European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse The charred remains of a soviet built t-72 tank following the Battle of 73 easting. Another iraqi tank bums on the horizon. Vinca crawl Eythe Gulf warlike in the ashtray and on to today staff writers Vince Crawley and Ron Jensen had stepped out on the Dusty Tarmac of an airbase in Dhahran saudi Arabia on sept. 3,1990, armed with a portable computer a Vintage typewriter and a couple of sacks of army issued Field gear. It had taken almost four weeks to hurdle the saudi and . Government barriers separating the stars and stripes from the persian Gulf but persistence a along with repeated Calls to the office of the Secretary of defense a had paid off. Stripes was Welcome to cover the military buildup in the Gulf the two governments had finally decided but it would be treated like any other newspaper. Unlike world War ii there would be no easy Access to the troops or other special treatment. After spending two nights on cots in an air Force Barracks hallway Crawley and Jensen set up shop in a saggy bedded hotel in the Dhahran suburb of a1 Khobiar and signed up for the sparse Media opportunities available. Most were limited to Short visits to units in the desert a dubbed a the ashtray by . Soldiers a or Tours of Oil refineries and other facilities. There were also daily trips to the flight line in Dhahran where reporters could briefly interview soldiers arriving from the United states. A a there a be a sign up Sheet in the press Center with the title of the Media Opportunity and then space for a dozen or so reporters a Crawley said. A a a seven minutes with the marines was one of the Early ones i remember. Another was a port operations in a no one really wanted to cover port operations of course but you signed up for everything just to get a Chance to be near the Early stories entered on the deployment of such .-based units As the 197th inf brigade from fort Benning ga., and life in the 120-degree heat of the saudi desert. Because the portable computer refused to communicate with Germany the pair banged out their copy on the aging typewriter and faxed it at $2 per Page to stripes editors in Griesheim. Jensen left after about three weeks and was replaced by David Tarrant a former Dallas morning news staffer who worked in the stripes Bureau in Brussels. In november Crawley and Tarrant were replaced by reporter Randy Pruitt and photographer Ken George who brought additional computer equipment and a portable Darkroom. Staff writers Joseph Owen Deedee Arrington Doke and Ken Claus Rivere added later that month following word that Vii corps troops continued on Page 58war erupts air Armada hammers Iraq it Thal Tatrn Abas a i we m Tohm i a a a a a a a Sun his a a a a a a a Fra Tot Aram i 11m a a find i och Tkai Una Pitotti ii a my Al my a t to m my to a Toon 1 us aft a saturday. April 18, 1992 50th anniversary special edition a Page 57
