European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 13, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 3 Battle waged to save Nurnberg. He i ". By Byro Jensen Firnberg Bureau Forth Germany the Niernberg military Community is slated to fade from the european landscape within a year but it will not go away without a fight from its residents. Several Hundred pre printed letters urging a reversal of the decision Are being distributed throughout the Community by local residents who want to keep Nurnberg open. The decision to close the military Community was announced six weeks ago by the Heidelberg Headquarters of the . Army Europe. The letter was a Community project. Our Hope is that someone up there will say wait a minute explained Jose r. Rodriguez an army Retiree and Long time Community resident. That s what we want someone to take a look at what they re doing said . Rattigan who teaches Driver s education and automotive mechanics and body repair at the american High school. Those two men along with several others were in Strumental in getting the letter written copied and distributed throughout the Community. It is their Hope that the letter will be sent to Mem Bers of Congress Pentagon officials and perhaps even the president. They have sent a copy of the letter to 60 minutes the lbs to investigative news program Resi dents said. A -. The teachers Over Here we got to talking one Day and we said we re throwing hundreds of thousands even millions of dollars away Rattigan said. The letter which went through several versions and has More than one author reflects that fiscal concern using the military Hospital in Nurnberg As a prime example. The 3rd combat support Hospital underwent a $50 million renovation two years before its closure last april. Y.  ,.  ""., the Hospital was 15 minutes by air from army train ing areas and sits near a major autobahn crossing in a City with an International Airport the letter pointed  a. V / \ " Wiir Burg a Community that has survived All draw Down announcements has a Hospital now being renovated the letter noted and no International Airport. It is also located farther away from the training areas. The Nurnberg Community has better facilities than Wiir Burg including a top notch Exchange and commissary the letter continued and recently renovated schools.  " v v y v /. " " Why the letter writers asked was it Irmburg be  Bureau Furth Germany suddenly it Felt like Christmas. The wind blew mild on a Gray Day. Rain was More Likely than Snow. Easter weather somebody called it. Not Christmas weather atall. But then the kids arrived. Nearly two dozen children from st. Michael s Kinder Heim a German children s Home i Nurnberg. Their eyes widened and their Mouth dropped at the sight of the Christmas tree rising from the nest of colourfully wrapped gifts. -.-,  Christmas music filled the spaces be tween the sounds of Young people laugh ing shouting and playing suddenly despite the mud outside it Felt like Christmas at the youth services Cen Ter near William o. Darby Cavern in Firth. The Holiday event was Courtesy of the 316th support Center an army Reserve unit that moved to Firth from Berlin one year ago when that Community began to close. This was the unit s annual Christmas party and the German children were invited. We be gotten a lot out of the Nurnberg Community said it. Col. John Negron the unit commander. Everywhere we be gone we be been welcomed. This is our Way to give something  what they gave Back was smiles laughter and Joy for children who have enough hard times in their lives. Jean Knauer the director of the Home said the children come. Is Ron Jensen a commissary worker helps a customer get a Large order into her car in Firth Germany. The closure of the facility is expected to affect shoppers from near and far. .-.-,. Elected to be the Hub area Over Nurnberg How much More taxpayer Money will be spent to close Down the Nurnberg military facilities and duplicate them in other communities Rodriguez said the decision to close the Nurnberg Community makes no sense to  Quality of life is at its highest Here. You can t beat it he said. I love this place and i want to do something about  rumours had preceded the closure announcement but residents hoped some part of the Community would remain. When it was disclosed that the entire Community would vanish disbelief and disappointment were the main reactions. When it was announced they were like in Shock Gisela Grassley said of her customers at the Flower Concession she operates in the  Flowers Are sold in a Public corridor and she is frequently asked for directions she said. Many people come to Niernberg to shop from As far away As Stuttgart and Munich and even Vienna Austria she said. Rodriguez said Many copies of the letter have been passed on to people from other communities who will miss shopping in of Forth they in turn Are mailing the letters to influential officials in the government he said. / a. The commissary recently conducted a customer sur vey that measures the breadth of the closure s Impact. Graham Roberts the commissary officer said 34 percent of the customers surveyed Between nov. 8 and 30 lived outside the immediate area including 9 per cent from Bamberg where Many soldiers now in Firth soon will be stationed. F people come an extremely Long Way to this store he said. Customers from As far away As Budapest Hun Gary showed up in the Survey. Many came from Munich and Augsburg which is More than two hours away. The purpose of the Survey was to show the defense commissary Agency where it can expect an increase in customers once the Firth commissary closes next sum Mer probably in August. The Point is that the amount of business involved Here is still so great it will affect other places Roberts said. He said nearly 1,165 customers surveyed came from Ansbach about 20 Miles to the Southwest and 1,570 came from Bamberg 35 Miles to the North. Roberts estimated that of the almost $1 million in business done at the commissary each month about half is from outside the Firth area because those peo ple Are More Likely than locals to buy a lot on each trip. That s what s so bad about the closure Roberts said. We re still one of the biggest stores in Europe sales Wise. A-. A " with this Nice commissary i think we d do a lot of business even if the military was not Here especially if they kept the  although the decision has been made and is consid ered by most in the Community to be irreversible some have not surrendered. Rodriguez knows it is a Long shot but he Hopes the letter of complaint can reach the right person. What i want out of this thing is volume he said. The More letters you Send the More Chance someone will say hey something is going on Here " Day Christmas filled the a is a Ron Jensen at Forth Germany Santa Claus spreads Christmas cheer to a girl from st. Michael s Binderheim a children s Home in Nurnberg. Out of difficult family situations broken Homes single Parent families. Society has problems with the child. Perhaps they Don t go to school. They steal or they Don t come Home at  st. Michael s takes charge of the Educa Tion of these children and houses them at the horned some spend weekends with their families. For a few hours sunday however they were guests of americans. We were very Happy about this Knauer said. In former years we had con tact with americans. This was always a pleasure for  the stars and stripes agreed not to use the children s full names because Many of them come from troubled Homes. Each of the 23 children who attended about 90 live at the Home was sponsored by a member of the Reserve unit who Pur chased a gift for that child. Before Santa Claus arrived Maria 12, a two year resident of st. Michael a was asked what she wanted for Christmas. She Shook her headband said it costs top  nodded she said she wanted a compact disc player Stefan 9, was asked what he thought of the Day s activity. Sch fun he said. Beautiful. Negron had assigned capt. Arthur  the task of organizing the party and finding a suitable German Agency for participation. He jumped at the Chance. I did this two years ago Fin Frankfurt and it worked out beautifully Anthony said. Like All reservists members of the 316thare part time soldiers. Anthony for exam ple teaches business English in Frankfurt. Negron is special projects officer Ford Rawdon logistics in Frankfurt up to his elbows in the elimination of that american military Community. A very depressing Job he called it. Looking at the children he added for me this is upbeat compared to what i m doing every Day.". And it was upbeat for the children too who gobbled the potluck dinner and unwrapped presents with great vigor. As toy cars games and dolls appeared the weather outside was forgotten. Suddenly it seemed like Christmas