By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 31, 2011
Ken George ©Stars and Stripes
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, November 16, 1990: NBC-TV weatherman Willard Scott broadcasts from Dhahran Air Base during Operation Desert Shield.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 30, 2011
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Garmisch, Germany, February 1, 1974: A winter stroll in the cold but beautiful Bavarian countryside. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, on the Austrian border, is familiar to thousands of U.S. servicemembers who have vacationed at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort. It is a major winter sports venue, having hosted the 1936 Olympic Games and, more recently, championship ski-jumping events.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 28, 2011
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Turkey, September 30, 1957: Marines land on the shores of the Dardanelles — the strategically-important strait between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea — during the NATO exercise "Deep Water."
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 28, 2011
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Friedberg, Germany, February, 1960: Sgt. Elvis Presley of the 1st Battalion, 32nd Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Division at Ray Barracks signs autographs for Friedberg residents as he arrives for an interview. A few days later, his military obligation fulfilled, he returned to his old job as King of Rock and Roll.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 27, 2011
Michael Abrams ©Stars and Stripes
Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, December, 1996: A snowman stands guard at an Eagle Base tent city. Members of D Battery, 4th Battallion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery, out of Kitzingen, Germany, built their frosty friend during a little down time.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 26, 2011
Bill Walker ©Stars and Stripes
Normandy, June, 1974: Omar N. Bradley, right, "The Soldier's General," salutes during a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, during which he had commanded the First Army. Bradley was America's last surviving General of the Army (five-star general), having attained that rank while serving as the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1950.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 25, 2011
John Olson ©Stars and Stripes
South Vietnam, December, 1967: 9th Infantry Division soldiers Staff Sgt. William Dowell of Orange Lake, N.J., and Pfc. Ronald Hull of Waupun, Wis., relax next to an idle mortar.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 24, 2011
Norm Zeisloft ©Stars and Stripes
Berlin, December, 1961: Forlorn and incongruous behind the barricades and barbed wire of the four-month-old Berlin Wall stands a Christmas tree, a symbol of peace and goodwill on earth. (To the Communists in the city's Eastern sector, it was known as a New Year's tree.)
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 23, 2011
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Fulda, Germany, December, 1975: The message here seems to be either that a man of peace and generosity has appeared at a strategic Cold War location, or that if the Communist hordes come pouring through the Fulda Gap, a determined St. Nick has traded in the sleigh for something more battle-ready. In fact, the trailer being pulled by Santa's jeep was filled with toys and candy for kids in the border towns. This Santa was Sgt. 1C Lionel Perez of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 22, 2011
Chet King ©Stars and Stripes
Yokohama, Japan, December, 1979: Santa Claus encounters an unwilling participant in the annual Christmas shopping ritual as he holds court at the Yokohama Navy Exchange. The visitor from the North Pole fielded the usual requests for toys, but kids at Yokohama also wanted a quick return home for their dads on the USS Midway, stationed in the Persian Gulf as a result of the Iranian hostage crisis that began in November.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about Santa's 1979 stop at Yokohama.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 21, 2011
Timothy Baker ©Stars and Stripes
Bosnia and Herzegovina, December, 1998: Weapons in a rack contrast with festive Christmas decorations in the dining facility at Hill 722, a communications outpost.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 20, 2011
John Olson ©Stars and Stripes
Ka Tum, Vietnam, December, 1967: Pfc. Earl Hamilton, a grenadier with C Company, 2/14th, 25th Infantry Division, gets in the Christmas spirit with a Santa figurine affixed to the top of his helmet and an inscription noting the upcoming holiday truce. The 2/14th was on patrol at Ka Tum, an unpopulated area about 50 miles west of Saigon and close to the Cambodian border.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 19, 2011
Nancy Graham ©Stars and Stripes
Berlin, August 12, 1951: A cyclist carrying photos of Joseph Stalin, Ernst Thälmann and other Eastern Bloc heroes of the time leads a group of young Communists during a parade through Berlin's Soviet sector. Thousands took part in the march, which was part of the third "World Festival of Youth and Students." But many festival participants also took the opportunity to visit West Berlin for a look at how the other half lived, and a Stars and Stripes story two days earlier noted that 1,073 of them had already sought political asylum in the West.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about the 1951 Communist youth rally in Berlin.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 18, 2011
Merle Hunter ©Stars and Stripes
Hohenfels, Germany, May 17, 1956: A participant in an exercise at the U.S. training area at Hohenfels isn't deterred by the rain as he keeps the lines of communication open. The troops were divided into "aggressor" and "defender" forces as they worked out a problem under the watchful eyes of a group of umpires.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about the 1956 exercise at Hohenfels.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 17, 2011
Vince Crawley ©Stars and Stripes
Nürnberg, Germany, May 3, 1991: Two young onlookers wrap themselves in flags during a homecoming ceremony at Merrell Barracks for the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which was returning home from the Middle East after the Gulf War.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 16, 2011
Bill Becker ©Stars and Stripes
Saigon, South Vietnam, June, 1967: Red Cross worker Barbara (Bobbie) Oberhansly outlines the day's weather for Vietnam as part of her 7:55 p.m. report on Armed Forces Television.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1967 story about Bobbie Oberhansly.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 15, 2011
Howard Katzander ©Stars and Stripes
Berlin, September 24, 1947: One of the three huge anti-aircraft cannon emplacements designed to protect Berlin from allied bombing raids still looms over the landscape two years after the end of World War II. The reinforced concrete structures, with walls several feet thick, were also designed to shelter about 8,000 people during air raids, but it is believed that as many as 40,000 may have been crammed into one of them as the attacks intensified in 1945. Three weeks after this photo was taken, Stars and Stripes reported that an attempt to demolish one of the buildings with 25 tons of explosives had failed, and a second attempt with four tons of TNT merely resulted in a few cracks. Today, one of the bunkers — at Volkspark Humboldthain in Berlin's Wedding section — is a lookout point that's also used for practice by technical climbers. A good account of life in these shelters during the war can be found in Cornelius Ryan's The Last Battle.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 14, 2011
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, February 5, 1955: U.S. Air Force Maj. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager holds a book that might prove useful to him in his new job commanding a Sabrejet squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. A few months earlier, Yeager had received the Harmon Air Trophy for setting the world speed record of 1,650 m.p.h. in a Bell X1A in December, 1953.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 13, 2011
Susan Carl ©Stars and Stripes
Bosnia and Herzegovina, April, 1996: Pfc. Aaron Cruz of Schweinfurt, Germany-based A Troop, 1/4 Cavalry, uses a poncho to fend off the rain while on guard duty in his tank near Checkpoint Charlie.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 12, 2011
©Stars and Stripes
Clark Air Base, Philippines, February, 1973: Air Force Capt. John O. Davies and Clark Air Base schoolteacher Nancy Graham are all smiles after Davies identified himself as the man whose name was engraved on her POW bracelet. Davies had recently been released after spending nearly six years in captivity in North Vietnam.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1973 story about John O. Davies and other former POWs at Clark Air Base.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 11, 2011
©Stars and Stripes
Geneva, Switzerland, April 30, 1954: A driver for Premier Chou En-lai's Communist Chinese delegation to the Geneva foreign ministers' conference seems quite interested as he's shown a picture of himself in Stars and Stripes by staff photographer Ed Killpack. The driver was told he could have the paper, but possibly in the belief that "the journey to a thousand re-education camps begins with a single copy of Stars and Stripes being found in the car by Chou En-lai," the driver muttered what sounded like a refusal and turned away.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 10, 2011
Gene Bane ©Stars and Stripes
Weathersfield, England, September 13, 1957: Former Army football star and 1945 Heisman Trophy winner Maj. Felix "Doc" Blanchard, left, is introduced to the controls of an F100D jet fighter by Col. Raymond F. Tolliver, commander of the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Weathersfield. Fullback Blanchard, known as "Mr. Inside," and halfback Glenn Davis, "Mr. Outside," led the Cadets to a three-year record of 27-0-1 and two national titles. After his graduation, Blanchard joined the Air Force and flew in Korea and Vietnam.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 9, 2011
Steve Stibbens ©Stars and Stripes
South Korea, January, 1964: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy talks with one of his sports heroes, U.S. Army Capt. Don Holleder, during a visit to South Korea. Holleder, coach of the undefeated 1963 Far East champion 7th Infantry Div. Bayonets football team, was an All-American player at West Point who was drafted by the New York Giants but opted to stay in the military. When the fighting in Vietnam intensified in 1967, he asked to be sent there. On October 17, 1967, he was killed by a sniper's bullet while trying to rescue wounded soldiers who had been caught in an ambush. He was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985, and the indoor sports center at West Point is named in his honor.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about RFK's visit to South Korea and meeting with Don Holleder.
A video documentary about Don Holleder, Part 1 | Part 2
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 8, 2011
Ray Mahon ©Stars and Stripes
Da Nang, South Vietnam, October, 1966: Navy Ensign Roger Staubach, a Heisman Trophy winner while playing at the U.S. Naval Academy, tosses a football during a break from his duties as officer-in-charge of both the Personal Effects Division of the Naval Support Activity and a petroleum-oil-lubricant site on the outskirts of Da Nang. After leaving the Navy, Staubach enjoyed a Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1966 story about Roger Staubach at Da Nang.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 7, 2011
Lem Robson ©Stars and Stripes
Honolulu, Hawaii, November, 1991: At the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific a few days before the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, flowers adorn the grave of an unknown American servicemember who died in the December 7, 1941 battle.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1991 story about Pearl Harbor, with link to a special anniversary section.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 6, 2011
Gary Cooper ©Stars and Stripes
South Vietnam, December, 1965: Bob Hope — wielding his trademark golf club — and members of his troupe wave to passing helicopters during a show at the Bien Hoa air base.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 5, 2011
Richard Haines ©Stars and Stripes
Dau Tieng, South Vietnam, January, 1972: Three South Vietnamese soldiers from the 1st Airborne Infantry Brigade appear to be walking on the clouds as they train in the use of the McGuire rig, a harness used to extract troops by helicopter from difficult terrain such as jungles.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 4, 2011
Rob Jagodzinski ©Stars and Stripes
Saudi Arabia, November, 1990: Two U.S. Marines stay in shape — and try to stave off boredom — by lifting weights in a makeshift gym in the desert.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 3, 2011
Howard Benedict ©Stars and Stripes
Seoul, South Korea, December 25, 1967: Firefighters struggle to control a Christmas Night blaze that eventually destroyed the main post chapel at Yongsan Compound. An investigation later pointed to faulty wiring as the cause of the fire.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about the fire.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 2, 2011
Gerald Waller ©Stars and Stripes
Berlin, September, 1948: A man watches a Communist rally from the bombed-out ruins of a building overlooking Berlin's Lustgarten Square. The rally, billed as a remembrance of the victims of fascism but featuring plenty of anti-American rhetoric, was held at the height of the Berlin Airlift. In fact, a story about the rally noted that speakers were occasionally drowned out by the noise from U.S. planes ferrying supplies to the blockaded western portion of the city.
RELATED MATERIAL:
A Stars and Stripes story about preparations for the September, 1948 gathering
A wire service story about the rally
By Joe Gromelski
Published: December 1, 2011
Gene Bane ©Stars and Stripes
Baumholder, Germany, November 4, 1955: Pfc. Thomas Jones, left, and Pfc. Joseph Brough, both of Battery B, 14th Field Artillery Battalion, are silhouetted against the evening sky as they clean a 105mm howitzer during the 2nd Armored Division's nontactical firing demonstration.
