By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 31, 2012
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Helsinki, Finland, July 22, 1952: Czechoslovakian runner Emil Zatopek had plenty to smile about as he posed for a picture during a training session at the Olympic Games. Zatopek had already won the 10,000 meter race, and before the Games were over he would also capture the gold in the 5,000 and the marathon. The marathon victory was especially impressive, as he set a world record even though he was running the event for the first time.
RELATED MATERIAL:
A story about Emil Zatopek's 1952 Olympic marathon victory.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 30, 2012
Fred G. Braitsch, Jr. ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, October 18, 1964: Bob Schul of the United States (719) crosses the line with a victory in the 5000-meter race at the Olympic Games after sprinting past the leaders in the final 200 meters. Second place went to Harald Norpoth (left) of Germany, with American Bill Dellinger (right) edging France's Michel Jazy (124) — who a few seconds earlier seemed to be on his way to a win — for third. Behind them are fifth-place finisher Kip Keino of Kenya (388) and W.D. Bailie (468) of the Netherlands. The win by Air Force veteran Schul was the first for the U.S. at that distance in the Olympics.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about Bob Schul and the 1964 Olympic 5000-meter race.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 29, 2012
©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, October, 1964: The world's strongest man, Leonid Zhabotinsky of the Soviet Union, has no trouble hoisting the arms of his two closest competitors as they receive their Olympic medals in heavyweight weightlifting. Joining gold medalist Zhabotinsky are silver medalist Yuri Vlasov of the USSR, left, and and bronze medalist Norbert Schemansky of the U.S. Zhabotinsky's three-lift total of 572.5 kilograms (1,262.3 pounds) set an Olympic record.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 28, 2012
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Munich, September 14, 1972: Steve Prefontaine of the U.S. walks away from the finish area after falling just short in a bid for a medal in the 5000-meter race at the Olympic Games. Prefontaine took the lead with four laps to go, but was eventually outkicked by Ian Stewart of Great Britain for third place after a gutsy effort in what is considered one of the greatest distance races of all time. Finland's Lasse Viren won in a time of 13:26.42.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 27, 2012
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Munich, Germany, September 6, 1972: West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, left, sits with Shmuel Lalkin, head of Israel's Olympic delegation, during a memorial service at Munich's Olympic Stadium for 11 Israeli athletes killed by terrorists the day before. At the service, International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage announced to the crowd of 84,000 that the games would continue.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1972 story about the memorial service at Munich.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 26, 2012
Teruhiko Kikuchi ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, Japan, September, 1966: Philippine President and Mrs. Ferdinand Marcos stand with Japan's Emperor Hirohito during a Tokyo International Airport welcoming ceremony for the Marcoses, who were starting a five-day state visit to Japan.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1966 story about the Marcoses' arrival in Tokyo.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 25, 2012
Mike Mealey ©Stars and Stripes
Nha Trang, Vietnam, December, 1964: Bob Hope is greeted by servicemembers who are having some fun by carrying a sign welcoming not the comedian, but his movie partner and comic foil Bing Crosby (who wasn't on the tour).
RELATED MATERIAL:
A 1964 Stars and Stripes story about Bob Hope and company in Vietnam.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 24, 2012
Bruce McIlhaney ©Stars and Stripes
Song Be, Vietnam, March, 1968: These Montagnard children were just a few of the 10,000 refugees who were gathered at Song Be, the capital of South Vietnam's Phuoc Long province. Stars and Stripes photographer Bruce McIlhaney reported that almost all of the province's Motagnards had been burned out of their homes and harassed by the Viet Cong within the previous two months.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 23, 2012
Gerard Forken ©Stars and Stripes
Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, February, 1967: An Air Force C-130 Hercules drops supplies to U.S. troops attempting to encircle a suspected Viet Cong headquarters during Operation Junction City.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Read three Stars and Stripes stories about the start of Operation Junction City:
Paratroopers drop into VC stronghold
U.S. troops find Viet Cong R&R center (with more supply drop photos)
Reds flee advancing U.S. units
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 22, 2012
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Berlin, September, 1963: The generals flanking him may have been experts on the defense of West Berlin during the height of the Cold War, but the visitor in the middle was unmatched when it came to decision-making in the entertainment world. Brig. R. H. Whitworth, left, British brigade commander in Berlin, and Brig. Gen. Frederick O. Hartel, commanding general of the U.S. Berlin Brigade, listen as Walt Disney — the genius behind Mickey Mouse, Disneyland and Disney World — talks about "Emil and the Detectives," the movie he was about to make in West Germany.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1963 story about Walt Disney in Berlin.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 21, 2012
Rick Goetz ©Stars and Stripes
Seoul, South Korea, December, 1969: "Woody Woodpecker" creator Walter Lantz sketches his cartoon characters on a blackboard for students at Seoul American School. Lantz and his wife Gracie, who provided Woody's voice in the cartoons, were on a USO-sponsored tour that also took them to Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1969 story about Walter Lantz at Seoul American.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 20, 2012
Ken George ©Stars and Stripes
Bamberg, Germany, May 18, 1995: The wife of a soldier from the 16th Engineer Battalion gets instruction in firing an M-16 during Warner Barracks' Battalion Family Day. In addition to target practice, the "Catamount Battalion" spouses got a chance to do things like driving an armored personnel carrier and breaching a minefield ... not to mention enjoying Meals, Ready to Eat.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1995 story and more photos from Battalion Family Day at Bamberg.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 19, 2012
Nick Stavriotis ©Stars and Stripes
Tae An Myon Township, South Korea, February, 1967: Choi Si Jong, a 67-year-old South Korean village elder in Tae An Myon Township, gets an introduction to television, thanks to President Lyndon Johnson. Until LBJ presented the village with the set, which was connected to a rural wire broadcasting system, the villagers had never seen TV. "It is a mysterious thing," said Choi, who had ridden on a helicopter with Johnson during the president's visit to Korea in late 1966.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1967 story about the arrival of television at Tae An Myon.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 18, 2012
Hideyuki Mihashi ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, May, 1975: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of England wave to the crowd as they ride from Tokyo's Imperial Hotel to the National Theater. With her six-day visit, Elizabeth became the first reigning British monarch to go to Japan.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1975 story about Queen Elizabeth's departure from Tokyo.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 17, 2012
Craig Garner ©Stars and Stripes
Panmunjom, Korea, April, 1968: A sign posted in front of a bullet-riddled United Nations Command vehicle confronts North Korean representatives during the 266th session of the Military Armistice Commission at the Panmunjom conference building. Four days earlier, on Easter Sunday, two American and two South Korean UNC soldiers were killed and two Americans wounded in an ambush while on patrol at the DMZ. In spite of considerable evidence found at the scene, North Korean Maj. Gen. Chung Kook Pak insisted at the session that "we had nothing to do with the incident." Rear Adm. John V. Smith, senior negotiator for the UNC, demanded "a concrete assurance that this will not happen again," but four more Americans were killed in a similar attack at the DMZ in October, 1969.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Three stories about the April, 1968 incident at the DMZ:
N. Korea tries to provoke war, says U.N. Command
DMZ ambush survivors seen lucky to be alive
Survivor thought ambush was all-out attack
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 16, 2012
Song Jung Il ©Stars and Stripes
South Vietnam, July, 1969: President Nguyen Van Thieu sits in on drums for an impromptu musical session during dedication ceremonies for a rehabilitation center built by South Korean army troops. Thieu served as South Vietnam's wartime president from 1967 until the North Vietnamese prevailed in 1975. He fled the country upon the takeover and eventually settled in Foxboro, Mass., where he lived in relative obscurity. "He never wrote a memoir, granted few interviews and received few visitors," according to his 2001 Los Angeles Times obituary. "Neighbors saw him walking his dog around Neponset Reservoir, but they knew little about him."
RELATED MATERIAL:
Thieu's 2001 obituaries from the New York Times and Los Angeles Times
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 15, 2012
Andrew Headland Jr. ©Stars and Stripes
Manila, Philippines, October 26, 1966: One night after a Manila demonstration against U.S. policy in Vietnam resulted in clashes with police and several injuries, President Lyndon Johnson had nothing to worry about from this pro-American crowd that gathered at the Manila Hotel to greet him upon his return from a summit meeting.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 14, 2012
Garcier Crawford ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, November, 1984: While American kids growing up in the 1990s and 2000s were influenced a great deal by the products of Bill Gates, many of those who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s were influenced by the products of Bill Gaines. The founder and publisher of MAD magazine — shown here during an interview with a Stars and Stripes reporter in Tokyo — started out in the comic book business in the late 1940s, but his "Tales from the Crypt" and similar publications sparked a furor that led to Congressional hearings and implementation of the Comics Code. Gaines fortuitously turned his attention to humor, and MAD became a cultural icon.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1985 feature story about MAD's William M. Gaines.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 13, 2012
Dave Didio ©Stars and Stripes
Mainz, Germany, June, 1979: Cpl. James Nangano of 4th Battalion, 69th Armor, tells Ernest Borgnine about some of the improvements that have been made in military technology since the Academy Award-winning actor served in the Navy during World War II. Borgnine was filming a remake of "All's Quiet on the Western Front" in Czechoslovakia, and while taking a break in Wiesbaden, Germany, he accepted a sergeant's invitation to stop by the base at Mainz.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about Ernest Borgnine's 1979 visit with the troops in Germany.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 12, 2012
Bill Neal ©Stars and Stripes
Bosenheim, Germany, October, 1969: A soldier from the 8th Infantry Division's 8th Military Police Company loses his cap as he empties a container of freshly-picked grapes into a wagon. Several Bad Kreuznach, Germany-based MPs volunteered to help out when a spell of damp weather resulted in the need for the year's grape crop in the Nahe River area to be harvested quickly, before the fruit spoiled on the vines. The soldiers were paid 2.50 marks per hour plus two hot meals a day, and as a bonus they got a rare inside look at an ancient European industry. One of the pickers, Staff Sgt. Sgt. Wayne Ruffner, joked, "Next thing I'm going to do is see if I can get pro pay for this job, and maybe change my MOS to that of a grape picker supremo."
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about the MPs and the grape harvest.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 11, 2012
Gus Schuettler / ©Stars and Stripes
Heidelberg, Germany, June 27, 1964: Attorney General Robert Kennedy greets some admirers at the Heidelberg University auditorium. Kennedy answered questions on a wide range of topics, including Vietnam, civil rights and the upcoming presidential election. Asked about the surging popularity of eventual Republican nominee Barry Goldwater, Kennedy called the Arizona senator a spokesman for "people who oppose everything ... They want schools, good government and atomic weapons but they just don't like the people in Washington who are providing these things."
Addressing the Germans in the audience, Kennedy said, "We need your help in Vietnam. I hope that Germany will come forward and contribute." And as for China joining the United Nations, Kennedy offered that the Chinese "don't even want to live in peace with the Soviet Union. It doesn't make sense to bring them into a peace-promoting organization."
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 10, 2012
Maria Kiehl ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, August, 1954: Sgt. Roy Innes of Washington, D.C. leads Pvt. Allen T. Geronimo, an 11-week-old buffalo, past an honor guard and band at the Rhein-Main airport. Geronimo was flown in from a game preserve near Allentown, Pa. (thus the name Allen T.) to serve as the mascot of the 510th Heavy Tank Battalion. The commander of the Mannheim-based unit, Lt Col Jesse L. Walters, was on hand at the airport for a "brief but dignified" induction ceremony, and produced a set of identification tags for the new recruit bearing serial number RA 12345678, a record of vaccination shots, and the letter Y, denoting no religious preference.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 9, 2012
Ted Rohde ©Stars and Stripes
Geneva, Switzerland, July, 1955: Leaders of the Big Four powers pose for a group photo in the Palais des Nations garden during their summit meeting. From left to right are Soviet Premier Nikolai A. Bulganin, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, French Premier Edgar Faure and British Prime Minister Anthony Eden.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 8, 2012
Ken Zopf ©Stars and Stripes
Yongsan Garrison, South Korea, December, 1965: Actress Helen Hayes meets with fans backstage after her show at Yongsan Theater #2. Talking behind her back, so to speak, are, left to right, actor-director Romney Brent and soldier-actors Spec. 4 Lawrence Lacquement and Pfc. Gene Flowers. Hayes, known as the First Lady of the American Stage, read from a series of plays and recreated some of her well-known performances during the show, with help from Brent, Lacquement, Flowers and Pfc. Stephan Weyte.
At the end of her 23-day visit, as she prepared to board a plane at Seoul International Airport, Hayes reportedly took off her "$2,000 nutria overcoat" and directed a U.S. Embassy employee to sell it and use the proceeds to help needy Korean students.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 7, 2012
©Stars and Stripes
Seoul, South Korea, March, 1963: Singer Nat King Cole talks with Sp4 Ernest Williams of HQ Detachment, Korean Military Advisory Group, prior to Cole's performance at the Municipal Auditorium in Seoul. Cole was made an honorary Army recruiter during his visit.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1963 interview with Nat "King" Cole.
A 1989 Stars and Stripes interview with Cole's daughter, Natalie.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 6, 2012
Eikoh Goya ©Stars and Stripes
Ie Shima, Ryukyus, April, 1964: Pfc. Henry Smolak plays taps during a memorial service for Ernie Pyle at a monument marking the spot where the famed World War II correspondent was killed by a Japanese bullet. Members of the firing squad from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade stand at left. Pyle's death in April, 1944 saddened servicemembers from the trenches to command headquarters, as well as a nation of civilians who learned what their sons were experiencing through articles he wrote while slogging his way across Europe and the Pacific.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Three Stars and Stripes stories about Ernie Pyle's legacy:
April 21, 1964: Ie Shima services salute the memory of Ernie Pyle
April 20, 1967: 500 newsmen in Vietnam, but not one's an Ernie Pyle
April 19, 2005: Sixty years after his death, Ernie Pyle is still revered by servicemembers
Some of Ernie Pyle's columns at the Indiana University Web site.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 5, 2012
Gene Bane ©Stars and Stripes
Berlin, September, 1963: When the government of East Berlin used loudspeakers to drown out a speech by West German President Heinrich Luebke in the western sector of the city, the West retaliated with a mobile unit of four heavy trucks and six Volkswagen buses equipped with clusters of even more powerful speakers that could be hoisted in the air and focused on any unfortunate spot on the other side of the Wall.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1963 story about the loudspeakers in Berlin.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 4, 2012
John Olson ©Stars and Stripes
Hue, Vietnam, February, 1968: American servicemembers battle the enemy during the monthlong struggle for the city of Hue.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 3, 2012
Joseph Owen ©Stars and Stripes
Kuwait, March 7, 1991: American servicemembers are silhouetted against the flames from one of the many oil-well fires set by Iraqi troops fleeing Kuwait during the Gulf War.
RELATED MATERIAL:
A Stars and Stripes reporter's impressions of Kuwait right after its liberation in 1991.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 2, 2012
Ron Alvey ©Stars and Stripes
Eagle Base, Bosnia and Herzegovina, July, 1998: Army Col. James S. Voss (in blue), a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions, is honored in Eagle Base's Fourth of July parade. The float, with its replica of the shuttle orbiter, was made by members of the Coalition Press Information Center. Voss added one more shuttle flight and a 163-day stay on the International Space Station before retiring from NASA in 2003.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: July 1, 2012
Ted Rohde ©Stars and Stripes
Valencia, Spain, June, 1956: A peaceful scene on a Valencia street.
