By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 31, 2011
Ken George ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, April, 1982: Vice President George Bush wields a shovel after planting a pine tree at Tokyo's Zojoji Temple. The ceremony was held near the spot where Ulysses S. Grant planted a tree during a state visit in 1879.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 30, 2011
Masehiko Nakamura ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, Japan, October 17, 1972: Harlan Sanders, founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain, makes a point during an interview with Stars and Stripes at the Tokyo Hilton. Sanders, whose famous title of colonel was an honorary one bestowed on him by the governor of Kentucky, is tied to an alleged Japanese sports curse that has the staying power of the once-feared Curse of the Bambino in the U.S. It started when fans of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team, celebrating a 1985 Japan Series championship, stole a statue of Sanders from outside a KFC restaurant in Osaka and threw it in the river. Presto: A curse. Even though the statue was finally found by divers in 2009, the series championship continues to elude the Tigers.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1972 interview with Col. Sanders.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 29, 2011
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Torrejon, Spain, December, 1961: An American airman and his Spanish counterpart plot the location and direction of aircraft during a practice intercept mission for USAFE's 65th Air Division and the Spanish Air Force.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' February, 1961, feature story about the training mission.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 28, 2011
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Scotland, 1990: A fisherman casts a line at sunset on the River Clyde.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 27, 2011
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Berlin, October, 1961: American airmen from the RAF Wethersfield football team, sightseeing while in town for a game against the Berlin Bears, toe a line marking the border between East and West as they view the newly-built Berlin Wall from the Friedrichstrasse.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 26, 2011
Kim Ki Sam ©Stars and Stripes
Saigon, South Vietnam, February, 1966: Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey poses with a youngster at the Trung Thu School, which was built for orphaned children of Vietnamese national policemen. Humphrey's schedule for the day emphasized non-military activities, but he was to spend the next day visiting with U.S. troops.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about Humphrey's visit to Saigon.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 25, 2011
Henry Toluzzi ©Stars and Stripes
Germany, October, 1951: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, SHAPE commander, waves from his L17 at an airstrip near Friedberg as he concludes a visit to the "front lines" of Exercise Combine. More than 160,000 servicemembers — including ground, air and naval forces from the U.S., France and Great Britain — took part in EUCOM's 1951 field training exercise.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 24, 2011
Frank Praytor ©Stars and Stripes
Korea, April, 1953: Hungarian born U.S. soldier and Holocaust survivor Tibor Rubin of Long Beach, Cal., talks to reporters at Freedom Village after his release from a Chinese prisoner of war camp. Rubin said he had it better "in every way" during his recent confinement than he did in the Mauthausen concentration camp during World War II. He said he answered "No" when the Reds asked him if he wanted to be sent to Hungary, because "they hang me up from the first cherry tree" in his Communist-controlled native land. Rubin's heroism in battle and selfless efforts to provide food for his fellow soldiers while in the POW camp went unrecognized for many years, reportedly because of anti-Semitism, but on September 23, 2005, he was presented with the Medal of Honor by President George W. Bush.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1953 story about Tibor Rubin's release.
Tibor Rubin's Medal of Honor citation.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 23, 2011
Henry Chang ©Stars and Stripes
Dalat, South Vietnam, March, 1963: President Ngo Dinh Diem, right, and other South Vietnamese leaders watch the graduation ceremony for the 17th class of the Vietnamese National Military Academy. Just over seven months later, Diem was captured and executed during a military coup.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' coverage of the coup that toppled the Diem regime.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 22, 2011
Hideyuki Mihashi ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, June 18, 1975: Police try to subdue a man who broke through a cordon of 23 bodyguards and punched Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki three times in the face as Miki was arriving for the national funeral service for former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato at the Budokan Hall. The assailant, an ultra-rightist named Hiroyoshi Fudeyasu, had a record of 81 arrests. Miki, 68, was shaken but not seriously injured.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Two Stars and Stripes stories about the attack:
Prime Minister Miki knocked down by attacker at Sato rites
Attack on Miki, security lapse shock citizens
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 21, 2011
Regis Bossu ©Stars and Stripes
Stuttgart, Germany, February, 1972: Novelist, essayist and playwright James Baldwin participates in a panel discussion that was held to mark the inauguration of the Stuttgart branch of the NAACP. His first novel — the autobiographical "Go Tell It on the Mountain," about growing up in Harlem — is an American literary classic; other works, including "Notes for a Native Son" and "The Fire Next Time," were key writings in the civil rights movement.
RELATED MATERIAL:
A Stars and Stripes story about James Baldwin in Stuttgart.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 20, 2011
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Barcelona, Spain, June 23, 1970: U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, center, and Ambassador to Spain Robert C. Hill, right, are greeted by Spanish chief of state Francisco Franco at the Palace of Pedralbes. Laird, making his first visit to Spain since 1954, was the first U.S. defense secretary to meet with the generalissimo.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 19, 2011
Andrew Headland Jr. ©Stars and Stripes
Shi Lin, Taiwan, March, 1972: Schoolchildren gather on a street near the home of Chiang Kai-shek in the suburbs of Taipei to offer the generalissimo their congratulations on his election to a fifth six-year term as president of Nationalist China. Similar rallies were held in other cities and towns throughout the island.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 18, 2011
Chuck Gohl ©Stars and Stripes
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, August, 1996: Jasar Kohic defends his soccer goal amid war-damaged buildings near the Sarajevo airport. The area, which saw heavy fighting during the conflict in Balkans, was hardly an ideal place for a game — it was heavily mined.
By Felicia Joseph
Published: October 17, 2011
Frank Praytor ©Stars and Stripes
Seoul, Korea, May, 1953: A heavy British-owned tank rests on its side in the middle of a busy Seoul street after it fell off the trailer that was hauling it through the city. Pvt. John Turner of London was driving the tank transport around the curve of a traffic circle when suddenly, "I heard a loud boom. That was it." The big tank "tumbled off the trailer, swerved, and one of the front wheels fell off." Turner, due to rotate back to London in six days after a 16-month tour of duty in Korea, had to remain until a board of inquiry investigated the accident, in which no one was injured.
By Sandra JontZ
Published: October 16, 2011
Gene Bane ©Stars and Stripes
Ramstein Air Base, Germany, March 22, 1959: Three generations pray together during a Catholic Palm Sunday service at a Ramstein Air Base chapel.
RELATED MATERIAL
A 1959 Stars and Stripes photo essay on church services overseas.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 15, 2011
Ted Rohde ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, August 22, 1955: With his six-year-old brother Ronald watching, seven-year-old Robert Duran, son of Sgt. and Mrs. Raymond Duran, receives a Salk polio vaccine shot from Capt. Anna L. O'Hagen at the 97th General Hospital. Helping out is Sgt. Lester Nelson. The Salk vaccine, approved for release to the general public four months earlier, was a large factor in controlling a disease that struck over 57,000 Americans in 1952. By 1962, with the Sabin vaccine added to the fight, the number of new cases reported was under 1,000.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 14, 2011
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Torrejon Air Base, Spain, May 23, 1964: Ann-Margret poses next to a plane from the 497th Fighter Interceptor Squadron on the flight line at Torrejon. The actress — who would visit many more military facilities over the years on USO tours and become a favorite of servicemembers — was in Spain for the filming of "The Pleasure Seekers," which also starred Carol Lynley and Pamela Tiffin. Her most recent release was the Elvis Presley film, "Viva Las Vegas."
RELATED MATERIAL:
A 1964 Stars and Stripes' story about Ann-Margret's visit to Torrejon.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 13, 2011
Ted Salois ©Stars and Stripes
Persian Gulf, September, 1992: A crew member takes a break on a very expensive deck chair on 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: October 12, 2011
Gene Bane ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, April 11, 1960: Actress Sophia Loren and her husband, film producer Carlo Ponti, pose with the traditional Frankfurt airport celebrity-arrival props of pretzels and beer. Loren was in the city to attend the premiere of her latest film, "A Breath of Scandal." And scandal is something in which Mr. and Mrs. Ponti had been embroiled since their 1957 proxy marriage; since Italy didn't recognize divorce at the time, he was considered a bigamist there.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 11, 2011
Carl Myering ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, October 15, 1953: New York Giants manager Leo Durocher jokes with a young Japanese fan at Korakuen Stadium. The Giants, who finished fifth in an eight-team National League in the just-completed season (thus earning a spot in what was known as the "second division" in pre-playoffs parlance), were working out in preparation for a 14-game exhibition series against Japanese teams.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 10, 2011
Frank Praytor ©Stars and Stripes
Korea, July, 1953: Moments after the armistice that halted the 37-month Korean conflict went into effect, mortarmen from the 1st Marine Division put aside their shooting duties along no-man's land and enjoy a meal.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 9, 2011
Lloyd Borguss ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, October 12, 1974: Advice columnist Ann Landers talks about her career during an interview with a Stars and Stripes reporter. Landers, whose column appeared for many years in hundreds of newspapers, said in the interview that "I've always been pretty pleased with myself. In order to do well, you have to think well of yourself."
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1974 interview with Ann Landers.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 8, 2011
Leigh Wiener ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, March 19, 1954: Composer and songwriter Cole Porter, famous for such songs as "Anything Goes," "Don't Fence Me In," "Night and Day," and "I've Got You Under My Skin," relaxes during a stopover at Rhein-Main Airport on a trip from Switzerland to Hollywood. Porter, 60, was asked by a Stars and Stripes reporter which song he liked best among the many he had written. "The last one," he said. "Always the last one." He admitted that his favorite song was Irving Berlin's "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody."
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 7, 2011
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Silopi, Turkey, May, 1991: Army Specs. Sharon V. Smith and Jesse Cross, assigned to the 593rd Supply Co. out of Kaiserslautern, Germany, count water canisters as part of Operation Provide Comfort to aid Kurdish refugees.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 6, 2011
Nancy Graham ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, April, 1952: Patients at the 97th General U.S. Army Hospital got a treat as some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time — on a tour of Europe with "Jazz at the Philharmonic" — stopped by to perform a few songs. Here, Ella Fitzgerald sings "Body and Soul," accompanied by husband Ray Brown on bass and Max Roach on drums.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 5, 2011
Michael Abrams ©Stars and Stripes
Cologne, Germany, August, 1991: Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, onstage at the Rhein Rock Fest. The band — still relatively unknown at the time — got caught in traffic on its way to the Tanzbrunnen outdoor concert hall and missed its performance slot, so the promoters cut other sets and gave Nirvana 25 minutes to play. The following month, Nevermind — with its single, Smells Like Teen Spirit — was released, and Nirvana was one of rock's top acts until Cobain's suicide in April, 1994.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about the 1991 Rhein Rock Fest.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 4, 2011
Gerald Waller ©Stars and Stripes
Wiesbaden, Germany, October 21, 1948: Clarence the Camel stands in a C-47 aircraft amid some 5,000 pounds of food, candy, books, games and toys on the way to Berlin for distribution to children of the blockaded city during the Berlin Airlift. Clarence — mascot of the pilots of the 86th Fighter Group at Neubiberg Air Force Base — was flown in from Tripoli, Libya, for a tour of the U.S. zone of Germany after the "camel caravan" stop in Berlin.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' story about the "camel caravan."
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 3, 2011
Michael Abrams ©Stars and Stripes
Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, March 1, 1996: Members of the Bosnian army march through Tuzla's stadium during Independence Day ceremonies. On February 29, 1992, Bosnian Muslims and Croats voted for separation from Yugoslavia; since the vote took place in a leap year, the anniversary is marked on March 1. The 1996 celebration was the first one held in peacetime, following the Dayton agreement and the signing of a peace treaty in Paris in late 1995.
RELATED MATERIAL:
A 1996 Stars and Stripes story about Bosnia's 1996 Independence Day celebration.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 2, 2011
Frank Praytor ©Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, Japan, February, 1953: Gen. Mark Clark, left, head of the United Nations Command, and Gen. James Van Fleet, outgoing commander of the U.S. Eighth Army and U.N. forces in Korea, rush between events at Clark's headquarters at Pershing Heights in Tokyo's Shinjuku district. Van Fleet, 60, was being honored on his way home to retirement after turning over command of the war effort to Gen. Maxwell Taylor. Van Fleet was called "the greatest general we have ever had" by President Truman.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Two stories about Gen. Van Fleet's February, 1953 stop in Tokyo:
Van Fleet regrets leaving war stalemate
Life-saving role seen for A-arms in Korea
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 1, 2011
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Near Giessen, Germany, January, 1985: An armored personnel carrier from 3rd Sq., 8th Cavalry is hauled back onto the road after its driver lost control on the soft shoulder and hit a tree during the Central Guardian winter maneuver.
