By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 30, 2012
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Garmisch, Germany, 1961: Students taking ski lessons at the U.S. military's popular Garmisch resort send snow flying as they join their instructor in an informal ski ballet.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 29, 2012
Chet King ©Stars and Stripes
Seoul, South Korea, June, 1980: Amused visitors to Seoul's Museum of Modern Art react to a whimsical, anatomically correct granite sculpture of a nude boy.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 28, 2012
Tom Dreiling ©Stars and Stripes
South Vietnam, April 25, 1967: Capt. Thomas B. Mannix of B Company, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, center, uses a pair of radios to direct orbiting helicopters into position during a mission to round up suspected Viet Cong who were fleeing from interrogators in Hau Nghai Province. At left is Spec. 4 Thomas J. Alway; at right is Spec. 4 Mike Wells. Once the suspects were rounded up, they weren't freed unless they matched the descriptions on their ID cards. Failing that, they were taken to district headquarters.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 27, 2012
Tony Evanoski ©Stars and Stripes
Wiesbaden, Germany, May, 1961: The Andrews Sisters — Maxene, Patty and LaVerne, left to right — mug for the camera as they prepare for a series of shows at U.S. bases in Germany, followed by an eight-week tour of England. The sisters were performing before military audiences for the first time since World War II, when they were the nation's top female group with such hits as "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1961 story about the Andrews Sisters.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 26, 2012
Al Chang ©Stars and Stripes
South Vietnam, October, 1962: Lt. Col. John Paul Vann, left, senior U.S. adviser to the South Vietnamese army's 7th Infantry Division, plots strategy with 11th Infantry commander Maj. Nguyen Duy Bach, Capt. Tran Tien Khang and Maj. Harold E. Dill. The Vietnamese troops were on the trail of Communist guerrillas who had ambushed a 50-member Catholic volunteer paramilitary force, killing 13. Vann was an outspoken critic of U.S. and South Vietnamese tactics, and was forced out of his position in 1963; he later returned as a civilian. His story is told in Neil Sheehan's Pulitzer Prize-winning "A Bright Shining Lie."
RELATED MATERIAL:
An appreciation of John Paul Vann, written after his death in 1972.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 25, 2012
Gene Donner ©Stars and Stripes
South Korea, August, 1956: "Dirty Dan" will probably be a lot less dirty once its determined driver, Pfc. Eugene A. Sullivan, is done with it. Sullivan, of Tank Co., 32ns Infantry Regiment, was getting the vehicle ready for a company inspection.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 24, 2012
Norm Zeisloft ©Stars and Stripes
Stuttgart, Germany, July, 1962: A 7th Army crew begins fueling a Redstone missile with liquid oxygen during an exercise at Panzer Kasern in Stuttgart. The 70-foot Redstone — added to the USAREUR arsenal in 1958 — had a range of up to 200 miles, and was noted for its accuracy and dependability. A version of the rocket was used to lift America's first two astronauts, Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom, into space.
RELATED MATERIAL:
A Stars and Stripes story and more photos of the 1962 Redstone exercise.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 23, 2012
©Stars and Stripes
South Vietnam, April, 1972: A South Vietnamese man drives his cart through the monsoon rains as his dogs follow faithfully behind.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 22, 2012
©Stars and Stripes
Germany, May, 1953: Singer Bing Crosby poses with members of the 7th Army Flight Detachment, who were working on a training problem in the field. Crosby drove from Stuttgart (where he picked up a new Mercedes), to Frankfurt (where he played some golf), with a stop for lunch at Stars and Stripes' Darmstadt office along the way.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about Bing Crosby's 1953 visit to Germany.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 21, 2012
Jim Derheim ©Stars and Stripes
Michelstadt, Germany, April, 1992: A pedestrian finds that right-of-way signs mean nothing when elephants are plodding along in your path. The pachyderms were on their way to the local fairgrounds, where the Circus Giovanni Althof was preparing for weekend performances.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 20, 2012
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Germany, February, 1954: Beneath portraits of Comrades Lenin and Stalin, a guard at a neatly-kept (notice the curtains in the window) East German border station near Berlin watches out for trouble during a meeting of foreign ministers in the city.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 19, 2012
Carlos Bongioanni ©Stars and Stripes
Zupanja, Croatia, January, 1995: No facilities? No problem. Pfc. Angel Smith tries to keep his appearance acceptable as he shaves while seated in the driver's seat of his Humvee. Smith was camped in Croatia waiting to cross the Sava River into Bosnia.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 18, 2012
Hideyuki Mihashi ©Stars and Stripes
Akime, Japan, August 6, 1966: Displaying just the kind of stealth one would expect from Agent 007, actor Sean Connery sneaks up on a sunbather during a break from the filming of the James Bond film, "You Only Live Twice."
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1966 story about the filming, with more photos.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 17, 2012
©Stars and Stripes
Bitburg, Germany, July, 1960: A motorized, remote-controlled camera mounted on slot position pilot John F. Clayton's seat provides a dramatic shot of a vertical turn during a show by the Skyblazers, USAFE's aerial precision team. Millions of Europeans enjoyed the aerial dramatics of the Bitburg-based Skyblazers from 1949 until they were disbanded in 1962.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1960 story about the Skyblazers.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 16, 2012
Ken George ©Stars and Stripes
Camp Demi, Bosnia and Herzegovina, September, 1997: Squad leader Sgt. Robert Melvin, right, and a fellow soldier are silhouetted against the Bosnian sky while mounting a 40mm automatic grenade launcher to a turret atop a Humvee. Melvin is with the 977 Military Police from Fort. Riley, Kansas.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 15, 2012
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Berlin, September, 1962: The situation on Bernauerstrasse at the border between Berlin's eastern and western sectors is summed up by a graffiti artist in a single word on a bricked-up building — "murder." Between the time the Berlin Wall was built (just over a year before the photo was taken) and its opening in 1989, at least 125 people were killed trying to flee East Berlin. Early on, many people escaped through the windows of buildings like this one until they were closed off; eventually, the Communist government tore these structures down and created a deadly "no-man's land" in their place.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 14, 2012
Gerard Forken ©Stars and Stripes
South Vietnam, February, 1967: Pfc. James Beideck emerges from a tunnel found at a Viet Cong regimental base camp that was overrun by 26th Infantry soldiers during Operation Junction City.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 13, 2012
Lloyd Borguss ©Stars and Stripes
Bremerhaven, Germany, October, 1958: U.S. Army Pvt. Elvis Presley is greeted by an autograph seeker as he steps off the USS General Randall to begin his tour of duty in Germany.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1958 story about Elvis' arrival in Germany.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 12, 2012
Ron Alvey ©Stars and Stripes
Bosnia and Herzegovina, October, 1997:
Two local men check on the progress of a roasting pig at a roadside cafe as Stabilization Force (SFOR) troops head out on patrol from Camp Colt.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 11, 2012
Ted Rohde ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, March, 1965: A spectator looks over a model of the World Trade Center, on which construction was getting under way in New York City.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1965 story about the soon-to-be-built World Trade Center.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 10, 2012
Ted Salois ©Stars and Stripes
Persian Gulf, September, 1992: A crew member takes a break on a very expensive deck chair aboard the USS Independence. The carrier and its planes were taking part in Operation Southern Watch, the post-Gulf War effort to prevent Iraqi aircraft from straying below the 32nd parallel.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 9, 2012
Jim Derheim ©Stars and Stripes
Heidelberg, Germany, April, 1992: With a little help from his friends, eight-year-old Daniel Hutchinson launches himself from a swing at Heidelberg's Patrick Henry Village housing area during school vacation week.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 8, 2012
Ted Rohde ©Stars and Stripes
Wiesbaden, Germany, November, 1975: Five Wiesbaden youngsters have to do a delicate balancing act just to stay aboard an eight-foot-long skateboard built by Dean Carter and Brian Larrimer. Maneuvering the monster are, from left, Ken Reid, Bruno Crossill, Henry Zorn, and builders Carter and Larrimer.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1975 story about the oversized skateboard.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 7, 2012
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Wiesbaden, Germany, August, 1990: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Paul R. Stein, top, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 David M. Conboy perform a pre-flight inspection of their Apache helicopter before departing for Italy and, eventually, Saudi Arabia. "We have trained in that type of environment, and it's great," Stein said of the desert destination. "There are no trees and no wires. Wires are a helicopter pilot's biggest nightmare."
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1990 story about the Apache helicopter pilots.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 6, 2012
©Stars and Stripes
England, December 31, 1944: Wounded servicemembers at the 7th General Hospital raise a non-alcoholic toast to the impending arrival of what would be the last year of World War II.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 5, 2012
John Olson ©Stars and Stripes
Along the My Tho River, South Vietnam, December, 1967: U.S. and South Vietnamese officers display a captured Viet Cong drawing of an American aircraft in the aftermath of a battle 65 miles southwest of Saigon. A river assault force from the U.S. 9th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Riverine Force and the 5th Vietnamese Marine Battalion encountered sniper fire while steaming up the My Tho, setting off a day-long battle that ended with 235 Viet Cong reported killed.
RELATED MATERIAL:
More Stars and Stripes photos from the My Tho River in December, 1967.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 4, 2012
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Heidelberg, Germany, June, 1977: Water from the edge of the runway is drawn in a vortex into the engine intake of a prototype YC-14 AMST (Advanced Medium Short Takeoff and Landing Transport) — a would-be successor to the C-130 Hercules — during a demonstration at Heidelberg Army Airfield. Despite the dramatic suction effect being recorded here by photographers, pilots said the intake had never picked up solid materials such as stones. Neither Boeing's YC-14 nor McDonnell Douglas' competing YC-15 ever went into full production, mainly because of rising costs and questions about cost-effectiveness.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' June 9, 1977 story about the YC-14.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 3, 2012
Teruhiko Kikuchi ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, June, 1966: The Beatles — George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and Paul McCartney (from top) — arrive in Japan for five shows at the famed Nippon Budokan concert hall. Stars and Stripes entertainment columnist Al Ricketts wrote about the security surrounding the Beatles' visit, noting that the local police "were bulldog determined that all the Beatles would leave Japan in one piece." Ricketts spent some time visiting with the four "prisoners of love" at their hotel, and showed them a copy of Time magazine with a story analyzing the lyrics of the Beatles' and other popular songs. "Psychologists have tried to analyze our music," Lennon told him. "I don't know why. There's no hidden meaning in our lyrics ... We just write music."
RELATED MATERIAL:
A Stars and Stripes story about the Beatles' press conference in Tokyo.
A Stars and Stripes story about a visit with the Beatles at their well-guarded hotel.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 2, 2012
Wayne Begasse ©Stars and Stripes
Northern Saudi Arabia, February, 1991: Soldiers from 4th Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment play a game of "Saudi ball" to ease stress and occupy some of their free time in the Saudi Arabian desert. The game they invented is like baseball, except that everyone has to bat one-handed with the hand they normally don't use; and pitchers and fielders must also throw with their "other" hand.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: September 1, 2012
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Paris, May, 1958: At her home in Paris, actress Olivia de Havilland, the winner of Oscars for best actress in 1947 ("To Each His Own") and 1950 ("The Heiress"), models a shirt given to her when she was made an honorary member of the U.S. Army's 11th Airborne Division. De Havilland spent mid-1958 worrying about a statutory requirement that she return to live in the U.S. for 18 months (leaving her French husband behind) or forfeit her citizenship. A congressman introduced a bill in May to resolve the problem, but before it could be voted on the State Department granted her a waiver of the five-year overseas residency limit because of her "activities for U.S. Armed Forces abroad and for her promotion of American culture abroad."
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1958 story about Olivia de Havilland in Paris.
