stars & stripes us edition alaska 051614

FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014Volume 6, No. 22 ©SS 2014

D-DAY AT 70RETURN TO NORMANDY: AN ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

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2 May 16, 2014S TA R S A N D S T R I P E SPAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, May 16, 2014

Seventy years ago next month, the largest armada ever as-sembled set off from Eng-land for the French coast.

On June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops, supported

by 700 warships and carried by 2,500 landing craft, assaulted a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast in an ef-fort to push the Nazis out from occupied France and drive into Germany.

Earlier that day, thousands of paratroops landed behind the enemy’s defensive lines to protect the armada’s fl anks.

Despite heavy losses within the fi rst six days of the assault, 326,000 men, 54,000 vehicles and 104,000 tons of ma-teriel came ashore in what was called Operation Overlord.

But the battle for Normandy was far from over. Twenty days into the opera-

tion, the Allies had advanced only a dozen miles inland. By July, the break-out from Normandy had begun. Troops fought the battle among the hedgerows and captured St. Lo. By month’s end, they were at the edge of Brittany. In August, Brittany was in Allied hands, and it was on to Paris, which was liber-ated on Aug. 25.

The Allied advance suffered a setback in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden and stalled in December at the legendary Battle of the Bulge. On March 7, 1945, the U.S. 9th Armored Division captured the bridge at Remagen, Germany, and by the end of the month all of the Rhine was in Allied hands. The march across Germany had begun.

On May 9, 1945, just a little more than 11 months after D-Day, the Nazis surrendered.

Now, seven decades later, still-thank-ful French residents, D-Day veterans, their families and friends, along with tourists and history buffs, will return to the invasion beaches — Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword — to commemo-rate the Allies’ efforts and sacrifi ces.

Seven decades ago, Operation Overlord hit the beaches of Normandy

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, troops in a landing craft approach Omaha Beach. At Omaha, one of five landing areas on the coast of Normandy, France, the U.S. 1st and 29th Divisions came under heavy fire. Despite bombardment from air and sea, the Nazis still had plenty of firepower, turning Omaha into a killing field.

The day that changed WWIIINSIDE • Tour the major sites of D-Day• Map of Operation Overlord• WWII cemeteries in Normandy

ON THE WEB See stripes.com/normandy for:• More photos• Visitor information• An interactive map• Videos: D-Day and Normandy American Cemetery sights

STORIES AND PHOTOS BY MICHAEL ABRAMS/Stars and Stripes — [email protected]

RETURN TO NORMANDY

National content provided by Stars & Stripes. Local content, printing and distribution provided by A1 Publishing Alaska (A1). Most of the advertising provided by A1.

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May 16, 2014 3S TA R S A N D S T R I P E S• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3Friday, May 16, 2014

RETURN TO NORMANDY

Visit the sites where hard-fought battles were won and heroism ruled the day

Early on June 6, 1944, an armada of war-ships and landing craft headed toward the coast of Normandy, France, and the night sky was fi lled with a swarm of more than 3,000 airplanes and gliders.

Airborne troops — 20,000 of them — were to jump into Normandy with the task of cap-turing and securing bridges and beach exits for the amphibious force that was to hit the beaches in the morning in an effort to rout the Nazis from occupied France. British paratroops were to secure the eastern fl ank of invasion beaches while the more than 15,000 parachutists from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divi-sions were to protect the western fl ank around the town of Ste.-Mère-Église.

In that town, just a couple of miles inland from Utah Beach, the night sky was, unfortunately, not particu-larly dark as the parachutists fl oated down. A burning house, possibly set on fi re by pre-invasion bombing, lit up the sky, revealing the silhouettes of descending paratroops.

For one trooper, the situation was even more unset-tling. Pvt. John Steele had been shot in the foot on the way down, and, to make matters worse, his parachute got caught on the steeple of the Ste.-Mère-Église church. Hanging there, he played dead before being captured by the Germans.

Visitors to Ste.-Mère-Église today can still see the 82nd Airborne soldier hanging there, albeit in effi gy. His plight was retold as part of the 1962 movie “The Longest Day,” in which Steele was played by Red Buttons.

In the church, there are two interesting stained-glass windows: one of the Virgin Mary surrounded by paratroops and one of St. Michael, patron saint of para-chutists, which was donated by veterans of the 82nd Airborne Division for the 25th anniversary of D-Day.

Across the street is the U.S. Airborne Museum, which is worth a visit. On display is a Douglas C-47 used in the invasion to transport paratroops and tow gliders, along with a Waco glider used to ferry troops and cargo during the assault.

The town itself is worth a look. Check out the post marking Kilometer 0 of the Voie de la Liberté, or Liberty Road, in front of the town hall, that follows the American drive across France in World War II. Inter-estingly, there is a Kilometer 00 marker at Utah Beach, as well.

About two miles from Ste.-Mère-Église, on road D15 toward Picauville, stands the “Iron Mike” statue, dedi-cated to the paratroops of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The battle for the small bridge across the Merderet River at the hamlet of La Fière was one of the heaviest fought by the 82nd in Normandy. A parachute jump to mark the battle is scheduled here for June 8.

Follow the road a little farther and you will come to a small monument to the glider pilots. A short drive on, there’s one to the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

H-Hour at Utah and Omaha Beach — the time the invasion was to begin — was 6:30 a.m. SEE PAGE 4

In the footsteps of heroes

Utah Beach Museum

An effigy of Pvt. John Steele, an 82nd Air-borne Division paratrooper, hangs from the steeple at the church in Ste.-Mère-Église, France. Steele’s parachute got caught on the steeple when he jumped on D-Day. He played dead for several hours, but eventually was taken prisoner by the Germans. He later escaped and continued to fight in the war.

Visitors to the Utah Beach Museum study the Martin B-26 Marauder. This plane did not see action on D-Day, but Marauders played a major role in the run-up to the invasion. The Utah Beach Museum is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 1 to May 31; 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 1 to Sept. 30; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. On Dec. 31, the museum closes at 4 p.m. Admission is 8 euros for adults and 3.50 euros for children under 15. Children under 7 and World War II veterans get in free. The museum website is utah-beach.com.

Normandy American Cemetery

Visitors to Normandy American Cemetery study an orientation table showing the D-Day invasion beaches. The cemetery is open daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 15 to Sept. 15; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year; closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Admission is free. For information on American cemeteries and memorials in Europe, visit abmc.gov.

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RETURN TO NORMANDY

FROM PAGE 3

At Omaha, the U.S. 1st and 29th Divisions came under heavy fire. Despite bombard-ment from air and sea, the Nazis still had plenty of fire-power, turning the beach into a bloody killing field.

At Utah, things went better. Due to a stroke of luck, the 4th Division had landed slightly off course, on a strip of beach not as heavily defended. How-ever, no one’s role on D-Day was easy. When things started to bog down, Brig. Gen. Theo-dore Roosevelt Jr. marched up and down the beach urging his soldiers to move inland. For his efforts, he was given the Medal of Honor. He died of a heart attack on July 12, 1944, and is buried at Normandy American Cemetery.

The Utah Beach Museum tells the story of D-Day, from preparations for the invasion to its successful outcome. There is much to see, from an original Martin B-26 Ma-rauder twin-engine bomber, to a Higgins boat landing craft. Many personal items used and carried by soldiers, sailors and airmen are on display, and the documentary “Victory in the Sand” is itself worth the price of admission. In front of the museum is a monument to the 4th Infantry Division.

On the beach there are a number of other monuments. There is a memorial for the 90th Infantry Division, the 1st Engineer Special Brigade’s monument is on top of an old German bunker, and nearby is the U.S. Navy Monument, the newest on the beach. The Utah Beach American Memorial is being renovated, but is due to be finished for the anniver-sary commemoration.

Driving toward Ste.-Marie-du-Mont you will come across the area’s newest monument, which is, as its plaque says, dedicated to those who led the way on D-Day. It depicts Maj. Richard Winters of “Band of Brothers” fame. A memorial to his “Easy” Company is nearby.

At Pointe du Hoc, Lt. Col. James Rudder and the men of the 2nd Ranger Battalion fought their way up steep 100-foot cliffs that rose from the sea, to capture a German gun position that could have riddled Utah and Omaha Beaches with shells.SEE PAGE 6

President A. Lincoln - Gettysburg Address:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

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RETURN TO NORMANDY

FROM PAGE 4

They captured the position only to fi nd that some of the guns had been moved and tree trunks were used as props.

A new visitors center was recently opened at Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument, and a visit there should not be missed. First, watch the video, then walk out toward the monument, past and over derelict German bunkers and through a landscape still scarred with craters from the Allied bombing and shelling.

The monument is beautiful in its simplicity. A tall granite pylon stands atop a German bunker with tablets at its base inscribed in English and French.

On Omaha, things had not gone well all morning. The tanks that were to land on the beach to soften up the enemy were released too far out to sea, and most sank. When infantry troops hit the beach, they immediately got pinned down by enemy fi re. The draws, the roads up from the beach, were blocked by Ger-mans. To make things worse, landing craft fi lled with troops kept pouring in, clogging up the beaches.

Under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Norman Cota of the 29th Infantry Division, the troops began climbing directly up the bluffs, blowing away obstacles with explosives and opening up the way in-land. Still, the beachhead and the cliffs would not fully be in Allied hands until the end of the day. By midnight, around 34,250 troops had landed, with about 2,000 casualties.

Today, it is hard to imagine the horror, blood and con-fusion at Omaha Beach on D-Day. The loudest sound now might be the tour buses rolling down the coastal road.

Along the road down to the beach at Vierville-sur-Merthere are monuments to the 29th Infantry Division, with its motto “29, Let’s Go!” engraved on it, and to the 6th Engineer Special Brigade.

The U-shaped National Guard Monument is the most prominent sight on the west-ern end of Omaha at Vierville. It, too, is built on a German gun position, and behind it you can still see a gun. There is also a marker for the 58th Armored Field Artillery Bat-

talion here. At St.-Laurent-sur-Mer

stands the Signal Monument with a dedication to the 1st Infantry Division on one side and the 116th Infantry Regi-mental Combat Team on the other. Behind it on the beach is the modern sculpture “Les Braves.” The stainless steel sculpture is 9 meters high at its tallest point and weighs

15 tons. Its pieces represent the wings of hope, the rise of freedom and the wings of fraternity.

On the far eastern end of Omaha Beach near Colleville-sur-Mer stands the 1st Infan-try Division Monument, a tall obelisk bearing the names of the division’s fallen.

Nearby are two museums worth checking out, the Over-

lord Museum near the Ameri-can cemetery and the Omaha Beach Memorial Museum on the road to Ste.-Laurent-sur-Mer.

High on a bluff overlook-ing Omaha Beach is hallowed ground. Here, at Normandy American Cemetery, 9,387 American war dead are buried.

The entrance to the cem-

Pointe du Hoc

The Ranger Memorial at Pointe du Hoc as seen through the opening of a German gun position. A new visitors center was recently opened at Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument, and a visit there should not be missed. It is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 15 to Sept. 15 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year. Admission is free.

Omaha Beach

The remains of a World War II landing craft lie embedded in the sands of Omaha Beach below the Normandy American Cemetery. The D-Day beaches and Normandy American Cemetery are about 175 miles northwest of Paris, about a three-hour drive .

etery is through a visitors center featuring multimedia displays that trace the run-up to the invasion and its after-math. Outside the center, a path takes visitors to the bluff overlooking the beach. An orientation table, high above the sands below, shows all the Normandy invasion beaches. But the cemetery’s focal point is the 22-foot-high statue “The Spirit of American Youth Ris-ing from the Waves.”

The headstones are of white marble in the shape of a Latin cross, except for the 149 topped by the Star of David that mark Jewish graves.

Three Medal of Honor re-cipients are buried here, along with 41 sets of brothers and even a father and son.

Behind the statue is the Garden of the Missing, its walls inscribed with 1,557 names of those missing in action.

Standing at the foot of the statue looking across the re-fl ecting pool, with the graves stretching row upon row al-most as far as the eye can see, you get an idea of how much the country sacrifi ced for free-dom on D-Day and beyond.

The 90th Infantry Division memorial on Utah Beach. The “Tough Hombres,” as they were known, fought from Utah Beach to Czechoslovakia during the war.

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8 May 16, 2014S TA R S A N D S T R I P E S

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11Friday, May 16, 2014

MILITARY

BACKFIRES P O N S O RS H I P

BY TRAVIS J. TRITTEN

Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The Army National Guard con-tinued spending on NASCAR sponsorship for about a decade without analyzing the program or looking into why all active service branches found it too expensive and ineffective, the guard’s acting director told a Senate panel late last week.

Maj. Gen. Judd Lyons said the service’s oversight of the NASCAR spending was inade-quate, and a review of its sports marketing programs is under-way and should be completed within 30 days.

The Guard spends $32 million a year on a NASCAR sports marketing contract that splashes its logo across race events, and sponsors car and driver visits to public schools across the country. But a Sen-ate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight investigation, headed by chair-woman Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., reported May 8 that the spending resulted in zero new guard recruits in 2012 and last year only about 8,000 of the 1 million leads needed to meet recruiting goals.

“It became apparent to me that management controls and oversight were not where they needed to be,” Lyons testi-fied. “I share the subcommit-tee concerns — they are my concerns.”

Lyons, who became direc-tor in January, said he was frustrated by the handling of the sponsorship and ordered the ongoing review to deter-mine how the guard should be spending its sponsorship dollars.

The NASCAR sponsorship is designed to boost the National

Guard never analyzedNASCAR sponsorship

$32MThe amount the Army National Guard spends per year on a NASCAR marketing contract.

Guard’s brand name, he said. The racing league is second only to the NFL for reaching its demographic of potential recruits, Lyons said.

Thousands of students are exposed to the idea of serving through sponsored race car visits to schools. For example, the service sponsored a visit by NASCAR star Dale Earn-hardt Jr. to a high school in Kentucky.

The National Guard’s sponsorship of NASCAR dates back about 10 years and was

approved by at least four previ-ous directors, according to the service. But the recruiting value of the branding effort has never been fully known.

“Trying to tie that awareness directly down to an individual’s decision to join the National Guard is elusive,” Lyons said.

He said he was unaware of any Guard analysis that looked at the effectiveness of the program or alternative ways to spend the money. The sponsor-ship accounts for 57 percent of the Guard’s sports sponsorship budget.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the ranking member of the Senate oversight subcommit-tee, said he was confused by the Guard’s marketing expla-nation and lack of data on the NASCAR spending.

“I understand marketing, and to me, this is gobbledy-gook,” he said.

According to the Senate, other services had tried spend-ing money on NASCAR but determined it was not a wise expense. The Army abandoned it in 2012 after finding it was the most expensive sponsor-

ship for generating possible recruits, and the Marine Corps stopped spending in 2006 be-cause it could not measure the program’s success.

The Coast Guard generated only 350 leads on potential recruits after spending $9.5 million.

“The data is very clear — you are not getting recruits off NASCAR,” McCaskill said. “We know because you told us.”

[email protected]: @Travis_Tritten

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May 16, 2014 9S TA R S A N D S T R I P E SPAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, May 16, 2014

MILITARY

BY JON HARPER

Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The stainless steel bracelet on for-mer Army Sgt. Kyle White’s right wrist far outshone the Medal of Honor that President Barack Obama placed around his neck at a White House cer-emony Tuesday.

White received the nation’s highest award for military valor in recognition of his ac-tions during a patrol in the rug-ged mountains near Aranas in eastern Afghanistan. He was serving as a radiotelephone operator with C Company, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Air-borne Brigade when his team of U.S. and Afghan National Army troops were ambushed by a larger and more heavily armed Taliban force on Nov. 9, 2007, after a meeting with Af-ghan villagers.

Describing him as “a sol-dier who embodies the cour-age of his generation,” Obama recounted how, after being knocked unconscious by an enemy grenade, White, barely 20 at the time, regained con-sciousness as bullet fragments spattered in his face. Despite his wounds, White repeatedly braved enemy fire to try to save his comrades, including former Spc. Kain Schilling, who was one of White’s guests at the ceremony. Twice during the battle, White used tourni-quets, one of them his own belt, to prevent a severely wounded Schilling from bleeding to death.

“I’m here today because of Kyle’s actions. He not only saved my life, but the lives of many others,” Schilling told reporters on Monday.

White also used a radio to help direct air and mortar

strikes against the Taliban to keep the enemy at bay.

“Base commanders were glued to their radios, listen-ing as American forces fought back an ambush in the rugged mountains. One battalion com-mander remembered that ‘all of Afghanistan’ was listening as [White] described what was happening,” Obama said.

After medevac arrived, White made sure that all the other wounded servicemem-bers were aboard the helicop-ters before he left, according to Obama.

White is only the seventh living Medal of Honor recipi-ent from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another member

of the 173rd Airborne Brigade — Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta — received the award for his actions, also in Kunar prov-ince, Afghanistan.

Before presenting the award, Obama pointed out something that White wears every day.

“If you look closely at [White] on his way to work, you’ll no-tice a piece of the war that he carries with him, tucked under his shirt sleeve: a stainless steel bracelet around his wrist, etched with the names of his six fallen comrades, who will always be with him,” Obama said.

The six — 1st Lt. Matthew Ferrara; Sgt. Jeffery Mers-man; Spc. Sean Langevin;

Spc. Lester Roque; Pfc. Jo-seph Lancour; and Marine Sgt. Phillip Bocks — were White’s battle buddies who died in the ambush.

Schilling made the bracelet for White and wears an identi-cal one himself.

“I just kind of wear it as a reminder. And it kind of moti-vates me, as well. It’s like, no matter what is going on in my life, like if something is hard … you look down and you’d be like, you know, these guys, if they were here right now they would not be complaining,” White told Stars and Stripes.

Obama praised White as someone who has thrived after leaving the military, despite

struggling with post-traumatic stress. White used his G.I. Bill benefits to attend the Univer-sity of North Carolina and now works as an investment analyst at the Royal Bank of Canada in Charlotte.

“When Kyle walks into the office every day, people see a man in a suit headed to work. And that’s how it should be: A proud veteran welcomed into his community, contributing his talents and skills to the progress of our nation,” Obama said.

“I really want to kind of help educate servicemembers that are thinking about leaving the service and going back into the civilian world … about the post-9/11 G.I. Bill and the im-portance of an education and really, you know, how neces-sary it is for certain jobs out there,” White said in an inter-view with Stars and Stripes.

After the ceremony White told reporters that he is “still uncomfortable with hearing my name and the word hero in the same sentence.”

“The Medal of Honor is said to be the nation’s highest award for valor by one individual. But to me, it is much more. It is rep-resentation of the responsibil-ity we accept as warriors and members of a team. It is a tes-tament to the trust we have in each other and our leaders. Be-cause of these reasons, a medal cannot be an individual award … That is why I wear this medal for my team,” he said.

Then White talked about his bracelet.

“I also wear a piece of metal around my wrist … This is maybe even more precious than the metal symbol just placed around my neck,” he said. “On it are the names ofmy six fallen brothers. They are my heroes.” Twitter: @JHarperStripes

Obama presents Medal of Honorto former Army Sgt. Kyle White

‘I wear this medal for my team’

‘ I also wear a piece of metal around my wrist … This is maybe even more precious than the metal symbol just placed around my neck. On it are the names of my sixfallen brothers. They are my heroes. ’

Former Army Sgt. Kyle White

AP

President Barack Obama awards the Medal of Honor to former Army Sgt. Kyle White during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Tuesday .

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The VA offers a special refinance program for Veterans who already have a VA loan on their home. It’s called the Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan, or IRRRL. In many cases this program is available without the need for an appraisal if the property is still your primary residence, regardless of the

current value. If you have since transitioned the property to a second home or rental, you can still obtain up to 115% of the

appraised value to refinance your current VA loan.

Rich Moore, Mortgage Banker NMLS# 211177

toll free: 855.313.8138

©2013 CBC National Bank is a FDIC insured chartered commercial bank approved VA Lender #6720800000. NMLS #402135

Did you know?


Max D. Lederer Jr., PublisherTerry Leonard, Editorial DirectorTina Croley, Enterprise Editor

Amanda L. Trypanis, U.S. Edition EditorMichael Davidson, Revenue Director

CONTACT US529 14th Street NW, Suite 350Washington, D.C. 20045-1301

Email: [email protected]: (202) 761-0908 Advertising: (202) 761-0910

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Additional contact information: stripes.com

This publication is a compilation of stories from Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military community. The contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Defense Department or the military services. The U.S. Edition of Stars and Stripes is published jointly by Stars and Stripes and this newspaper.

The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the DOD or Stars and Stripes of the products or services advertised.

Products or services advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.

© Stars and Stripes, 2014

We’re all entitled to a little breakdown once in a while. Mine started when

I lost my ID card. Well, no, it didn’t exactly begin there. The comedy of errors began the day my ID card expired, though I didn’t realize it was expired until five days later. That happened to be a Friday afternoon, and my husband was leaving for TDY on Mon-day at 0 dark thirty.

Since we don’t live on base, it was mostly an inconvenience. I couldn’t go to the commis-sary that week, and I had to reschedule a doctor’s ap-pointment since I couldn’t be treated without a valid ID.

After my husband returned, he filled out the necessary paperwork so I could renew my ID card on my schedule. The next day I took the magic paper to the pass and ID office, thinking all my troubles were over.

But they weren’t. Besides the paperwork, I needed two forms of government identification. Of course, my expired ID was no longer valid. All I had with me was my driver’s license. Why didn’t I think of that?

“If your husband was here, you wouldn’t need two forms of ID,” the young airman said brightly. Yeah, thanks.

I knew my husband couldn’t take time off that day. Also, the bright young airman informed me they had no open appoint-ments the next day and would be closed the day after that.

The following day, I’d committed to help set up and serve a dorm dinner and later attend a scholarship awards ceremony at the club with my husband.

For the dorm dinner, I fig-ured I could get a visitor’s pass to get on base. That afternoon, with two big pans of baked beans and my teenage son in tow to help with setup, I headed for the base. Before I got to the gate, however, I discovered both my expired ID and my driver’s license were missing. I turned my purse and the car upside down to no avail.

Mentally retracing my steps, I thought I’d probably left them behind at pass and ID the day before. After trying unsuc-cessfully to contact the team setting up the dorm dinner, I returned home with enough baked beans to feed an army,

or a lot of airmen.“Are you still going to go

with me tonight?” my husband asked when he got home. He was giving the invocation for the awards ceremony at the club, where we had intended to meet up after the dorm dinner.

He planned to leave the ceremony after the prayer. I had planned to stay for the program. However, now we

couldn’t go in two cars. I couldn’t drive my-self to the base, being persona non grata to both the United States Air Force and the Illinois Department of Motor

Vehicles.I thought it

would be too awkward for

both of us to leave early, so I stayed home. My husband left and came back an hour or so later.

“It turned out they had me sitting up front,” he said. “So I stayed.”

He sat beside the wing com-mander and his wife.

“I told them you were plan-ning to come, but you had a crisis.”

“A crisis! You told them I had a crisis?”

“Why not? You’re human, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes, but I don’t want to be the person with a crisis, and you said you were leav-ing early. Anyway, this is not a crisis.”

So I did what any adult who is definitely not having a crisis does: I took an Advil and went to bed early.

It did. Losing all my vital identification and defaulting on my commitments was painful, but the only casualty was my pride, and what loss is that? Everyone makes mistakes.

Two days later, I went back to pass and ID. I took all the right paperwork — and my husband, just in case. My driver’s license was there, and now I have a new ID card.

Identity crisis over. I know exactly who I am. Human.

I also know exactly what we’re having for dinner: baked beans.Terri Barnes writes Spouse Calls weekly for Stars and Stripes.

Join the conversation with Terri atstripes.com/go/spousecalls

SPOUSE CALLS

Terri Barnes

A case of lost IDs and baked beans

BY JOHN VANDIVER

Stars and Stripes

STUTTGART, Germany — U.S. special operations forces are increasing their presence in the Baltics and eastern Eu-rope with a continuous cycle of exercises planned as part of a new effort to maintain a “persistent presence” of elite U.S. troops in a region rattled by Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine.

Troops assigned to Special Operations Command Europe last week launched Exercise Spring Storm in Estonia, which will be the first in a series of multinational and bilateral drills aimed at main-taining a constant presence of Green Berets and other operators in the region, the command said.

“We’ve always done this kind of training, but what is new is this is going to be a per-sistent presence,” said Lt. Col. Nick Sternbeg, spokesman for SOCEUR. “We’ve got a plan and we’re pushing it forward.”

In addition to long-standing annual exercises, SOCEUR has added a number of new training programs over the next two months in five counties across the Baltics and eastern Europe. Follow-on missions are also being planned to ensure an ongoing presence of special operators, according to the command.

The so-called Joint Com-bined Exchange Training events will involve small teams of operators, who work on a range of combat tactics on 30-day rotations. The troops, including Green Berets, SEALS and Air Force operators, will be pulled from SOCEUR headquarters in Stuttgart and across the special operations forces com-munity to maintain a constant rotational presence.

Such exercises ensure U.S. special operations units can fight effectively alongside their eastern European coun-terparts, some of which border Ukraine, said the SOCEUR commander, Air Force Maj. Gen Marshall B. Webb.

“The numerous small unit engagements conducted with our partners each year inevitably lead to stronger relationships and more robust operational capabilities,” Webb said in a news release. “An important byproduct of these relationships is that we reassure our partners and al-lies of U.S. support to deter ag-gression and promote regional stability.”

The exercises are also part of a wider NATO effort to pre-serve allied forces’ capability to fight together after combat troops leave Afghanistan at the end of the year. Analysts say that as a result of the war, the level of interoperability within

the 28-nation alliance is now higher than at any time in its 65-year history.

In addition to more small-unit missions in eastern Eu-rope, annual training events in the region are also moving forward.

After exercises in Estonia, SOCEUR will conduct Flam-ing Sword 14 in Lithuania later this month, followed by an annual national-level de-fense exercise in Latvia.

“These training engage-ments will provide U.S. Special Operations forces with valuable opportunities to hone their language skills, gain vital understanding of the environment and cul-ture in which their partners operate, and sharpen their tactical skills,” SOCEUR said in a news release. “This is standard training for spe-cial operations units and is conducted at the request of the partner nation.”

Special Operations Com-mand Europe falls under the U.S. European Command and is responsible for maintaining relationships with elite allied units across the [email protected]

Continuing exercises part of effort to maintain a ‘persistent presence’

Courtesy of the U.S. Army

American and Estonian special operations forces stand in formation during the opening ceremony of Spring Storm 2014 in Amari, Estonia.

Special ops forces increase in Baltics

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HistoriCaL Urban WearPO Box 141402 Anchorage, AK 99524(907) 351-8834classyurbanwear.com

denaLi GrapHiCs and Frame5001 Arctic Blvd Ste 3 Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 561-4456denaligraphics.com

mat-sU taCtiaL4900 E Palmer-Wasilla Hwy Wasilla, AK 99654(907) 357-3381matsutactical.com/index.html

m-W driLLinG inC 12200 Avion St Anchorage, AK 99516(907) 345-4000mwdrillinginc.com

orion ConstrUCtion inC4701 E Shaws Dr Wasilla, AK 99654(907) 631-3550

orionconstructioninc.net

revL inC 650 W 58th Ste J Anchorage, AK 99518(907) 563-8302revlinc.net/Contact.aspx

WorLd-Wide movers inC7120 Hart St Anchorage, AK 99518(907) 349-2581world-widemovers.com

FederaL resoUrCe soLUtionsPO Box 244911 Anchorage, AK 99524(760) 473-2982www.4frs.com

a-tWo septiC8460 E Gold Bullion Blvd Palmer, AK 99645(907) 841-8632www.a2septic.com

aLaska CommerCiaL CarpentinG and serviCes8530 Gordon Cir Anchorage, AK 99507(907) 830-9878www.accs1.com

aLaska ConstrUCtion sUrveys LLC4141 B St Ste 203 Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 344-5505www.akconstsurveys.com

aLaska veteran’s bUsiness aLLianCe3705 Arctic Blvd #1335 Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 279-4779www.akvba.org

aCe deLivery and movinG inC7920 Schoon St Anchorage, AK 99518(907) 522-6684www.alaskanace.com

broWn’s eLeCtriCaL sUppLy365 Industrial Way Anchorage, AK 99501(907) 272-2259www.brownselectric.com

CentraL environmentaL311 N Sitka St Anchorage AK 99501(907) 561-0125www.cei-alaska.com/contactus.html

CompUter matrix CoUrt reporter135 Christensen Dr Anchorage, AK 99501(907) 243-0668www.computermatrixcourtreporters.com

Container speCiaLties oF aLaska8150 Petersburg St Anchorage, AK 99507(907) 349-2300www.containerspecialtiesak.com

CUstom trUCk inC4748 Old Seward Hwy Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 563-5490www.customtruckak.com

denaLi driLLinG8240 Petersburg St Anchorage, AK 99507(907) 562-2312www.denalidrilling.com

J&s aUto repair21065 Bill Stevens Dr Chugiak, AK 99567(907) 688-1191www.jsautoak.com

Lemay enGineerinG and ConsULt-inG4272 Chelsea Way Anchorage, AK 99504(907) 250-9038www.lemayengineering.com/Contact.html

LmC manaGement serviCes2440 E Tudor Rd 1123 Anchorage, AK 99507(907) 242-6069www.lmcmanagementservices.com

LUGo’s UpHoLstery648 E Dowling Rd Ste 101 Anchorage AK 99518(907) 562-5846www.lugosupholstery.com

miCrobyte CompUtersPO Box 90057 Anchorage, AK 99509(907) 382-8397www.mbcak.com/contact/

mCkinLey FenCe Co oF aLaska, inC5901 Lake Otis Pkwy, Anchorage, AK 99507(907) 563-3731www.mckinleyfence.com

Veteran Owned Businesses

May 16, 2014 11S TA R S A N D S T R I P E S• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15Friday, May 16, 2014

neW Horizons teLeCom inC901 Cope Industrial Way Palmer, AK 99456(907) 761-6124www.nhtiusa.com/contact.html

nite sHiFt JanitoriaL serviCe1305 W Ridgeview Dr Wasilla, AK 99654(907) 373-7905www.niteshiftjanitorial.com

nortHWestern sUrGiCaL repair8460 E 20th Ave Anchorage, AK 99504(907) 338-9099www.nwsurgicalrepair.com

pioneer Gi CLiniC4048 Laurel St Ste 301 Anchorage, AK 99508(907) 440-7816www.pioneergiclinic.com/Pioneer_GI_Clinic/Home.html

poLLUx aviation Ltd6205 E Beechcraft Circ Wasilla, AK 99654(907) 746-0673www.polluxaviation.net

sCHedULeze12110 Business Blvd Ste 6 PMB 335, Eagle River AK 99577(907) 223-4958www.scheduleze.com

seqUestered soLUtions aLaska LLC801 B St Ste 102 Anchorage, AK 99501(907) 868-8678www.sequesteredsolutions.com

staser GroUp LLC2203 Sorbus Way Anchorage, AK 99508(907) 277-3131www.stasercg.com

teepLe Cabinets and ConstrUCtion4006 B W Tweed Ct Wasilla, AK 99654(907) 715-4090www.teepleconstructionllc.com

terrasat inC1413 W 31st Ave Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 344-9370www.terrasatinc.com

tHe printer2415 Spenard Rd Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 258-5700www.theprinterak.com

veteran environmentaL ConsULtinG2410 W 29th Ave Apt 3 Anchorage, AK 99517 (907) 727-7797www.vetenviron.com/

veteran’s aLaska ConstrUCtion LLC10613 Lafayette Cir Anchorage, AK 99515(907) 339-9565www.veteransalaska.com/

a-1 Copy systems LLC600 W Northern Lights Blvd Ste A Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 349-3224www.a1alaska.com

ads-b teCHnoLoGies LLC900 Merrill Field Dr Anchorage, AK 99501(907) 258-2372www.ads-b.com

aaa biLLiards saLes & serviCe1040 E 5th Ave Anchorage, AK 99501(907) 278-7665www.alaskabilliards.com

aLpine septiC pUmpinG inC700 Vine Rd Wasilla, AK 99654(907) 373-2120www.alpineseptic.com

aLaska qUaLity pUbLisHinG inC8537 Corbin Dr Anchorage, AK 99507(907) 562-9300www.aqppublishing.com

arCtiC ControLs inC1120 E 5th Ave Anchorage, AK 99501(907) 277-7555www.arcticcontrols.com

arCtiC sky exCavatinG15908 E Helmaur Pl Palmer, AK 99654(907) 746-5442www.arcticskyexcavating.com

aUtomated LaUndry systems and sUppLy Corp5020 Fairbaks St Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 771-0103www.autolaundrysystems.com

bradsHaW and assoCiates2300 E 76th Ave Ste 1222 Anchorage, AK 99518(907) 522-7205www.bardshawandassociates.com

berinG GLobaL LoGistiCs LLC1800 W 48th Ave Anchorage, AK 99517(907) 351-9943www.beringglobal.com

aLL pro aLaska6627 Rosewood St Anchorage, AK 99518(907) 338-5438www.bjlift.com

bLind FaCtory10800 Northfleet Dr Anchorage, AK 99515(907) 344-4600www.blindfactoryak.hdspd.com

Veteran Owned Businesses


Veteran Owned Businessesbritten & assoCiates2616 Sorbus Cir Anchorage, AK 99508(907) 440-8181www.brittenassociates.com

brr ConCepts17214 Meadow Creek Dr Eagle River, AK 99577(907) 727-8438www.brrconcepts.com

CoLdFoot environmentaL serviCes6670 Wes Way Anchorage, AK 99518(907) 770-9936www.coldfootenv.com

CUrrier’s aspHaLt maintenanCe1605 Roosevelt Dr Anchorage, AK 99517(907) 522-8687www.curriers.com

denaLi bio-dieseL inC22443 Sambar Loop Chugiak, AK 99567(743) 730-8665www.denalibiodiesel.com

environmentaL CompLianCe ConsULtinG1500 Post Rd Anchorage, AK 99501(907) 644-0428www.eccalaska.com

Frank FLavin pHotoGrapHy5401 Cordova St Ste 305 Anchorage, AK 99518(907) 561-1606www.flavinphotography.com

FriGid nortH G3309 Spenard Rd Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 561-4633www.frigidn.com

GLobeLink teLeCom inC6911 Tanaina Dr Anchorage, AK 99502(907) 243-0118www.globelinktel.com

JamesveLox & James3000 C St Anchorage, AK 99503(907) 310-5785www.jvjresearch.com

LasHer sport inC801 E 82nd Ave Anchorage, AK 99518(907) 529-8833www.lashersport.com

LJC GroUp Limited7045 Welmer Rd Apt 5 Anchorage, AK 99502(907) 632-5597www.ljconline.com

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HeavenLy siGHtsCharters & CampgroundNinilchik, AKDeep Creek(907) 567-73671www.heavenlysights.com

stars & stripes us edition alaska 051614

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