European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes Somalia tuesday december 22, 1992town s last picture show a Dusty memory by Bob Klose staff writer Oddur Somalia a Mohamed Musse Dini remembers the last time he spent 1,500 somalian shillings to go to the movies Here. It was in 1990, before civil War and then famine removed almost every Symbol of civilization from this town an Eastern outpost in South Central Somalia near the ethiopian Border. A the last film we had was rambo ii a he said. In those Days 1,500 somalian shillings a about 25 cents american a would buy you a ticket to the Cinema an open theater surrounded by Stone Walls on the Edge of Oddur. The movie theater represented the primary form of entertainment Here a glimpse of the world beyond. Many of the films were made in Bollywood. Most were dubbed in italian a a throwback to the colonial period of italian Somaliland. Others were in hindi the official language of India. And almost All were unintelligible to the somalis who were too Young to remember the italian period and knew no English. But it was a nig theater and it held a Large audience in a town that was a Crossroads for traders and Farmers and the administrative Center for the Makool Region of Central Somalia. Then War shut Down the Oddur Cinema. A the owner lived in Mogadishu and during the War he took his film machine and went away a Dini said. Now the theater is an outhouse for the 25,000 people who now live there almost three times a Oddur a population when rambo ii was playing. Re 1 it and beyond the Walls the ground is covered with Graves for the thousands of people who have died Here from the fighting and the hunger and the disease. Dini is a native of Oddur. He is a graduate in economics at the University of Mogadishu. He was accepted into the masters program at Manchester University in England then War shut Down the Oddur theater Dinius higher education plans and everything else in the Community. A who Dur has been diced to the Stone age said Patrick Dillon a 41-year-old irishman from Brooklyn n.y., who runs the Irish concern food Relief program in the town. Before the War Dillon said Oddur had a Post office local government Banks and a viable Market aps amps place. It had electrical Power and primary and secondary schools there was a soccer stadium for an Oddur soccer team. Children played basketball. Now Oddur sputters on a few generators and the Good will of the outside world and emergency food and health care assistance. Its Market offers Little but a few secondhand and worse bits of clothing and sundries and Black Market wheat Rice and cooking Oil. And its people Are almost broken. Strained by War terrorist violence clan infighting and no Clear understanding of where their next meal will come from they Bicker and fight and claw at each other for the smallest things like a to shirt. Dillon and other representatives of agencies such As made coins sans frontiers doctors without Borders arc gaining on the famine and health disaster that three months ago was killing More than 125 and sometimes 150 people a Day. With starvation almost arrested the primary Challenge now is to keep people healthy once they Are fed regularly. But Dillon would like to offer something More. A i want to reopen the Cinema. I want to run some old Hollywood cartoons a he said. And he said he wants to reintroduce sports to a people who now Only have time and Energy to run after food. Dillon said he is appealing to the magic Johnson foundation for help for a psychological boost to a nation that has fielded competitive National basketball teams. Johnson who has the aids virus played with the los Angeles lakers. A a in a like to get magic to bring basketballs and get sports equipment manufacturers involved a Dillon said. A that is the kind of Relief this town needs. A it is strange i know but it is symbolic. It would give people a break from the misery they Are  honors but aircrews land other rewards Mogadishu Somalia up the International Effort to nourish millions of starving somalis hinges on a group within the . Military that most people in the East african nation will never see. While . Marines participating in operation restore Hope deliver food and Medicine to cheering somalis in the Barren outposts of the withering nation american flight Crews hauling supplies and troops across the Atlantic Ocean rarely receive As much As a Pat on the Back. But the Crews Manning the massive transport planes and air to air refuelling tankers have a different View of their Unsung efforts. They say there Are other rewards. A a it a enough Pat on the Back to Sec hungry people fed and to Fly a said capt. . A a Marty Waugh a c-5 Galaxy Pilot who was taking a break during a 21 hour flight to Mogadishu from his Home base in Delaware. �?o1 love to Fly. I  Trade places with those marines for  aircraft from the air mobility come the pack mules of the somalian Relief Effort have delivered nearly 200,000 metric tons of supplies to the Region this year. . Military troops did not begin going to Somalia for the american led u n. Aid Effort until Early december but the . Air Force has been ferrying sorely needed supplies to Somalia for Many months on Board c-5 transport aircraft cm41 Star lifter transports and c-130 Hercules transports. T he air Force also Lias flown humanitarian operations this year in War torn Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former soviet republics that were suffering shortages of food and medical supplies. The ability to cover great distances without Landing to refuel is a key element in transporting Relief supplies to faraway lauds. A �?T-5, which holds 51,150 Gallons of aviation fuel must lie fuelled twice in flight and once on the ground to Fly the 7,000 Miles from Dover del., to Mogadishu. Refuelling during flight is a Tricky proposition although accidents rarely occur. Hie transport Pilot Hies to within 10 feel of a Kc-135 strato Tunker both aircraft travelling at speeds in excess of 250 Mph. A refuelling Boom with an airtight Clamp on the end is extended from the aircraft that is refuelling until it snaps onto the Gas nozzle of the strato Tunker. Hitching a ride to Somalia army spec. Gregory e. Smith a uh-60 Black Hawk air ambulance is towed onto the american be  r. A a Falcon a civilian cargo ship while a ci147d Chinook cargo hid. Giorc Hope a Iris Tan total Dot j v a is t a go ratio a Quot it Quot copier wails its turn at Livorno Italy on sunday. The aircraft arc to nation. The ship is to head to so3&Quot this  the two aircraft then remain locked in a refuelling embrace until the process is completed and the Boom is withdrawn. It takes roughly 12 minutes to obtain 10,000 Gallons of aviation fuel. The transport planes Are far less finicky than High Strung Jet lighters but like All aircraft they can break Down. In a massive Airlift such As the one to Somalia broken Down aircraft and sorely needed supplies can be stranded for Days at bases ill equipped to maintain planes not normally housed there. I a or example a shipment of equipment aircraft maintenance personnel and reporters bound for Africa were stuck for nearly a week this month at Pope Ash in North Carolina waiting on an engine part to arrive. Once the part finally arrived it was determined that the entire engine had to be replaced. Quot Quot in some eases there have been a few also starts a said air Force it. Col. John Brockman the no. 2 officer in charge of the air transport component of the Soma Linn Mission. The humanitarian Al forts president elect Clinton Lias cd states should America s w a fight my machine ground. Quot during the cold w. In which said the unit participate has placed on new a i a. Troops were asked to defend democracy against the soviet threat. Hut military personnel must now he willing to fight and die on humanitarian missions in nations that May have no strategic significance to the United states. Nevertheless Many members of the . Armed forces say it is an obligation that cannot be shirked. America is the Only country that can do this a Brockman said. A if we done to who will a capt Doug Storr a c-5 Pilot agreed but said there Are drawbacks to any Mission particularly at Christmas. Storr said he will be thinking of his family in Spokane wash., on Christmas Day. Lell them in a having a great time Lule they re opening presents a he said. 1 m sitting at 30 degrees West latitude upping