European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday april 18 2007 stars and stripes Page 3 Seth and stripes at a ceremony tuesday in Hohenfels Germany 1st battalion 4th infantry regiment soldiers and family members said goodbye to one of their own Cpl Conor Gerard Masterson 21 of Woodbury Minn who was killed april 8 by a Roadside bomb in Afghanistan Hohenfels remembers medic killed in Afghanistan Byset Robson stars and stripes Hohenfels Germany images of a medic learning to give Aid to fallen comrades a Soldier in full Battle rattle on his first trip downrange brought tears to Many inside the on Post theater tuesday the attendees mostly members of 1st Battal Ion 4th infantry regiment and their families were there to say goodbye to Cpl Conor Gerard Masterson 21 of Woodbury Minn who was killed april 8 by a Roadside bomb in Afghanistan the person who knew Masterson Best was pc Zach Harding the pair both medics spent a lot of time together after they were assigned to 14 a unit that role plays As an enemy Force for soldiers training at Hohenfels joint multinational readiness Center we went to the same places we liked a lot of the same things we were living in the Barracks and spent a lot of time together listening to music play ing video games or making jokes about stupid peo ple said Harding 24 of Bel air my to give its soldiers experience and contribute to ongoing War efforts the unit regularly sends Compa Nies downrange Harding deployed to Afghanistan last year expecting never to see Masterson again since his Friend was due to replace him and would be on his Way there with company b by the time he got Home but when Harding went Home on mid tour Emer gency leave he stopped off in Germany and spent at least four hours with his mend we talked a lot in those four hours we both knew it was going to be the last time we would see each other he said Masterson talked about his wife Lorena and plans to study Medicine at College at the end of the four hours he walked slowly out of his room locked his door and walked away Harding said another 14 Soldier who knew Masterson was his platoon sergeant sgt 1st class William Neill 37 of Alliance Ohio Neill remembered a Young medic eager to learn Bis Craft whom everyone knew As Doug he told a Story about master sons efforts to correctly insert and tape an intravenous tube under the Stern gaze of his Mentor sgt Richard Kern Kern tested master sons tape Job by picking up the in bag and throwing it As the wide eyed Young Soldier watched in horror Neill said but master sons tape Job held he had bested his Mentor and now he was becoming the medic he wanted to be the said master sons awards and decorations include the purple heart Bronze Star with v device army commendation medal nato medal National de sense service medal Afghanistan Campaign medal global War on terrorism service medal army ser vice ribbon and the overseas ribbon email Seth Robson at cafes working on compensation for tainted fuel at bases by Bryan Mitchell stars and stripes Raf Mildenhall England cafes said if s working to secure a Lump sum compensation payment for motorists affected by the tainted fuel pumped from two air Force installations earlier this year approximately six weeks after Harvest Energy supplied its fill ing stations on rats Mildenhall and Alconbury with Silicon taint de fuel the army and air Force Exchange service said it was in Al most daily communication with Harvest to arrange a Quick Resolution according to spokesman it col Dave Konop we have collected around 75 claims at this time and Are working to get a Lump sum pay ment to pay out the claims Konop wrote in an email to stars and stripes this hopefully is in the Best interest of our customers that information differs from what the military told motorists several weeks ago when an Raf Mildenhall Legal office representative said the air Force was Sim ply collecting the claims for har Vest Energy which would investigate and ultimately approve or deny the claim Harvest Energy did not return multiple queries from stars and stripes on tuesday an Independent testing company confirmed that Harvest Energy supplied the Silicon tainted Gas to filling stations on both rats Mildenhall and Alconbury sometime Between late february and Early March it also supplied tainted fuel to the Morrison Gro Cery store Chain As Well As Asda the British Arm of Walmart a British investigating firm traced the tainted fuel to an Essex depot that supplies fuel to har Vest Energy and a second fuel company despite the Lack of evidence of silicone in the fuel at the Raf Lakenheath filling station an unknown number of motorists have filed claims with the 48th judge advocate generals office Accord ing to an Raf Lakenheath spokes woman the silicone adversely affects oxygen sensors in some makes and models and can Lead to com plete engine shutdown according to John Pidgeon an Raf Milden Hall Auto Hobby shop manager repairs can run Between and the latest compensation Effort meanwhile differs from the method used in 2005 when an unknown number of american Mil itary personnel sought compensation from har Vest Energy after the Energy firm filled unleaded tanks at Raf Mildenhall with diesel fuel Caus ing damage to vehicles during that round of filing claimants dealt directly with har Vest Energy cafes has refused to answer questions relating to the 2005 Inci Dent including How much diesel was inadvertently supplied at Raf Mildenhall How Many motorists filed compensation claims How Long it took for the claims to be adjudicated or if cafes con ducted an investigation following the incident it also wont say How Many other tainted fuel incidents have occurred at cafes filling stations worldwide in the past three years email Bryan Mitchell at we have collected around 75 claims at this time and Are working to get a Lump sum payment to pay out the claim spa it col Dave Konop cafes spokesman Raf my Denham fast food is Cash Only for now Raf Mildenhall England got Cash you better if you want a Goldita or whopper this week hungry airmen have had to use Cash to pick up fast food at Raf Mildenhall since saturday after a hard disk computer failure knocked out the credit and debit card capabilities at Taco Bell Burger King and Anthonys pizza a Chip in the computer went Down has been ordered and should be fixed by weeks end it col Dave Konop an army and air Force Exchange service spokesman wrote in an email we apologize for any inconvenience that this May have caused Konop said the technical difficulty did not cause any major disruption in business anecdotal evidence collected from employees at the fast food restaurants on tuesday indicated tacos burgers and slices were Selling at roughly the same rate there were Long lines of patrons at All three locations during the tuesday lunch Rush staff sgt Sergio Feal 26 of North Babylon by picked up lunch for him and his wife Ange la at Taco Bell its not a big Deal for us be cause we never use a debit card to get fast food i always carry Cash for this stuff Feal said but if it happened at the shop Pette that would be a different Story Navy announces admirals promotions the chief of naval operations has announced a series of promotions involving officers in Europe and the Middle East rear adm Edward Winters i has been assigned to command the iraqi National counter terrorism Force transition team which advises and trains iraqi special operations forces Winters is Deputy director inter Agency task Force us special operations com Mand rear adm Richard Gallagher director of operations at us euro Pean command in Stuttgart Ger Many has been assigned to be come commander of us naval forces us Southern command in Mayport Fla rear adm Michael Groothousen commander of naval standing maritime forces group two in Naples Italy has been selected to command Navy Region eur air forces Mediterranean in Naples Laditha charge against one Marine dropped charges have been dropped against a Marine charged in connection with the deaths of five iraqi civilians last year at a Ditha a total of 24 iraqi civilians were killed in november 2005 in Laditha the Marine corps initially said the civilians had been killed by a Roadside bomb but later four enlisted marines and four officers were charged in connection with the civilians deaths on tuesday the corps announced that a charge of unpremeditated murder had been dropped against one of those marines sgt Sanick p Dela Cruz the charge was dropped after Dela Cruz was granted testimonial immunity april 2 according to a corps news release the investigation into the deaths at Laditha and into another incident at Hamand Yah caused the corps commandant Gen Michael Hagee to go on a worldwide tour to emphasize Marine corps values in the Wake of the two Inci dents Usi troops were also Given Core Warrior values training to remind them about the Laws of War from staff reports