European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Of cafe Lpes Neville officer in charge of the Mediterranean staff was himself a Little lax when it came to military bearing. At one Point for example he called in the staff and had Levinson read a lengthy list of regulations stripes personnel had violated. The Good conduct medal was then awarded to each Man with appropriate applause. A Surprise visit to stripes by an inspector general finally forced Neville to take action however. The in had arrived at 8 ., Only to find the stripes offices empty. Neville hastily called in to handle the investigating officers ire explained that the staff worked until 2  Still he acknowledged someone should have remained on duty. Neville a crackdown took the form of a succinctly worded order tacked up on the staff bulletin Board that afternoon a henceforth the charge of quarters will leave a note where he can be reached when he leaves the  although Many of the staff had College degrees and could have qualified for commissions most chose to remain enlisted men. Burchard the former sportswriter was one of the few who opted for second lieutenants bars but it was a move he later regretted. A Jim took a commission mostly because we needed someone to sign for things and do other officer stuff a Mitgang said. A but he went up to the front in Tunisia one time and when he came Back he said none of the soldiers wanted to talk to him. He finally had to take off his bars to get an interview. When we heard that most of us decided we would just remain  being an enlisted Estoff correspondent in an officer run press Camp had its own drawbacks and stripes correspondents soon realized that wearing no rank at All ensured the Best Access to the news. A without stripes they really did no to know what the hell we were a Martin said a so we could talk to generals like any other correspondent get briefed by colonels get the Story we  Martin credits his Bare sleeve for one big Story that came his Way in Casablanca in january 1943 a a in a been on rest leave for about 10 Days and i was ready to get Back to the front so i went to the local g-2 to see where the fighting was going on. I walked up to the colonel there and told him i wanted to get to the front and he told me a done to go Back for a couple of  a Well i told him i really needed to go because id already stayed much longer than id intended and he said again a done to go Back for a couple of  a i knew this Guy a Little bit a he did no to know i was a sergeant of course a but i knew him Well enough to know that he must be telling me something so i stayed. And suddenly i found myself swept up in the arrival of Churchill and Roosevelt and All the others for the Casablanca conference. And there i was a staff sergeant sitting two tables away from Eisenhower and Roosevelt and Gen. Patton. . Communication specialists set up radio gear in an Oasis near Fedala Morocco. A you can imagine what would have happened to me if id been wearing my  the much awaited Allied invasion of Sicily began on a hot saturday morning july 10, 1943, and stars and stripes staffers went in with the first wave of troops. Tipped off to the invasion the staff members had slipped off to the Airport to join assorted combat units for the Landing. Martin went with the rangers Burchard with the infantry and Lehman with Eisenhower a Headquarters. Fisic hooked up with the 82nd airborne div and Green went with the air Force. Foisie assigned to cover the airborne a glider attack filed the first Story written on the Sicily invasion a color piece about the initial liftoff of paratroopers. His own flight however never left. A the flight before us came in on the end of a Luftwaffe attack on the beaches and the Navy and the people on the beachhead thought it was More Stukas and just kept firing a said Fisic now retired in Oregon. A by the time it was Over they a shot Down 24 planes and wed lost 410 of our own  Foisie did no to write that piece a army censors made sure no one did a but he inadvertently broke the Story nine months later. On leave in the United states Foisie mentioned the Friendly Corsica f Mediterranean sea i Palermo 0 1 j 0 2q0 ago Miles s&5 Hohf  fire incident during a speech in san Francisco and the Shock Waves rumbled All the Way to the Pentagon. A i was just a sergeant and i was in real hot water for awhile a Fisic said. A luckily id had the speech looked at by an army Public relations Guy in san Francisco and he thought it had been cleared elsewhere and let it go so i escaped. But it was a big thing. It made Page 1 of All the  other staffers involved in the invasion had better Luck. Phil Stern a photographer who a joined stripes after being seriously wounded fighting with the rangers in Tunisia was the first to return with shots of the Landing and his stills filled a two Page spread. Martin filed on the fall of the seaport of Gela and Green wrote an eyewitness account of a b-25 bomber Mission Over the beaches. By the end of the first week the combat troops themselves were getting the paper. By week 2, Estoff had worked out almost seamless delivery to the Island. In the Days ahead the staff got even better. Lehman flew on the first bombing run Over Rome and reported on the fall of the sicilian capital of Palermo. Martin was with the artillery unit that fired the first shots across the Straits of Messina foreshadowing the liberation of the european Mainland. Foisie went on a 3rd inf div amphibious Landing that put them seven Miles behind enemy lines. And in mid August the staff combined for the Story on Patton a final assault on the City of Messina writing alternating paragraphs on the fall of the last German stronghold on the Island. The Sicily edition began with something of a bang. Burchard who a been made officer in charge of the operation walked into the offices of Palermo a leading paper one Day in late August and announced he was taking Over. The italian management objected however and Burchard eventually pulled out his .45 and fired a couple of shots into the ceiling. A i said we re taking Over Here a he repeated. This time management agreed. The Palermo editions most famous Story is one that was never printed. It involved once again the irascible George Patton whose 7th army was headquartered on Sicily at the time. Patton had gone to visit wounded soldiers at a Field Hospital when he came upon one troop who continued on tie 14 saturday april 18, 1992 50th anniversary special edition a Page 13