charge commonly known As the poll tax because they done to have a Quot relevant association with their american partners As defined in the 1952 visiting forces act. The judge said the overriding Factor was that the wives were British citizens. Last months Case involved 13 wives married to . Airmen stationed at Raf upper Heyford and the local Cherwell District Council. The Council had appealed an earlier ruling by a local three person panel that decided the upper Heyford wives were exempt from the poll tax. Fewer than 10 of those wives remain in England the others have left because of their husbands reassignments said Liz Loughran a British lawyer who has been representing the wives. The wives had 28 Days to submit an Appeal with Britain a court of appeals it can take As Long As one year for appeals at that level to be heard said Loughran who now works for Franklin Auckland solicitors in Oxford. A the significant thing about lodging the Appeal is that if the women choose now not to pay their poll tax and the matter comes before the local magistrates court again  be Able to argue that theres no question of wilfully refusing and therefore the magistrates can to imprison any of the British wives at the moment while that Appeal is pending a Loughran said. She said that tactic could be used by any British spouse not just her clients involved with the Appeal. The Normal course of action taken against non payers by local councils is to obtain a liability order from a local magistrates court. To enforce payment bailiffs which in England Are District administrative officials can seize personal goods for the value of the tax. However bailiffs generally Are unable to enforce the order because most of the personal goods Are jointly owned by the British and american spouses. The ultimate recourse for councils is imprisonment. Loughran is also advising spouses who have paid the tax to apply for rebates available to Low income citizens. District councils have maintained that to qualify for the rebate British citizens have to report their full earnings including the joint incomes of spouses exempt from the tax such As american service members or civilians. Few if any British spouses would qualify for the rebates if that salary is also included. Loughran however says that inclusion of that . Government salary is wrong because a they Are properly taxed in the .a.,�?� she said in a written statement regarding the Case. The poll tax levied against British citizens and other residents 18 years or older pays for such government services As schools and Community maintenance. It is to be replaced in 1993 by a tax currently under legislation. The . Air Force helped pay the court costs of last month s Case but no decision has been made regarding the funding of the Appeal said capt. Ray Martell a spokesman for 3rd air Force headquartered at Raf Mildenhall. The 3rd air Force Legal officials were not involved with the decision to file the Appeal Martell said. A the decision to Appeal was made by the wives and the wives  american service members and civilian workers Are exempt from the tax under. The nato status of forces agreement while their non British dependents Are exempted under the act that created the charge