European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                People should pay for Cost of tragic failure William Corbett iwas intrigued by the oct. 23 feedback responses to the question would you punish those involved in Friendly fire incidents of.16 questioned 11 gave an unqualified no and in various language others said it de pends on the  the current Case is the april 14 Friendly fire shoot Down of two  Black Hawk helicopters by two . Fighter planes Over Northern Iraq wiling 26people 15 americans. The us. Government has an unfortunate record of excusing professional failures that have deadly re sults. What happened to those who failed during the the october 1983 bombing of marines in Beirut 241 dead the july 1988 shoot Down of the iranian plane by the . Guided missile Cruiser Vincennes 290 dead the 1993 Waco disaster 86 dead the 1993debacle in Somalia 17 dead and the 1994 Pope fab n.c., crash 23 dead ? nothing a Pentagon investigation found this year s Black Hawk shoot Downs were caused by a breakdown of military command guidance and  the. Investigation placed primary blame on the Crew of the air Force airborne warning and control system wags aircraft and the senior Pilot of the two f-15 fighter planes that after falsely identifying them As iraqi destroyed the helicopters. In the helicopter shoot Downs military profession als who enjoy the privileges of rank uniform status pay and benefits of their service failed. It was not a Send in your column plus photo of yourself to be our guest sunday Magazine the stars and stripes Apoate 09211 or Postrach 11 1437 d-64278 Darmstadt Germany. If mailing disk save text in Asci and include printout. Columns Are edited for clarity and length. Opening laugh Upton Usa i pout mow you just pout sism clinic Good for teens one of the helicopters shot Down in april. Simple single level failure. There was no fog of War excuse used to explain past similar disasters. It was Clear weather with excellent visibility. 11 30in the  the fighter pilots and Azacs Crew were not in danger. The Azacs equipment was in perfect order Able to communicate with Al involved and its radar monitored and identified both jets and helicopters As  was not  Airport it was a no Fly zone in a desp late area. ". ,. After the helicopter shoot Downs three members of the Azacs Crew refused to answer investigators questions on grounds of possible self incrimination also four minutes of videotape which could show what the Azacs Crew was doing at the exact time of the shoot Down were mysteriously erased. Cover up of mistakes that Cost 26 lives in unconscionable. This is the pattern following deadly accidents 1. Stretch out events to allow memories to fog an wounds to heal. 2. Blame the dead because they Are beyond fur ther suffering and cannot object. 3. If that fails blame the equipment As it also can not contest. 4. Blame a Lack of up to Date training never bad training and tie equipment failure Inadequacy and Lack of contemporary training to budget and person Nel reductions imposed on the service. We saw this exact pattern following the helicopter shoot Downs. There Are those who like in the disasters mentioned above will say they have suffered enough and no one can punish them More than they punish themselves. They have been seared by the experience and will never again make such a  granted but the message sent to other professionals is Don t sweat it. The system allows every one at least one deadly  professionals who fail must be punished. Those who have witnessed unpunished past failures must speak for the dead and comrades at risk. William Corbett lives in Len Echter Dungen Germany. Karla Harris last month two letters were published inthe stars and stripes regarding a tee clinic Dodds is opening in january at Baumholzer High school the two parents who wrote these letters were concerned about their children receiving health care and or counselling in the areas of contraception pregnancy and std. I am in no Way affiliated with this program but i do have a very serious Story that wish every Parent of a teen Ager would read my Junior year in High school a peer of mine be came pregnant she was 16 at time time. She completed the school year denying her condition an shunning any attempts made by Peers for  summer she went into labor alone in her Home an gave birth to a premature baby girl on her bathroom floor. She then took the baby across the Street and dropped it into a garbage dumpster. However shocking this Story May be it is a True one. This girl came from a stable Loving Home. Shehad two parents who loved her and cared about her. As parents we want the Best for our children and Weall Hope that if they have a problem they can come to us for Loving support. Unfortunately no matter How Good a Home that teens May come from Many still have a hard time opening up to their parents. They often fear their parents reaction to such serious is sues As pregnancy std and abortion. Sometimes moms and dads expectations Are too High so teens Don t want to disappoint them. If your teen aged son or daughter can Conie to yours their Parent and discuss these issues i Praise you for having that openness it is a hard thing to comeby. Your teen won t be the one in that clinic. But in order to prevent a tragedy like that which my Small Community experienced a teen clinic is sex to Emcy necessary. I totally believe that if there would have been a program for teens in my High school something that disastrous would never have happened because that 16-year-old girl would have had someone to go to who would listen without prejudice and give her solid facts and advice. Parents please open your eyes and hearts to you teens. Allow them some privacy and give them your Trust so they can make Wise decisions with your sup port. -.  Harris lives in Schweinfurt Germany. \ contents from the cover. 4-9 Wien the germans struck out in Belgium. I ajl Jim Erma Bombeck on men s body language.  1u in tune. 11 Rivera and Simpson. This week s films. A. 12-13 military circuit listings. Chuck Emch enjoys the Santa clause. " television listings. 14-17 local Cable and satellite schedules. Home entertainment. 18 videos for Christmas. Voices. 20-21 Andy Rooney hears about lawyers. Linda Ellerbee in t signing on to gop s contract. Words wit. 24william Safire on Core and Caber. Tsu Uiva. 25the work of Nelson Mandela. On Parade �.m. 27 John Travolta s comeback. Last laugh 28dave Barry on sex. Sunday is a weekly supplement of the stars and stripes editor Bucky Fox cover Story design Alice verberne production Bernard Jensen editorial assistance Louis d. Pierce Page 2 sunday. December 11, 1994