European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes monday december 12/1994 German pos great escape hailed Phoenix a fifty years ago they were the enemy. On saturday they were honoured in a ceremony commemorating their historic escape from a world War ii prison compound. On dec. 23, 1944, 25 German submariners fled from the Papago Park prisoner of War Camp through a Tunnel that took four months to dig making what historians have called the greatest escape by Axis prisoners of War from a . Compound during world War ii. Three of the escapees dreamed of floating Down the Gila River and eventually reaching the Gulf of California. They even lugged a makeshift boat to the riverbed Only to find that it was dry. All 25 escapees eventually were Cap tured without injury. Some of them returned to Arizona recently to observe the commemoration of the event. Saturday s ceremony along the Arizona canal in Scottsdale near the former pow Camp site included an address by former South Dakota gov. Joe Foss who won a medal of Honor during Worl Warll. Former pow Alfred Dietrich of Essen Germany was to Lead a German delegation. Reporter Lloyd Clark founded an organization to remember the pos after he was assigned to cover the 10th anniversary of the escape for the Phoenix Gazette. Clark said he did not even know about the escape when he was Given the assign ment. Now he admits to having an obsession with the event. For years Clarnc kept up a one Way correspondence with the German who led the breakout capt. Jurgen Watten Berg a a boat commander. Wattenberg now 93 and living in a retirement Center in Germany was the last of the escaped pos to be captured. He ignored Clark s overtures for years. When i first wrote to him in 1959, i was still the enemy Clark  did not receive a reply until the in As san Francisco a they Call it slash and Burn one second s exposure to White hot Metal for a last ing scar and presumably lasting satisfaction. It s called body branding and it joins piercing As the latest in Persona statements. With tattooing you re getting something embedded in your skin. But with branding it s bringing out some thing that s already there it s More natural said Adam Huffman who pierces skin at a new York shop and has twin suns branded on his fore arms. V -.   pain it s not As bad As anyone would think he said. It s actually kind  _. Huffman 22, said Venus modern body arts where he works gets Only one branding customer every month or two usually men in their mid-20s. The real action he said is on the  san Francisco most professional branding is done in two shops where perforating noses lips and More Pri vate parts is still the  Busi Ness -. A -. Three to six customers a week show up in search of a More permanent and More painful statement said the owner of Nomad body piercing. He goes by the single name of Blake. Although most of the clientele Are White and Between 20 and 40, Brand ing began among Black College fraternities especially in the South in the 1930s and 1940s, Blake said. It s not a new thing anyone who watches monday night football has seen it he said. It s a hard Core rite of  scarring was used by african and american Indian tribes As a Symbol of manhood and branding May have grown out of that tradition Bla Esaid. The options for Blake s customers Are limited by the branding process. The scars tend to spread making intricate Tattoo like images impossible. Customers with brands have to Settle for simpler designs. Usually they want a personalized kind of thing an astrological Symbol or a shape that has significance to them personally like a Triangle a Star Blake said. The process is fairly simple. Blake uses a Blowtorch to heat a piece of galvanized Sheet Metal held in a Vise grip. Then the White hot Metal is applied to the skin usually flatter file Shier parts of the body through a Stencil. Each strike lasts Only a Sec Ond. _. Kind of sep thing Heidi Yoder shows off the Sun she had branded onto her Back in san Francisco. A simple Brand can be finished in one 15-minute sitting and costs about $50. But Blake recently finished a three year 200-strike project on a woman that includes a Pyramid with Sun rays. Each scar can take six weeks or Moreto heal. I know it sounds sort of 70s, but i was trying to achieve a balance Between the symbols on my body said 27-year old Heidi Yoder who has a Brand of an african Sunburst on her lower Back. I could t get in balance myself so i thought the symbols could keep me More entered. I already had Earth and water in the form of vines and Mer maids in tattoos and i wanted fire she told the san Francisco examiner. Huffman said that judging by the phone Calls there is More interest in branding these Days. But he notes that few who Call actually show up at his shop. Early 1960s, when Wattenberg spotted feature on the Colorado River in the Magazine. The last time i was in your state Idin t get to see the Colorado he wrote. I would like to see it  Clark visited Wattenberg in germany10 years ago and persuaded him to visit Arizona. As they drove toward the River dark recalled Wattenberg summed up the philosophy they shared about War and the peaceful coexistence of former enemies it s strange that we should have to kill each other before we become such Good  on besieged area Rome a there s plenty of White stuff in Rome this Holiday season but it s not making anyone feel festive. Thousands of Birds taking Roost near the Vatican have blanketed blocks with Snow White guano and turned the area into a showdown Between human ingenuity and Birds natural urges. The Birds Are winning,.".  Are speckled within minutes. Many residents have begun toting umbrellas As Protection. Others improvise i Don t read the sports Section so i use it to shield my head said Patricia Luca sheltered under the morning Edi Tion As she waited for a Tram. The Slop of droppings reached the Cri Sis Point last week after a rainstorm Doz ens of cyclists lost control in the slush. Merchants complained that even Loyal customers were heading elsewhere. The City closed off the worst area a main thoroughfare and several adjacent streets and Street scrubbers went to work. Bird experts were called in. Their Mission flock removal. They tried rattling the Birds with loud speakers and tapes of Rifle blasts. Then the experts tried broadcasting sounds mimicking a Bird Irr distress. The Birds mostly Palm sized starlings were unfazed. We re looking at the possibility of chasing away the starlings with Ultra sound said Bruno Vignini the City s Ani Mal division chief. Forget the gentle approach some de Mand bring in the Chain saws Cut Down the Trees. It s better to kill them than the people said Adele Calca Terra a shop owner. Some residents have taken clubs and pounded tree trunks to try to unsettle the Birds. It helped work out frustrations but Little else was accomplished. Starlings and romans usually coexist without problem. The Birds tight forma Tion in flight zigzagging Over the roof tops is As much a part of the Urban landscape As piazzas and outdoor cafes. The Birds usually move around and Many head to More Southern Points Ashe weather cools. The dense concentration in one neigh boyhood surprises the experts. The most popular theory is that the Birds have delayed their southward migration because of unusually mild weather and picked the tree lined zone near the Vatican because heavy traffic and Public transportation make the streets a few degrees warmer than surrounding areas. The fees fallout reaches its Peak in the late afternoons after the Birds return from feeding in the Countryside