European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 8, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22letters to the editor sunday january 8, 1995 35 european edition col Steven 8. Hoffman. Usan commander publisher Bernard a. Zovistoski a. A editor a. News and editorial Deborah Absher now editor by we or euro Poon editor Bob Wicker sport editor George mane City editor to write us unit 29480 Apoate 09211 or Postrach 11 14 37 64278 Darmstadt Germany news Tel fax 06155-601416 a to Call us dial 06155-601 plus Extension or Dan 348-8 plus Extension As follows news ext. 237, 255,282, 220, 326. Sports ext. 225, 269,263,332,321, 221. Features ext. 230,245,341. Letters to editor ext. 206,400. Business news ext. 326. News bureaus Heidelberg Germany Effie Bathen room 117, rim Erst. 104, 69115 Heidelberg Telephone Dan 3707010 or civilian 06221-23421 Tel fax 06221-10554. Kaiserslautern Germany Kovlan Dougherty and Doyle Tillman. 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Dan 634-7545, Tel fax 0444-300-641. A Spain Madrid Dan 665-5807, civilian and Tole fax 00341. 6581465. A Turkey Quot Istanbul civilian 0090-212-272 48 43, Tololah 0090212-27432 09.a a. United kingdom. Cirencester civilian 0285-710-637, Dan 247-4445. Advertising display Germany 06155-601247 or 601309, Dan 3488247 classified Germany 06155-601349, Dan 348-8349. Advertising Tel fax 06t55-601412 please Recycle Thia newspaper is an author red unofficial publication for members of Iho military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes do not necessarily reflect the official views of.,of endorsement by the . Government me department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication  i sons or supplements does not constitute endorse men by the department of defense or the stars and stripes of me products or services advertised. Sentence decried. We do not know what motivated Patrick Smith to kill Elora Mckemy. We do not know Why he chose the Mckemy residence to victimize or How he managed to break in commit the crime and keep his identity hidden for nine months. Even Patrick Smith claims not to have any memory of the crime. Yet the court martial Resu Tecl in a situation where the potential exists to have Smith a Back on the Street in 10 years free to commit similar crimes against other people and families. A a a a. Quot a a a a a. I done to know at whom l should be More outraged. Should it be lawyers like Joel Cohen who pm sure is enjoying All of the publicity he a getting for getting his client such a relatively Light sentence should it be wimpy prosecutors who folded like a tent when it came time to fight for the appropriate punishment at the trial should it be the Gennan government for pressuring the United states in a Case that under the current status of forces agreement sofa was clearly in the . Military a jurisdiction in a angry at All of them. Out the person in a really angry with is the court martial convening authority Brig. Gen. Joseph g. Garth to Iii the facts in the Case led Cohen to say a had we gone to court with a jury we most certainly would have had a death  those facts were the same ones that Garrett based his decision on. Yet he approved the lenient plea bargain. I am ashamed and outraged that he did no to move on with a trial where All unanswered questions could be answered and where Patrick Smith could receive a just punishment. Nothing less than life in prison without parole is fitting for the crimes Smith committed Quot a. Quot a _ i hold on to my 17-month-Oid daughter a Little tighter now. I make extra checks to see that doors and windows arc locked. I take harder looks at suspicious looking people. And now thanks to this decision i live a Little More fearful of the military Justice sys Tern and those who choose to take the easy Way out and not implement its provisions when appropriate capt. John banal Karlsruhe Germany Stamps issued in the past which belong to this disgusting category. East Germany once issued a a Oberlin Wall a stamp and Iran issued a stamp showing blindfolded american prisoners in Tehran. We done to need to join that club. Ai think the president made the right Ducci Sion by intervening and making sure this postage stamp was promptly cancelled. Fred rec a. Johnson Bonn Germany of course the Clinton administration bowed to japanese government pressure and is printing something else on the stamp probably a mushroom Cloud of All that marijuana smoke that Wasny to inhaled. Debbie Cring 1 Hanau Germany far from letter perfect to the two soldiers who Are a a amazed by the a a nonsense of withdrawing the atomic bomb commemorative stamp this year world War ii will have been Over for 50 years maybe its time to give it a rest. The millions who died in that War a civilians and military a deserve to be mourned and remembered but the time to rehash who did what to whom has Long since passed. Nobody is revising history by withdrawing this stamp the dropping of two atomic bombs is hardly a moment in our history to celebrate though no matter How Many american lives May have been saved and nobody least of All Japan is denying Many of the atrocities that both writers have mentioned. But modern Day Japan Isnit issuing Stamps commemorating those events is it furthermore a caption which claims Only that the bombs a helped hasten wars end is about As one sided As issuing a stamp that reads a holocaust helps curb population  its Clear from both writers tones that the morality of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a very sensitive and inflammatory Issue for Many of us and its going to get a lot More attention As the 50th anniversary approaches. There a nothing wrong with airing _ that moral debate. But its just not a topic that can be or should be summed up in a half dozen one sided words on a postage stamp. A a. A a a Quot a a. A Mark a. Rumple Heidelberg Germany Boot drug abusers an article in the newspaper a few Days ago really got me seeing red. This article reported that a master sergeant with 18 years in the air Force discovered to be a user of hashish was reduced to staff sergeant and Given a healthy Fine and a few months of hard labor without confinement in accordance with a pretrial agreement. Agreement or not this is outrageous. There is no place for drugs in our air Force especially within the ranks of senior cos. Eighteen years or 28 years of service should not make any difference. The message we should be sending is drug abuse by military members will not be tolerated. He like every drug abuser should be kicked out. Sign me a feeling  master sgt. Philip a. Knorr _ shape Belgium stamp a bad idea the mushroom Cloud is the Symbol of the worst conceivable bringer of death and destruction on Earth and should not be depicted on a postage stamp of the United states or any other country for that matter. All arguments to the contrary cannot convince me otherwise. Who the a Good guv so were or the a bad Guys has nothing to do with it. The fact that the enemy committed cowardly and heinous atrocities during that or any other War is beside the Point. To see the effect such a stamp might have imagine How you would react if you received a letter with a japanese stamp commemorating the Pearl Harbor attack. What would a briton think if he received a letter with a German v-2 rocket stamp or an israeli think of a concentration Camp stamp fortunately no such Stamps As those exist but the fact is there have already been a bomb saved lives did we have to use the atomic bomb on Japan. Did the japanese government have to Start a War with us by bombing Pearl Harbor a a a a a a. Do we Bow to a Juanese government pressure and print a less a a offensive commemorative stamp do japanese producers respond to complaints concern the very popular japanese films that show for example Godzilla defending the Homeland by crushing obviously american soldiers does the japanese government have to support a Kamikaze museum that As recently reported by the stars and stripes is a shrine to bravery and loyalty probably should read Blind stupidity that encourages the japanese to give their All for the Homeland the atomic bomb that horrible weapon of mass destruction should be commemorated not Only with a stamp but in every possible Way. The fact that it ended the War in the Pacific even at the Cost of thousands of innocent and not so innocent lives should be celebrated just As is the end of the Long War that killed an estimated 60 million in More conventional therefore perfectly acceptable ways bullets starvation mass murder Etc the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved thousands of american and probably hundreds of thousands of japanese lives. The a bomb voided the concept of a conventional third world War and the mad mutually assured destruction doctrine ensured that we would not fight a nuclear world War Iii saving untold millions of lives. The government of Japan should be protesting the use of conventional weapons bullets starvation mass murder Etc in More than 60 regional conflicts throughout the world rather than worrying about a commemoration of a weapon that with All its horror is probably one of the Best Ever developed because it has been used Only twice. Curb the spending i am sitting in my living room listening to the constant bickering about what message we sent during last Falls voting. I find it interesting the republicans Are using this As a mandate to Rule from the right. I find it equally interesting the democratic response is to one up the republicans by offering a Middle class tax Cut downsize of govern mint and not raise the deficit i done to speak for everyone but i think the intended message was for the Federal government to serve in a economically responsible manner what you collect in taxes is what you re allowed to spend. This May not live up to the Republican Agenda of a conservative repressive big brother Type of government. The message we sent George Bush was the same message we sent our sitting president and the Congress. We want you out of our personal lives and we want you fiscally responsible. If you have no Money to pay your staffs pay them if the congressional travel budget is expired done to travel if your correspondence allowance is at Zero hold your letters. School prayer and abortion rights Are important arid relevant but should be handled by the judicial Branch. You done to have a mandate to dictate your social Agenda. You were elected to help us retrieve our future. We done to like your free junkets paid for by Rich private interest group your expensive fact finding Tours to South America and we arc disgusted with the fact you re using government frequent flier mileage to Fly Home on holidays expressly forbidden in the military. President Clinton had some Good ideas and has done a lot of positive things. He has also made a lot of mistakes. One thing you cannot fault him for is Lack of trying. Lets Stop playing the who can give the largest tax Cut game. Cut the programs and put the Money toward the deficit. Stop borrowing Money to give to other countries its just Plain stupid. The message is if you cart to work As a team to help relieve the deficit and curb the big spending you will be replaced. A tech sgt. Rian Scott pc Occman Spang Dahlum a Germany get it straight i wish to make known there Are military police in Stuttgart not Security police. And being Here for three years As an my i have not heard of seen or Ever read a report of an my being arrested for stealing from the commissary. Our Job is hard enough a without folks throwing out incorrect facts and statements. Sgt. 1st class j. Mason a a Kirch Gons Germany t to our readers let us know what you think we encourage our readers a especially those who have never submitted a letter to write to us. Letters expressing readers viewpoints or opinions Are published Dally on this Page. A letters must be signed and include address and Telephone number. Send to letters to the editor the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. Or fax country code 49 06155601-395, Dan 348-s395. We Reserve the right to edit letters for clarity length and taste. .04 .03 .28 .50 .01 .09 .13 04 .33 .01. 15.-.04 .03 .01 .01 .02 .01 .03 .01 .08 .01 .01 .02 .01 .03 .02 .04 .05 .02 .12 .01 .02 .01 .04 .02 03 ,09 31 .09 .04 02 04 .04 03 02 02 03 14 03 03 02 02 01 02 02 03 03 0402 02. 01 29 31 02 32 17 01 it 31 33 a 34 17 to 10 a m m m m 13 12 ii 19 9 n 13 13. A Quot a 9 9 5 1 2 7 i 3 7 1 3 1 1 2 j 4 \