European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 25, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 stars and stripes wednesday april 25 2007 us troops show peaceful Side at clinic in Morocco by Charlie Coon stars and stripes Ben Khalel Morocco an old Man has eyeglasses placed on his nose the Frame Bent into place behind his ears he looks through the lenses and sees the world More clearly and Breaks out into a Gap toothed Grin eyes wide with wonder the old Man shakes hands All around taps his hand to his heart and snakes More hands still Grin Ning he marches outside and into the Sunshine just a Man and his eyeglasses a woman is found to have lumps in her breast she is 47 breast cancer age and urged to go to a Hospital for diagnosis some of these women Haven had a routine examination in Many years a doctor says Small touches of modern health care delivered by people Wear ing us military uniforms is received by people who seemed to appreciate it primarily if s Good will said master sgt Chuck Rackham of the Utah army National guard we come in and take care of peo ple and show them that Ameri cans Are caring and peaceful Rackham is one of the soldiers in charge of the medical missions near Tan Tan in Southern moroc co that Are part of african lion 07 the annual two week us moroccan military exercise is organized by the Stuttgart Ger Man based us Marine corps forces Europe while marines and moroccan soldiers trained together a few Miles away on the Art of High Cali Ber killing their colleagues prac tired the Art of Healing trying to spread peace through Medicine to the folks of their Host communities Many people Only think of us As having the big stick rack Ham said were told a lot of these Guys listen to Al Nazeera a Qatar based news network and Only know about us from what they hear off of that we come Down Here to show them the other Side Charlie and stripes staff sgt Steven Maxfield right of the Utah army National guard helps a Man test some eyeglasses thursday during a us moroccan military medical Mission in Ben Khalil Morocco the kingdom of Morocco located on the Northwest Corner of Afri Ca has been a Friend of the us for decades but theres still a mean Streak that courses through its mostly Muslim population of More than 33240000 people two suicide bomb events earlier this month in the Northern City of car ried out with Only one fatality in addition to the bombers them selves put the nation on notice that peace int a Given Here the 10 medical events in 10 Southern villages Are similar to those performed regularly in re cent years in other parts of Africa by the us military which in february formed a command to focus its efforts on the continent the clinic in Ben Khalil located about five Miles outside Tan Tan was staged in a grouping of one Story buildings Security in the form of moroccan soldiers who ringed the obvious but not overbearing rooms were set up for villagers to be treated for dental issues skin problems and general medi Cal problems children were seen by a military paediatrician medi Cine was dispensed by a pharmacy about 500 villagers were served on this Day in addition to utahs army guardsmen the Utah air National guard provided staff along with its Host col leagues who seemed satisfied were very pleased with what is going on Here or maj no staph Dahan of the moroccan army said through an interpreter if s Beautiful if s a Good opera Tion and if s a Good Opportunity to work with the americans Side by Side email Charlie Coon at no credited with saving soldiers life i still recovering from pneumonia by Kent Harris stars and stripes base officials have called a non commissioned officer newly arrived to Italy a hero for saving the life of a fellow Soldier the ill Soldier who Hast been identified by the Southern euro Pean task Force has spent two weeks in san Bortolo Hospital in Vicenza recovering from a severe Case of bacterial pneumonia col Bradley Harper commander of the medical clinic at Caserma Ederle and a pathologist said if staff sgt ring Wilson haunt demanded that the ill Soldier go with him to the clinic the Community might now be mourning the loss of a us service member i do know that if he had been Al Lowed to simply sleep it off he probably would never have Woken up Harper said monday of the ill Soldier adding that the Case was so severe that at one Point i told the cd commanding general that his chances were 5050 the ill Soldier who appears to be recovering resisted the notion of medical treatment putting his life in jeopardy he could not be reached for comment for this Arti Cle Wilson said he noticed there was something wrong with the Pri vate first class when he showed up at the motor Pool on april 10 the Soldier was Pale and appeared to be having trouble breathing he asked the Soldier who want in his Chain of com Mand if he was of and the sol Dier replied that he was Wilson suggested that the Soldier go to the base medical clinic but the Soldier declined after reflecting on it for a few minutes Wilson insisted i told him grab your stuff were going to the medical clinic he said Wilson said he took the Soldier to the clinic escorted him to the front of the line and urged medical personnel to look at him immediately he said the Soldier was soon placed on a Respirator and then transported to the italian Hospi Tal while there he took a turn for the worse and his family flew in to stay by his Side the italians did everything Kent and stripes staff sgt Ringo Wilson Speaks to children at army kid Strong Day at Vicenza Italy last week Wilson is being credited with saving another soldiers life by insisting he report to the bases medical clinic right Harper said they were very aggressive in treating him Wilson who said he didst know How ill the Soldier was until later said he Doest think he did anything special i just did what i did he said that s like the Core of your being an no youre trained to take care of soldiers maj Gen Frank Helmick Setas commander presented him with a commanders Coin last week and the word is slowly spreading about Wilsons actions chief warrant officer 4 Robert Pitts said Wilson has been an asset to the motor Pool since he transferred from fort Campbell by and the 101st airborne Divi Sion a few months ago he said Wilson knows what his responsibilities Are and follows through soldiers sometimes dont have the maturity to take care of themselves Pitts said that s where an no comes in to make sure they do the right thing Emai Kent Harris at German woman testifies about night Soldier allegedly attacked her by Steve Mraz stars and stripes Kaiserslautern Germany court martial began tues Day for pvt Solomon e Smith who faces charges of attempted premeditated murder rape forc Ible sodomy aggravated assault and obstruction of Justice the charges surround an alleged incident that took place Early sept 10 2006 after a 22 year old thai woman drove Smith to her apartment near Homburg about a 30minute drive from Kaiserslautern Smith allegedly choked the woman and forced her to submit to sexual acts before stabbing her twice Smith admits to the stabbings and has pleaded guilty to attempted unpremeditated murder one specification of obstruction of jus Tice and being absent without leave As of 4 pm tuesday the woman who had been on the wit Ness stand for about two hours was the Only witness to have Testi fied in the court martial Smith and the woman met at Tiffany a club in downtown Kaiserslautern in the Early morning hours of sept 10 upon leaving the club around 5 am the woman drove another service member and a female Friend Back to their respective dwellings be fore having Smith Over to her apartment to have drinks and talk she testified Smith invited himself along for the ride because he had never seen Homburg the woman said at the apartment the woman used the restroom exited and then saw Smith sleeping in her bed according to her testimony believing that Smith was asleep she entered the bathroom changed into a sleeveless top and shorts and got into the far Side of the bed away from Smith she said Smith put his arms around her and began kissing her neck the woman said she told him to Stop according to her testimony then Smith began massaging the woman Back with lotion and progressed to kissing her she told him to Stop and said she would drive him Home according to testimony the woman tried to get out of the bed but Smith jumped on her and choked her she said after being choked she agreed to have sex with Smith the woman testified just looking at his face i knew if i didst do what he wanted he would Hurt me the woman said through a German translator after the sexual acts the woman grabbed her cell phone locked herself in the bathroom and tried to Call the police she testified Smith began banging on the bathroom door telling her to open it after she opened the door Smith stabbed her once in the left Side and once in the Chest the woman testified Smith Only agreed to take the woman to Lan Stuhl regional medical Center after he told her to go along with a Story that some one else had stabbed her she Testi fied the court martial is expected to resume wednesday email Steve Mraz acc