Pershing

able

Yol. 30, No. 3

56th Reid Artillery Command

Command has a Ball

Pershing celebrates
Command's success
at last artillery ball

Customs Laws Govern

Gift Giving

by Julia Hearn
Staff Writer
Fi m c;omes the blood of the eagle and the breath
of the dr.tgon. Next add the wrath of hades and the
bile of a leprechaun. Finally add the sock of the an
cienc gunner.
No, they're not the elements of a witches brew,
but the secret ingredients to the Artillery Punch.
The mixinJ of the Artillery Punch was the highlight of the f,nal 56th Field Artillery Ball held at the
Stadcgmen in Sch...abisch Gmiind.
Every year the 56th Field Artillery Ball is held to
honor Saint Barbara, patron saint of the field mil
lery.
Through a legend, Sain, Barbara came 10 be
regarded as the sainted patroness of those in danger
from 1hunders1orms, fire, explosions, or other means
of violent death.
Deserving selectees were inducied into ,he honor
able order of Saint Barbara. Personnel selected have
made a significan1 coniribu,ion 10 the field artillery
t~rough dedication, innovative and prcs1igious scr-

,,ce.

Guests at 1he ball were sworn to secrecy to the

contents of the punch, which is known as the secret
Sec Ball on page 6.

_,,_

The MCret Ingredient! Maj. Ronald Janowski, HHB, 56th

FA CMO. and his helpers mix the Field Artillery Punch du
ring the last Field Artillery Bali.

Ex-Pershing soldier donates sunglasses

by Richard J. Clemenson
Staff Wri1er
Rudy Mendez finally saw the ligh,, and that means
man)' soldiers deployed to sun-drcnc;hed Saudi Ara
bia 'OIOn't have to.
After weeks of waiching Operarion Desert Shield
troops walk around with what Mendez called "goofy
shades", the former Pershing crewmember - ,urned
tinted glass salesman - was struck with a novel idea.
Why not donaie sunglasses that aren't so cumbersome and arc shatterproof as well as good-looking?
With the help of tinted glass manufacturer Metaliz
ed Products, Mendez has managed to do exactly that.
After going through the proper military channels and
getting a.n "unlimited supply of sunglasses" from the
company, 1500 Desert Shield troops arc sporting the
company's combat-tough, Tom Cruise proven sunglasses ,hanks 10 Mendez's idea.
"Being a 12-year veteran and a former NCO
{Noncommissioned Officer), I've wanted to help the
soldiers ever since the crisis started and it dawned on
me io send the film (sunglass without frames).
According to Mendez the c;ompany "was all for the
idea."

I can't look! Spec.

Bruce Fussell rel&

11:..1.~..,..,...~

xes his arm and

"

. nerves as a medic
gives him a shot
,,.. during Prepare for
Overseas Movemenl (POM) activi
tes on Bismarck
Kaserne.

Update FYI

He added, "But they shocked me when I proposed

to send the film only and they went one step funher
by volunteering to send the frames as well.
Despite the cost, the company and Mendez will
send a.I many glasses as needed by ,he troops. "I'd
like to send 500,000," he laughed, "Bui there aren't
even 500,000 troops over there.
According to Mendez, the idea was born a month
earlier when he attended an au10 show where he met
a company representative who showed him the new,
soldier-tough sunglasses.
"He showed me the gla.iscs and I thought ...
Wow! These arc great. But it didn't occur to me to
send them until I was watching the news and I saw
soldiers wearing these goofy shades that couldn't be
folded, Mendez chortled.
In spite of their sharp looks, Mendez stressed the
fact that the unbreakable glasses arc going to soldiers
for soldiers' needs. "I hope maybe we can save some
ones vision or maybe life with the glasses, Mendez
said.
"I'm an old soldier and they say old soldiers don't
die, they just fade away," he said. "Well, I'm not go
ing to fade away. I'm doing something to help."

inside

the Cable

Pass privileges, see page 2,

Furniture sale, see page 3.

Christmas visitation, see page 6.

U.S. forces members can buy goods free of German tax and duty but are limited when it comes to
giving gifts.
"You may give customary giftS of non-rationed
items if they are for personal use, not in commercial quantities, not given in exchange for sel"ices
rendered or on a regular basis, said Spec. Lester
Pittman, Customer Service Representative of the
Goppingen Cu.11oms Office. These customarr
gifts arc small presents such as flowers, box of
candy or boulc of cologne and given when gi/u
arc normally exchanged such at Christmas.
Items such as stereo equipment and cars arc no,
customary gifts, so you would need a permit (AE
Fonn 2074) from the 42d MP Group. The gift recipient or you would ha\'C to pay the taxes and
duties due on the item. Solve this problem br
buying non-customary gifts on the Germ,n economy, but don't use ,he tax relief system! As for
rationed items, you may only give 25 cigarenes or
10 cigars or 60 grams of smoking tobacc:o, or one
bortlc of alcohol not to exceed 1.2 liters to some
one who is not a member of the forces.
Contact your local 42d MP Group customs office at ETS 4253- 765 or 657, or come b y our office located at Bldg 306 Cooke Barracks Housing
Arca.

Messages to Saud I
Armed Forces Network TV-Guide is beginning
a special saudi Arabia Edition" in January 1991.
Since the troops do not yet receive TV transmis
sions, the pages normally dedicated 10 teleYision
programming will be used as a special message
center entitled, "Desert Shield - ln Touch.
The publisher of AFN TV-GUIDE, Mr. Robcn
Beltz, invites family members and friends to send
in birth announcements (with pictures), birthday
greetings, notes of endearment and support and
any message that will let the troops in Saudi Ara
bia know that the ones they left behind arc doing
fine.
The messages should be kept to 30 words or less
and sent to:
International Publications
"Desert Shield - In Touch"
Wiichtcrbacher StraBe 89
0-6000 Frankfurt/Main 61
Germany
Messages and pictures will be published in the
"Saudi Arabia Edition ' and as many as possible
will also be used in the regular edition of AFN
TV-GUIDE each mon,h. Pictures can not be returned 10 sender.

.,w;...,--,oi

Hlk, Hike! Flrst

Banallon. 9th FA
sets their offense
before going in tor
a touchdown at the
561h FA CMO Flag
Football
Championships.

Parshing Cable
Decem/J8r 1990

Pstlng Shota

Pershing's last Christmas

,t,,oto tt,. 91tef9rrllcl'I

C1rotlng Choir! Members of the Schwabisch GmOnd community choir sing Christmas carols before a Christmas
concert crowd at Rodman Theater.

PhOlo by ll~ erniel'I

Ho, Ho, Ho! Santa Claus passes out Christmas treats to a throng
of excited tiny tots at Hardt Kaseme's tree-lighting ceremony.

l'botO by HO$d'i

Oh my, It's a tree! Despite freezing temperatures and falling

snow lhese Boy Scouts braved the elements to sen Christmas
trees to the Schwllbisch GmOnd milttary community.

Photo by 8 1Witrnlch

Get a jobl Vicki Huggins isn't actually yell

ing at Robin Goettel, but both Covenant
Players are doing a Christmas skit in HHC,
38th Sig. Bn.'s motor pool.

~"
PhOto

bJ tioKl'I

Jungle Woman! Barbara Bowden tries to tea! through all the potted plants and bushes that were set up
at the Commanding General's holiday reception.