European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday december 30. 1991 the stars and stripes a Page Sac Mission fades along with enemy by Robert Pear the new York times Offutt fab neb. A the strategic air come the nerve Center of the . Nuclear strike Force is fading into history along with the soviet Union. For the men and women who control the nation s Long Range bombers and missiles As for their neighbors in Omaha and the Little town of Bellevue neb., the end is bittersweet. A the cold War is Over and we won a said maj. Donald r. Planalp spokesman for Sac which in its heyday controlled a mighty Arsenal deployed from the great Plains Newfoundland and Greenland to Western Europe North Africa and Guam. A Sac worked itself out of a Job by deterring nuclear aggression for 45  in 1960, Sac employed More than 260,000 people at 66 bases and controlled nearly 3,000 aircraft including All the Large bombers owned by the . Armed forces. Today it has 105,000 people at 22 bases with 750 aircraft and it is shrinking fast. In the next year alone Offutt fab which serves As Sac Headquarters the areas largest employer will lose 3,100 jobs or about 22 percent of All the people in the stars and 3thirls who work at the base. Their departure will leave a big Hole in the regions Economy. Offutt now has 14,176 jobs or More than twice As Many As the areas next largest employer. Mutual of Omaha. It pumps $400 million a year into the local Economy which has been largely insulated from the recession battering other parts of the nation. Nebraska has the lowest unemployment rate 2.2 percent. But the expected economic dislocation is minor compared with the psychological upheaval caused by the soviet unions demise. Military men and women at Sac Headquarters say they can barely keep Pace with the revolutionary changes in Russia and Eastern Europe. The strategic planners who remain at Offutt the ones who target no dear missiles and draft detailed War plans for the . Military Are struggling to redefine their Mission. Who exactly is the enemy now what is the threat and How Are they supposed to deter it a this command is heavily endowed with an honorable past a said Brig. Gen. Robert e. Linhard Deputy chief of staff for plans and resources at Sac Headquarters. A having fought the cold War for 40 years having completed that Mission it s like watching Joe Dimaggio at the end of his career. You have to know when it s Lime to hang it up and move on. This command deserves an honorable passing. After contributing so much to the country we Don t want to be perceived As fighting for an irrelevant  in a major realignment of military commands Sac will go out of existence june i. To be replaced by a smaller unit composed of air Force Navy and army personnel. A in place of the 19 Flag of Licurs a is generals and one Admiral a now on Sac duty there will be Only eight. The new unit will no longer control any bases and it will control Only those aircraft actually needed for Day to Day operations. Offutt itself will come under the control of a new air combat command stationed at Langley fab a. Sac was created in 1946 to deter soviet aggression. Its underground command Post portrayed in numerous movies became a Symbol of the cold War. But earlier this year when Sac bombers pounded Iraq Sac had a the cooperation in Many respects of the soviet Union a Linhard said. 10 years ago dec. 30,1981 a charging that the soviet Union bears a Quot heavy and direct responsibility for the polish repression president Reagan took several economic actions against Moscow to Force a relaxation of martial Law imposed in Poland. 20 years ago dec. 30,1971 a new York film critics named a clockwork Orange the Best film of 1971 and its director Stanley Kubrick the Best director. The Best actor award went to Gene Hackman in the French connect on and Jane Fonda for her role in klute. 30 year Sago dec. 30,1961 a in a year end television speech French president Charles de Gaulle said that he intends to withdraw most of the French army from Algeria during 1962 and predicted an agreement on close ties Between an Independent Algeria and France. 40 years ago dec. 30,1951 a Secretary of state Dean Acheson banned american travel to Hungary and ordered hungarian consulates shut in new York and Cleveland after four airmen who had been imprisoned for 39 Days in Hungary were ransomed for $120,000 and returned Home. World war50 years ago today 30 dec.19�?~41 . Troops fall Back to the final defensive line in front of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. The japanese push Down both sides of Malaya near Kamrar on the West and Kuanhan in the East. The soviets recapture Tula on the Central front. Deacon Nektarios left archbishop Paisios Center and father Jeronymos right with the a a weeping icon of St. Irene. Stolen icon s return greeted with Joy source 2194 Days of War w. H. Smith a publishers inc. World almanac Book of world War ii Bison books corp., 1981 by Eleanor Blau the new York times new York a the Bells rang All Day in the Cathedral and so did the phones in the office As the Good news spread through the Astoria Section of Queens that the weeping icon had come Home. And on saturday parishioners gathered outside St. Irene Chryso Valantos greek orthodox Cathedral or entered it lighting candles crossing themselves kissing a picture of Jesus and embracing one another. Quot we Are flying from our Joy a said con Stantina Hondros an assistant Secretary who answered phones at the Cathedral All morning. Reassuring callers who cried w Ith happiness she confirmed that the painted wooden likeness of St. Irene the Patron Saint of peace and the sick had indeed been sent Back in the mail a without its adornment of jewelry and Gold a five Days after it was seized by armed robbers. A a it a a Miracle that she found her Way Home a said Sonia Giannios of Rockaway Queens who rushed to the Church As soon As she heard the Good news. She recalled that on learning that the icon had been taken a i was so angry that i wished bad things would happen to the robbers. No one can live with such a  while some 40 parishioners gathered inside and outside the ornate Church archbishop Paisios the greek orthodox primate of North and South America and the icon were at the 114th precinct police station House a few blocks away. About 2 ., some of them mostly older women wearing dark head scarfs walked to the precinct and stood outside holding up cards bearing the likeness of the icon. They Sang in greek and repeated again and again in English a thank  less than an hour later the archbishop and some 20 parishioners proceeded from the precinct to the Church singing and carrying greek and american flags and crosses escorted by police officers. Holding the icon the archbishop entered the Church and continued to the altar. A woman dressed in Black broke into a song then the archbishop Sang and the congregation a Many with tears in their eyes a joined in. One woman swooned apparently overcome by emotion. Later As 1 x parishioners gathered for a 1  Service people lined up at the altar in kiss the Case containing the restored icon. A steady procession of worshippers some of them crying streamed in and out of that Church singing hymns in greek thanking the Saint Tor returning. The painting hat been attracting thousands of faithful worshippers and curious tourists since it a said to have begun miraculously weeping Las year during the persian Gulf War. Many what gathered at the Church saturday reporter cures that they attributed to the icon. A it saved my daughter a said Athena Michael 38, who lives two blocks from it Church. She said her daughter now 16, suffered a burst appendix at the age of 2 ant had gone into a coma for eight months. Tok by doctors that the child would die Michaei said she went to the Church every Day to Pray for her daughter who later awoke and said  a