European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 29, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12letters to the editor tuesday december 29,1992 thes european edition col Gene a Townsend Usan comm wider publisher Bernard a. Zovistoski editor news and editorial Sik Watker european editor Deborah Kabahar nows editor Bob a tether sports editor Paul Cosby City editor George Manet special sections editor to write us unit 29480 Apoate 09211 or Postrach 11 14 37 6100 Darmstadt 11, Germany news Tel fax 06155-601416 to Call us dial 06155-601 plus Extension or Dan 348-8 plus Extension As follows news ext. 237, 255, 282, 226, 326. Sports ext. 225, 269, 263, 332, 321, 221. Features ext. 230, 245, 341. Letters to editor ext. 208. Education Jimi Jones ext. 226, business news ext. 326. News bureaus Kaiserslautern Germany Kevin Dougherty John Bohmer Steve scholar building 2899, Pulaski Barracks Apo a 092273717 Telephone Dan 4896565 or civilian 0631-52104 Tel fax 0631-50696. Nurnberg Germany Ron Jenson build my 21, William o. Darby Cavern Apo a 09222 Telephone Dan 460-7256 or civilian 0911-712563. Heidelberg Germany Joseph Owen european Slars and stripes City desk unit 29480. Apo 09211. Telephone Dan 348-8237 or civilian 06155-601237. Wurzburg Germany Call Mam office m Darmstadt Brussels Belgium Rosemary Sawyer co . Embassy pc 82, Box 002, Apo a 09724 Telephone civilian 0032-22380967 Tel fax 0032-22309088. Mediterranean a King Cruger and Gary Miller Naples holy Sabo 56. Fpo 09521 Telephone Dan 625-4bbo or civilian 0039-81-7624049. New York City Timothy Cahill room 638. 201 Varick st., now York 10014 Telephone 212-620-3333. United kingdom Meridith Winder and Nancy Tornor building 464 dec Sauk Raf Mildenhall Apo a 09459 Oto phone Dan 238-2226 or civilian 0638-512226. Washington d c. Chuck Vinch Ray Rowden oa5d-pa, the Pentagon room 2e756 . Box 46095, Wash Glon d c. 20050-6095 Telephone 703-697-6695 Tolela 703 693-6366. Business departments Christopher a. 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Civilian and Tel fax 003416561465 1 Turkey Istanbul civilian and Tel fax 0090-1 a 1724843 United kingdom Cirencester civilian 0285-713 637, Dan 247-4445. Advertising display Germany 06155-601247 or 601309, Dan 3488247. Classified Germany 06155-601349, Dan 348 8349 advertising Tel fax 06155 601412 a please Recycle this newspaper is an authorised unofficial publication Lor members of the military services overseas. Contents of the Slars and stapes do not necessarily reflect me official views of or endorsement by. The . Government the department of detente or me . European command. The appearance of advertising m this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorsement by the department of defense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised m this publication shall be made available Lor Purchase use or patronage without regard to race color religion sex. National origin age. Merits Siat us physical Handicap political Ali Rianon or any other non mar n Factor of the purchaser user or Patron spouse resents threat my husband is in the Navy. When he was out to sea during the persian Gulf War he lived in tight quarters with 93 other males from his Squadron. If homosexuals Are enlisted and my husband refused to room with someone because he is Gay he could be charged with discrimination sexual harassment or be forced to live with someone else a spouse. As a spouse i resent that potential threat. Naval cruises prove to be very intense for the entire Crew. One frustrated comment usually gets a Sailor a counselling session from his chief. Gays Are entirely serious about being Gay. The same frustrated comment could land a Sailor in a sexual harassment lawsuit. The military a ban is not a political statement to portray homosexuals As unimportant unproductive or unpatriotic. The military a Mission is not to be an equal Opportunity employer. The Mission of the military is to protect our nation. The amount of Money the military has spent to discharge 1,500 homosexuals of the More than one million soldiers a year will be infinitesimal compared to the Money and Energy it will spend trying to discriminate Between protecting homosexuality and protecting America. Personally i think it is pathetic that americans have allowed their peacekeeping forces to be dwarfed by a political debate on the idea of discrimination and an Agenda for homosexual activities. A Paula Cragle Stuttgart Germany a new group to pick on after Reading All the different opinions on the rights of homosexuals in the military dec. 4i Felt compelled to write. It seems that just As we Are getting Over our prejudices with minority groups we need to find a different group to pick on. And to and behold who do we find but the homosexuals where do we have the right to judge what a person does How they act and How they dress and then on top of that Tell them that because they have a different sexual preference than we do they Are immoral and can to join the military to protect the country they believe in out of All the letters on those two pages there was Only one letter that i agreed with and to borrow a line from this letter a everyone in the world does no to fall into one of the categories a because who s to say that we re right and they Are wrong just because i support the rights of a homosexual does no to. Make me one. 1 just believe in equal Justice for everyone. A Sharon Dicsen Heidelberg Germany a responsible letter i was heartened to finally read an editorial Page of the stars and stripes that was not a complaint Page. Hooray for a response based on facts and scientific research. The reply from Darrel Stafford Quot avoid Milky Way a dec. 10 regarding milk ingestion was succinct Well written and a Cut above most letters to the editor. In a always amazed Reading the letters Section. It makes it look like All americans demand More complain constantly and shirk responsibility for their own life decisions Quot somebody should do something. Quot usually Means somebody else besides the speaker. For example somebody wants Law enforcement professionals m assist them with a car breakdown that a what Auto clubs and Auto service professionals Are for. Much like the old idea of calling the fire department to get the cat out of the tree. Its Nice they have a Long ladder but that a not the primary Job of a fire department. It was refreshing to read or. Stafford a letter. It reaffirms the fact that not All military people Are unable or unwilling to take responsibility for their own Well being whether it be nutrition child rearing smoking medical care education family values or anything else that a important. All rights come with responsibilities. The responsibility portion is often forgotten or ignored by us. A capt. Steve Bonning Pitburg German editor s note letters from readers expressing their viewpoints or opinions Are published daily in this space. All letters must be signed. We Reserve the right to edit letters for clarity length and taste. Preference is Given to Shorter letters so that More can be published in a timely manner. Letters should be signed and include address and Telephone number. Address letters to letters to the editor the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. A a a letters requesting information or assistance Are answered in a feature called readers action line which normally appears every Day except thursday and sunday. Letters should be signed and include address and Telephone number. Address such letters to readers action line the stars and stripes unit 294s0, Apo a 09211.sports, not a splash my letter is about Afna a selection of times for sports programming. The recent tape delay of  football was ridiculous instead of showing the games on a live feed we got to watch the movie splash from 1984. There Are Many sports fans out there who would like the games shown on time. Some of us have to get up Early a 4 . A for work the next Day Arentt there prime time movies on during the week its bad enough that we Are six hours ahead of stateside time and have Only one Channel to watch. So give us die hard sports fans a break. Show the games on time. Staff sgt. Paul h. Mcabier Ramstein a German vat forms a it not us As i sit Here looking at Page 99 of the an to guide i laugh at the advertisement pertaining to toys a a re us. The advertisement Quot toys a a re us the same store you loved in the Usa has arrived in Germany and we want you to think of us As a Friend from Home Quot right. Talk about hypocrisy. This .a. Firm has 32 stores in Germany and docs not accept the vat value added tax form. I visited their store in Kaiserslautern and was set Back when i checked out my purchases and they would not accept my vat form. I was told that a it was too much of an administrative Burden to process the  since i could not believe them i called the Home office in Cologne which con firmed the policy and refused to give me the Telephone number of the Home office in the states. The office also told me that they would Start accepting the forms again today but Only at the Kaiserslautern store. I wonder what the True reason is that they will not accept the form. Why does a store based in the .a. Refuse the form when All of the German based stores in be visited accept it without question with 32 stores Many around military communities . Id card holders lose a great Benefit particularly around the Christmas holidays. A Elmer f. Williams Kapaun air station Germany no changes watch out i read with great interest the Story headlined a new sofa will bring a adjustments a ambassador sees no great  that has the sound of an incoming round and everyone should run for cover. Whenever someone says a a we la improve or a no great changes a it Means hard times ahead. Just look at the commissaries now. Only a Short time ago we were told a we Are Here to improve your  and deca defense commissary Agency did if you like empty shelves. Pitburg Abs commissary went from one of the finest to a miserable place with items missing every Day. And the employees take the Brunt of the complaints for something they re not responsible for something they Are not responsible for while the a improver so do something called a Fine  then the Community Bank comes along with Quot we re going to improve the service with the new computer  they did a you now stand in line for 15 minutes instead of three minutes to Cash a Check. And Little signs now advise a be  be sure to read your Community newspaper for those a Small  and remember not one of the a a adjustments will affect state department employees in Germany a just the service members and their families. A Bob Bartlett Pitburg a Germanye-7s Are underpaid i am a sergeant first class with close to 14 years in the army. My base pay As of feb. 26, 1993, will be $1,967 per month. On the other hand a major with the same time in service will make $3,614, a difference of $1,647. This is a ridiculous amount yes most majors have a lot of responsibility but so do i and most other sergeants first class. We re also the ones who sign for the majority of equipment within a unit. In Man Mars multiple launch rocket system ammunition platoon sergeant. Before this Job id been a firing platoon sergeant during which time i signed for Over $12 million Worth of equipment. My platoon Leader a lieutenant signed for nothing and earned More Money than me. Aj1 e-7s were recently added to the staff duty officer roster to relieve the officers of some of their duties. But when the battalion social roster came out i  find any sergeants first class on it. Some people will probably want to hand me a Quarter and a handkerchief when they read this and most of them if not All Are probably in the officer corps. With this Type of army i Welcome president elect Clinton a knife. A sgt. 1st class John p. Pace Bamberg Germany