European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 17, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I Page 4 the stars and stripes saturday september 17,1994 2 top officers selected for promotion new duties from staff and wire reports Ramstein a Germany it. Gen. John g. Lorber vice commander of . Air forces in Europe has been nominated for a fourth Star and selected to become commander of Pacific air forces. In addition maj. Gen. Everett h. Pratt jr., 50, has been nominated As lorber s replacement and for promotion to lieutenant general. Pratt is the commander of the 19th air Force which has its Headquarters at Randolph fab Texas. Lorber 52, has served As Safe Vic commander since july 1993. No dates have been set for the promotions andr assignments. The . Senate must confirm both nominations. Fest to display aircraft Span Dahlem a Germany a two Day festival featuring a Static display of . And nato aircraft begins today at Span Dahlem a. The festival billed As the Eifel Friendship fest also includes food Booths live entertainment and demonstrations by different organizations such As a local Model aircraft club a German Parachute team . Security police dogs and a country Westernlan regroup admission to the festival is free. An a-10 Thunderbolt ii f-16 fighting Falcon and f-15 Eagle aircraft assigned to Span Dahlem will be among the featured planes. In addition the lineup includes a German Mig-29 and two tornadoes a . Kc-135 Strat Tanker and two German helicopters. Festival hours Are 11 . To 8 . Today and 11 . To 5 . Sunday. Service honors . Paws Vilnius Lithuania three . Airmen who perished in a nazi prisoner of War Camp in Lithuania 50 years ago were honoured Friday with Wreath laying ceremony and a flyby by Lithuania s tiny air Force. Toward the end of world War ii some 10,000 american and British noncommissioned officers were imprisoned at the stalag 6, near the town of Salute 155 Miles West of Vilnius. Three americans died during their incarceration. Staff sgt. George b. Walker was shot while attempting to escape in 1944. The others who die Din Captivity were staff sgt. Walter pics and tech. Sgt. William Teaff. Dignitaries Laid wreaths on the unmarked Graves  prison s cemetery As four planes flew Over the site in the missing Man formation. During the Brief ceremony . Charge d affaires John Slepanchuk paid tribute to All who died in the Camp. The airmen who died Here like the lithuanians shared the tragedies of War an occupation Stepanchuk told a Small crowd. Today we remember them  Likely Wii bomb kills 3 Berlin an explosion at a construction site Likely caused by a world War ii bomb killed three workers and badly damaged nearby buildings and cars in East Berlin on thursday. Eight people including a child were Hurt in the blast which occurred near a subway station said. Klaus Ziegler a fire department spokesman. The blast hurled Large chunks of Concrete Niobe than 1,000 feet and blew Large holes in an adjacent apartment building. A 110-Pound Block of Concrete landed on the Street half a Block away and a half do in cars had windshields smashed and we recovered with dents from the flying debris. Go missing since 1944 gets final rest at last by Effie Bathen staff writer Margrate Netherlands army 2nd it. Willis a. Utecht was finally Laid to rest Friday at the Ameri can military cemetery in Margrate 50 years after he was listed missing in action. Utecht whose remains were found last year by a dutch Farmer was buried with full military honors be fore 200 mourners. The Marysville Kan., native had been listed missing in october 1944 in the Netherlands. In a driving rain and beneath the snap of the soaked division colors against the wind Nicole Beezer held a single Pink Rose and cried for Utecht during the Cere  -. The Young dutch woman who had adopted a grave at the american cemetery joined other dutch citizens members of a techs family and . Soldiers and vet Erans from the 82nd airborne div at the graveside. I was surprised to see How grateful the people of the Netherlands were said Marvin Utecht Willis Utecht s brother who travelled from Marysville to at tend the funeral. He and his sister Helen Ellen Backer goodbye from Page 1 i m convinced that it s  a sense of Relief is what sister Helen Ellen Backer said she feels As if the last chapter of the Book has finally been written. It s Over now she said. When the family was notified in 1944 that Willis Utecht was missing Ellen Backer said we Felt a the usual things. We were heartbroken of  Marvin Utecht said Gett Irig a missing in Actori Tele Gram is different from a death notice because it s no final. At first we had Hope he said. There were several men from this area who were reported missing after Pearl Harbor who showed up later so we hoped the same would go for  the family did t talk much about Willis Utec Tafter that except when their Mother said she expected him to come walking through the door. She Felt that Way until she died 20 years later Ellen Backer said. They tried to give him up by having two memorial services a Small one with the Parish priest in Marysville and another big military Send off at  s military Academy in Hays Kan., where he graduated in 1940, Ellen Backer said. Willis Utecht received his commission through the military Academy which is a Catholic boarding High school now known As Thomas Moore prep. His Hometown of Marysville has 3,400 residents. Nicknamed Mickey he was the Middle child of parents Helen and Emil Utecht. He spent his child Hood As most people did during the depression playing sandlot baseball and basketball searching the Riverbank for wild plums fishing for Bullhead and Skinny dipping in the River. In Washington Coleen Shine of the National league of families said a feeling of not resolving the Issue is common for families of those missing in action. ,. The grieving process is different she said. Our culture builds the process around a funeral with a body. But with mias it does t  and there Are the conflicting emotions she Sakl loss grief anger but yet patriotism and Pride. That s a lot of emotions to work through if the families still have a feeling that the person is still alive stood soberly under a shield of umbrellas when tap was. Sounded on the Bugle. The Flag draped Over the coffin bore two More stars than the one Willis Utecht fought under As a member of cob 1st in 325th glider inf regt during world War ii s operation Market Garden and the liberation of the Netherlands. Until last fall the United states considered him missing in action then a dutch Farmer blowing a Fieldin the Village of Heumen near Nijm Egen discovered his remains mostly Bones. At first the Farmer Harry Lamers and his father thought it might be an animal until they saw a Boot Lamers said at the Margrate ceremony. Utecht was among the troops trying to protect Bridge builders during the fighting Lamers said. They found no gun and the remains were buried under a few feet of soil. Somebody must have buried him he said. R we have to live on said Lamers 42, admitting that he did t think about the War much. / but at least Utecht s family now knows that he s  is Cindy Killion Marvin Utecht kneels by the gravestones of his Mother and brother in Marysville Kan. She said. It can Lake years to come to terms with it if atall Shine said. Marvin Utecht said he found out several years ago that the department of veterans affairs would sup ply headstones Reading in memory of for those who Are missing in action. Such a Stone now shares space at St. Gregory s Par ish cemetery with those of his parents. They would t sell me the space next to my Mother and father he said. So i just moved mom s Over a bit so now they re All three there together. That was the right thing to  Walesa stresses desire for nato membership by Jon Conno staff writer Poznan Poland polish president Lech Walesa visiting the closing ceremonies Friday marking the end of nato s first partnership for peace exercise said his country wants to be a full member of the Alliance. About 100 . 1st army div soldiers from the 3rd in 5th Cav regt in Kirch Gons Germany were part of the 650 sol Diers from 13 countries participating in the five Day exercise called cooperative Bridge 94. Six nato countries and seven former Warsaw pact nations practice peace keeping drills at the Bie Drusko training area about nine Miles North of Poznan. We thought this integration into nato would be much faster Walesa said during the closing ceremony. It still Uncertain when we can join nato 1 the polish Leader also said the continued . Presence in Europe is a Condi Tion for preserving stability on the Conti nent. " army 1st it. John Richards a platoon Leader with co a 3rd in 5th Cav regt said he Felt a great Deal of Pride when Walesa walked up to congratulate him on his work during the exercise. Obviously it s his Walesa s desire to enter nato said Richards. He said that a great Many times. Joining the United states in the exer Cise were Bulgaria the czech Republic Denmark Germany the United King Dom Italy Lithuania the Netherland Romania Slovakia Ukraine and Poland another ground forces peacekeeping exercise is scheduled for this month in the Netherlands a . Spokesman said. Also a naval partnership exercise called cooperative venture 94, is scheduled for the North sea in october. Piotr Kolodziejczyk the polish defense minister said that the exercise should be continued in the future but that the training is expensive. The exercise Cost 20 billion zlotys or about $900,000, the de sense minister said. Each nation paid its own expenses he added