European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 10, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes world wednesday february 10, 1993 court martial opens in Gay Sailor s death Yokosuka Japan a the court martial of a Navy member charged with murdering a homosexual fellow Sailor began tuesday in a Case that has helped fuel the National controversy Over Gays in the military. Airman apprentice Terry m. Helvey 21, of West land mich., did not enter a plea which was not required at the trial s first session. Helvey is accused of the oct. 27 beating death of Seaman Allen Schindler 22, of san Diego. Gay rights activists say Schindler was attacked because he was homosexual. The court martial also comes at a time when presi Dent Clinton is planning to lift the ban on homosexuals in the armed services touching off a National debate Over the  was beaten to death at a Public restroom near Casebo in southwestern Japan Home port for his ship the amphibious assault ship bal Luau Wood. Helvey has been in custody since oct. 28 on suspicion of murder. The opening session or arraignment of the court martial was held in a cramped Blue carpeted courtroom at the Yokosuka naval base about 31 Miles South of Tokyo. Cmdr. David p. Holcombe the presiding military judge read Helvey his rights during the hour Long hearing. In addition to murder Helvey is charged with assaulting two Shore patrolmen the night of the death false testimony and obstructing  convicted the maximum penalty is death. Helvey tense and clean Cut in his Black Sailor s uni form replied calmly to the judges questions. Helvey must enter a plea by the trial s next session which is set for april 27. Schindler was killed a month after he told the Navy airman apprentice Terry m. Helvey arrives for his trial tuesday at the naval base in Yokosuka Japan. He was Gay. A 70-Page journal that Schindler kept up to his death was presented As evidence at an earlier hearing in the Navy s investigation to determine whether Helvey should be court Martiale. In it Schindler wrote More people Are finding out about me. It scares me a Little. You never know who would want to injure me or cease my  one of Helvey two lawyers maj. Bernard Doyle questioned Holcombe s impartiality because he also presided at the trial of a key witness in the Case. That Sailor airman Charles e. Vins 20, pleaded guilty to lesser charges of concealing a crime and resist ing arrest after agreeing to testify against Helvey. Vins was Given a bad conduct discharge and  sentenced to one year in military confinement Doyle asked Holcombe if he had any close friends a relatives who were Gay. No at least not that i know of Holcombe replied. Asked if he had a Strong opinion about Gays in the military Holcombe said the answer is  but he said he did have an opinion. Holcombe denied Doyle s objections. Although the trial was open Only to those with Access to the base Navy officials allowed a Gay rights activist Michael Petrelis to attend. He is a member of the Washington based group queer nation. Petrelis who travelled from the United states to Monitor the Case said he was angered by Schindler s murder. The Sailor s Skull was crushed his genitals were lacerated and All but two of his ribs were broken according to an autopsy report. This is the Way they treat Gays in the military Petrulis said. We do not Trust the military handling the Case. We fear there won t be a fair  Colorado officials four Germany offend hosts by the los Angeles times Bonn Germany with their own state s image tarnished by its new anti Gay initiative a Large delegation of elected Colorado officials and Community leaders launched a journey for Justice monday to learn about intolerance More than 5,000 Miles from Home. The privately funded tour of Germany is led by it. Adv. Michael Callihan who raised the ire of Bonn officials with a news release that appeared to compare the wave of right Wing violence in Ger Many with human rights abuses in Iraq Somalia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We travel to Germany to stand in Solidarity with the millions of people who recognize the danger of the rising Neo nazi movement his statement said. Our travels could just As easily be to Bosnia Herzegovina Somalia or Iraq where there also exist grave injustices to the human body and  at the Federal press office a govern ment spokesman said the statement was totally unacceptable to compare a democracy like ours. To places such As Bosnia. It s pretty shameless  a . Diplomat sniped i guess they want to lure barbra Streisand Back to the slopes at  the entertainer has said she will not vacation in Colorado to protest the Pas Sage of a ballot measure Banning Laws that guarantee homosexual rights. Callihan a Democrat told a news con Ference in Bonn that we re not wagging our fingers at the  Colorado he noted has its own share of prob lems including racial tension and Vio Lence. Told of the Federal press office s comments Callihan said he did not mean to imply that Germany s human rights re Cord was comparable to that of Iraq so Malia or Bosnia. He refused to say How much the five Day trip for 25 people to Bonn and Munich Cost but emphasized that this is not a state trip and there is no government Money in  the delegation includes representatives from a Cross Section of ethnic and religious groups As Well As a survivor of the Dachau concentration Camp near Munich and one of the . Generals who helped liberate it at the end of world War ii. The group planned to visit Dachau in Bavaria the German state with the lowest rate of racial violence by Neo nazis and skinheads. But there were no plans to visit Eastern Germany which experts consider to be the powder Keg for attacks against foreign Asylum seekers there also were no meetings set up with right Wing youth or those who work with them. We re not Here so much to convert nazis As to enlighten ourselves said Al Legra Haynes a Denver City councilwoman and a delegation member identified As a representative of Trie Black Community. Seventeen people including 10 for Eigners were killed in the 2,000-plus right Wing attacks reported last year in Germany members of the group said. In the last year i have buried far More. Victims of irrational violence prejudice and bigotry said the Rev. Marshall Gourley a roman Catholic priest with the Colorado delegation. The same kind of intolerance the same kind of prejudice without a doubt i have found themis Colorado and i found them resulting in the deaths of far More than 17  impaled Bird keeps ducking authorities Tokyo a a pigtailed Duck that has been flying around for More than a month impaled with a foot Long Arrow has become a minor sensation in this Concrete Jungle. Dozens of Gawker and even larger hordes of cameramen have been Tail ing the Duck along a Concrete lined River in a nondescript Tokyo suburb. The Duck which appears Hardy de spite being pierced through the body by the Bright Pink Arrow has drawn an outpouring of sympathy from to by oits angered by several recent at tacks on wintering migratory Birds. A City official said tuesday that the Bird had fled to a Park in Central Tokyo where efforts were under Way to net it. Officials said they fear the Bird might Fly away before the Arrow is removed. Tokyo a massive sprawl of Concrete and Asphalt once was a much smaller City crisscrossed by Rivers and canals inhabited by Many types of wildlife. Although most of the Waterways have been filled in or paved Over Many Spe cies of migratory Birds including White herons cormorants and a variety of other ducks still spend the relatively mild Winter on the City s Ponds Rivers and few remaining canals. Each year japanese cameramen set up a round the clock watch of another famous Duck a Mother that nests and raises her Young in the Fountain of a major downtown building when the ducklings get Large enough police Stop traffic on a major Street and the Mother Duck marches her ducklings to the Imperial Palace Moat As the entire nation watches on to. Police Block mourners for wartime sex slave Seoul South Korea a riot police blocked mourners in a funeral pro cession tuesday from marching to the japanese embassy with the casket of a woman forced to be a sex slave during world War ii. It was the first Public funeral for a woman identified As a sex slave for the japanese Imperial army. Tens of thou Sands of korean women were forced into prostitution and demands for compensation have become a major Issue betwee the two nations. About 500 police officers armed with Shields and tear Gas blocked mourners in White funeral Robes Many carrying anti japanese banners from entering a Nar Row Street leading to the embassy com Pound. Japan must apologize and compensate the mourners shouted. Three Buddhist monks recited hymns and other people burned incense at a makeshift altar next to a truck carrying the casket. About a dozen women threw their Bod ies against Shields held by riot police. Two weeping female protesters collapsed and were taken to a Hospital. No arrests were reported. Mourners carried a Large portrait of the dead woman Han Jung in 70. Rela Tives said she died feb. 2 of complications from a sexual disease she is believed to have acquired from serving As a sex slave. Her remains were to be buried today after cremation. A statement distributed by the funeral organizers said she was kidnapped near her Home South of Seoul when she was 18 and taken to China where she was forced to have sex with up to 20 japanese sol Diers a Day. Han was one of 211 South korean women who have told the government they were forced to serve As sex slaves at front line brothels for japanese soldiers