European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes tests for syndrome deficient " i. -. " " says Veteran who is doctor Washington a Carol stauf Fer came Home from operation desert storm with some of the same symptoms reported by Many other Veters Rof the persian Gulf War. She had chronic fatigue headaches and a general feeling of having a permanent Case of the flu. After months with no Relief she went to a veterans affairs Hospital and asked for help. The examination she got was appalling stauffer said thursday. Has exactly the Type of illness they want to find none she told a Specia rna tonal institutes of health panel. Stauffer joined other veterans testify ing before an Nih committee of experts that is studying the health of Gulf War veterans who Are reporting symptoms that include rashes chronic fatigue headaches bleeding Gums loss of concentration and shortness of breath. The experts Are trying to determine if there Isa Universal disease with common sym fumes from burning landfills containing suit in a failing Grade for a third year medical student she said. She ought to know. Stauffer is a medi Cal doctor a fact she did i t Tell the a physicians until after their examinations. If my experience is typical the . Government is finding in Gulf War Veter be terns recall 749 men killed to develop a definition of the a Sorden some studies have attributed the symptoms to a High level of chemical exposure Many american troops in the persian Gulf area lived for months under a sky filled with dense smoke from burning Oil Wells. They also reported breathing some to speculate that the symptoms Are caused by sensitivity to chemicals. Inoculations for diseases iraqi Chemi Cal warfare weapons parasites and com Bat stress also Are suspected. The disorder is not a recognized serv ice related disease although some groups have Given it a name Gulf War syndrome. Stauffer said a doctors Are not treating the disorder seriously and is psychological Orthe creation of people who Are frying to get a Benefit from the government. Or. Myra Shayevitz a physician at the Northampton mass a medical. Cen Ter said her Hospital had some Success in a special program that treated the disorder As a chemical sensitivity problem. In on a Day practice slap Tor Sands England a survivors of one of the least known a lied disasters of world War ii returned thursday to remember 749 . Soldiers and sailors killed when their Landing practice for a Day came under Surprise German attack. Before a remembrance service was held at the 13th-Century Par ish Church in Slapton Sands elderly vet Erans walked around a Sherman tank me Morial to the men of exercise Tiger who died off Slapton Sands in the Early morn ing dark of april 28,1944, morning fog Clung to the ground and the steel Gray sea 30 Yards away As one survivor sat by the Monument recalling How cold he was that Day i was very alone and very frightened said Richard Meredith who spent five hours in the 42-degree water. He was 17 and kept thinking my Mother was going to be so angry if i Don t come Home. I m the youngest of six boys who were in the service  Meredith of Danvers mass., went on to land at Utah Beach on a Day june 6. It was a lot safer  of Protection he said wryly. To Only june Rij Isje Orvette was Rovid tag escort for a slow a veg  . Navy tank Landing ships lists carrying men from the 4th inf div to make practice landings at Slapton Sands eight Miles Southeast of Dartmouth on the Devonshire  exercise Tiger april 28,1944 n a Day rehearsal becomes a Deathtrap the Landing ship tank 1stcapable of carrying up to 40 tanks w hundreds of troops miss instrumental in the Success of the Convoy convey t-4 of eight . L8tsescorted by a British ship moves East in a single line out of Plymouth and a Pray Harbor for mock invasion at Slapton Sands. 0 nazi patrol nine a boats leave the Harbor a Cherbourg on regular patrol. They head for Slapton Sands attracted by radio traffic. Id nazis attack expats spot Convoy and torpedo is 507 at 2 03 . Next they hit and sink 1st 531. Finally lst289is hit and towed Back to port. The ships were on the wrong Radt Wavelength because of a typographical Terreth Ruhr orders. Aftermath British destroyers , the germans have already sped Back to  destroyer begins to search for survivors. At 4 30 . Daw Breaks to reveal the magnitude of the disaster. The final toll 551soldiers and 1 �8 sailors dead and 89 participants wounded. A cart Fox fire trucks being blown through the air bodies. We did t know what happened he said. His ship got to Shore and suffered few casualties. After morning prayer thursday at the memorial a dozen american and 35 Brit ish veterans made their Way to the Small nine fast moving German torpedo boats happened upon the Convoy sinking two lists badly damaging a third and killing nearly four times As Many men As the division would lose in the a Day landings Roger Shaeffer of Bellevue Wash. Was 22 when list 289 was hit by German torpedoes. We saw a big Ball of were joined by . And British officials and residents who had been evacuated in 1943, before the secret Landing practices began. Villagers who could t fit into the Church stood on the Lush grass among the gravestones joining in the hymns and prayers that boomed out on loudspeakers. Because of the secrecy surrounding a Day the disaster was kept quiet and the casualties were not announced until Normandy Nason. ,. The full details were not known until 1974 when the records were declassified. The Convoy was lightly guarded and because of a typographical error the american ships were on the wrong radio frequency and unable to receive warn ings7the-Gisrtop-heavy-in-full Battle dress improperly buckled their flotation belts around their waists. Many bodies were found floating feet up. British newspapers published Brief Sto Ries repeating German radio reports about some shipping being lost. The first official mention came at an aug. 5 Brief ing when the casualty list from the exer Cise was included in Post a Day reports. One final casualty came that same  . Don p. Moon in charge of the american part of the exercise killed himself at least in part because of   at Slapton Sands. The Pope leaves the Gemelli poly clinic in Rome after breaking his right shoulder in a november Alt. He was Back Friday for surgery after breaking his leg in a fall. Pope has Breaks leg Vatican City a Pope John Paul ii broke his right leg in a fall and was taken into surgery Fri Day. Doctors predicted weeks of recovery then Attong period of therapy.-. " a a " the 73-year-old pontiff was expected to receive an artificial Bone replacement in the. Rei where the femur neets the hip joint. The 90-minute." y a statement Fryni Gemelli poly clinic in Rome said 1 the surgery Wen very the Pope fractured the top of his right thighbone and dislocated a joint when he slipped in his Bath room late thursday. He was treated by his private doctor before being taken to Gemelli polyclinic the same facility where he was treated in november when he fell Down some stairs and fractured his right shoulder. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro said the pontiff did not fall because he lost consciousness Orcas sick. To the Hospital director Emilio Tresalt described the Pope As a very Strong Man whose general health was excellent. Sweden Finland to join partnership for peace Brussels Belgium a Finland and Sweden will end Olin nato s new partnership program in May becoming the first traditionally Neutral nationsrto1 dose. Officials said Friday that the nordic my pm 11 a _ t _ _1_of a " thursday restated the motivation behind its decision to reassess and possibly scrap plans for military a excises with the United states. X a spokesman for russian president Boris Yeltsin rejected assertions that Yeltsin had Given in to growing nationalist and anti american pressures calling the flip Flop an indicator that the democracy is taking hold in Russia. Nationalist forces or a Cooling off by the russian leadership toward the Usa Kremlin spokesman Vyacheslav Kostikova told the itar Tass news Agency. Such decisionsarethfljigrmj3f_the_ democratic process with All its positive and negative consequences he said. The exercises which were to involve about 250 . Officers and soldiers with agreed upon by the . And russian de sense chiefs last Winter. They were to take place near the Southern russian Cit of Orenburg in july. But the peacekeeping Maneu vers were thrown into doubt tuesday Ashen Yeltsin agreed to heed a vote last week by rus Sia s parliament against the exercises and told his defense minister to reassess the plans. Troops1jve_4uajlek_qf head North Atlantic treaty organization. The program was inaugurated in Jan uary by president Clinton and other Alli Ance leaders primarily As a Way of draw ing former Warsaw pact adversaries closer but without granting them membership. Russia has cautioned against any move to push nato s territory farther eastward