By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 7, 2012
©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, West Germany, December, 1951: Sheet music in Frank Sinatra's luggage gets the once-over from a customs inspector as the singer and his wife, Ava Gardner, arrive at the Rhein-Main airport. The newlyweds were part of a group that was to play three shows at U.S. bases in Wiesbaden, then move on — without Sinatra and Gardner — to Furstenfeldbruck Air Base, Erding Air Depot, Neubiberg Air Base and Rhein-Main. Others on the tour included Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Rhonda Fleming.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 6, 2012
Dan Warfield ©Stars and Stripes
Saarbrücken, Germany, September, 1978: Frank Zappa entertains the crowd during his 1978 European tour. In an interview, the future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer complained of "corporations that make the difference in terms of distribution and financing for new artistic events, where these decisions are being made by committees of accountants." He also offered the opinion that "the committee is going to be one of the great retarding factors in the advancement of civilization."
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' September, 1978 Q&A with Frank Zappa.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 5, 2012
Wallace Beene ©Stars and Stripes
Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, February, 1966: Two airmen fuel an F-4C Phantom jet at the Cam Ranh Bay airstrip. To solve the problem of how to get fuel to the planes during construction at the base, a six-inch pipeline was built from a tanker anchored in the bay to the airstrip. The pipeline reportedly could move 30,000 gallons per hour.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1966 story about the fuel pipeline.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 4, 2012
Robert Kersey ©Stars and Stripes
Gio Linh, South Vietnam, March, 1967: A South Vietnamese soldier combs the hair of bound and blindfolded North Vietnamese Army prisoners in preparation for the arrival of Premier Nguyen Cao Ky. During his visit to the camp near the DMZ, Ky talked with the now-well-groomed POWs; he also signed two leaflets and a 175mm round which were fired toward North Vietnam by U.S. and ARVN artillery units.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 3, 2012
Gus Schuettler ©Stars and Stripes
Belgium, undated: After driving past this scene, Stars and Stripes photographer Gus Schuettler realized that he was about to miss a great shot, so he went back and focused in on the bovine guardian of the trees. Schuettler, who died October 2, 2012 in Florida, counted this photo as one of his favorites among the thousands he took in an award-winning career that stretched from the 1950s through the Gulf War.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Gus Schuettler's obituary, with a collection of some of his best photos.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 2, 2012
Red Grandy ©Stars and Stripes
Frankfurt, Germany, March, 1951: West Berlin Mayor Ernst Reuter talks to reporters at Rhein-Main Airport upon his return from a 12-day visit to the United States. Reuter, a former German Communist Party official who led the city through the Soviet blockade of 1948-49, said U.S. leaders had assured him of continued aid.
RELATED MATERIAL:
Stars and Stripes' 1951 story about Mayor Reuter's return to Germany.
By Joe Gromelski
Published: October 1, 2012
Ken George ©Stars and Stripes
Brcko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, September, 1997: Staff Sgt. Joseph Young of Vilseck, Germany-based Company D, 2-2 Infantry, stands guard duty in front of a street sign adorned with a poster of fugitive Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic. The hole in the center of Karadzic's forehead was caused by shrapnel from a grenade that exploded two months earlier, but the message may have been less political than one might expect: A person involved in a lovers' triangle reportedly spotted the other two together at a cafe and tossed the grenade from a passing vehicle. No one was injured.
