The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 13, 1978 Page: 1 of 32
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VOL 37 NO. 6
Unattended children
By RON MATLOCK
SENTINEL Staff Writer
Ft. Hood is ripe for a tragedy a
tragedy that could be prevented. The date
the time and the exact location no one
knows for sure. But when it happens it
may go something like this:
Her husband’s Sp4 pay was enough when
it was just the two of them. But now with a
one year old son to support and inflation
eating into their budget making ends meet
was not an easy task. She’d been forced to
hunt around the Killeen area for a part-
time job working the lunch hour shift at a
local fast food restaurant.
At first she’d worried about what to do
with her little boy while she was at work.
Hire a babysitter? Place him in a daycare
center? Pay a neighbor to take care of
him? None of the choices sounded good to
her. Making special arrangements with a
neighbor would be too much hassle (she
and her husband had just moved into gov-
ernment quarters so she didn’t really
HEAD ’EM UP—“Move ’em out” should be the
cry as these E Battery 2nd Platoon 8th Engr.
1st Cav. Div. troopers finish herding a cargo of
"■sS-
know anyone else in the area) and a
babysitter or a day-care center would cost
too much hard-earned money.
She decided that if she diapered him put
him in his playpen and left him with a bot-
tle her little boy would be okay for the
three or four hours she was gone every day.
Nothing could possibly happen to him. In
all honesty that’s what she thought. Then
disaster struck.
She was driving home from work early
one afternoon. A few blocks from her
duplex apartment she noticed a column of
thick white smoke billowing up from some
burning house. She could see a large
firetruck parked up ahead on the road and
a police car and an ambulance with its
lights still flashing. A large crowd was mill-
ing around on the sidewalks and lawns and
spilling out onto the street. As she drew
closer they seemed to be right in front of
her own duplex. Like an electric shock the
sudden thought jolted her body upright
with fear: “What if that’s my home that’s
on fire? Is my boy okay?!
Sneaking
‘a
1st Bn. 92nd Field Artillery 2nd Armd. Div.
vehicles and equipment on board their mobile as-
sault bridge. (Photo by Sandi Adams)
a ...
The 2nd Bn. 7th Cav. 1st
Cav. Div. visited the German
Infantry School near Ham-
elburg Germ any. This
specialized training gained
them added expertise in
Military Operations in Built-up
Areas (MOBA) in the small
German village of Bonnland.
Read their story on Page 5A...
She stepped hard on the gas and shot past
the one large tree that was blocking her
view. In that first split second her eyes
confirmed what her mind had dreaded. The
smouldering apartment the one the
firemen were still dousing with water was
her own.
She brought the car to a screeching halt.
She jumped out and fought her way to the
front of the crowd. The sight that confront-
ed her made her recoil and gasp with
shock. Then her face went blank and her
body sagged numb with disbelief. She
stood and stared.
There in front of her surrounded by a
team of exhausted medics was her one-
year-old son lying motionless on a
stretcher.
Slowly deliberately fighting back tears
one of the medics stretched a white sheet
over the small lifeless body. There was
nothing more they could do for him.
What caused the blaze? The firemen de-
termined that later with no great difficul-
ty: a faulty electrical outlet something no
FT. HOOD SENTINEL
“PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE PERSONNEL OF FT. HOOD”
FT. HOOD TEXAS THURSDAY APRIL 13 1978
Deaths from fire could rise as situation worsens
one could have planned for. The cause of
death? Not the fire itself and not the heat
from the spreading flames but smoke in-
halation the child was overcome by the
thick poisonous fumes and couldn’t get
enough oxygen to stay alive.
“Children left unattended in government
quarters—that’s one of my biggest con-
cerns right now” said Charles Gulley Ft.
Hood’s Fire Chief. “We’ve had several inci-
dents lately and it looks like the problem is
getting worse. More and more housewives
are going out and getting jobs. When
they’re at work and their husbands are at
work the kids get left at home. That can be
a dangerous situation.”
The problem is two-pronged. A young
child left unattended may not be able to
save himself from an accidental fire or he
may see a small fire and not realize that in
can turn into a serious danger. And the
smoke and fumes from burning syn-
thetics—curtains rugs furniture covers—
can quickly render a person unconscious.
1st Cav MABs
ferry 2 AD
units to range
By SANDI ADAMS
1st Cav. Div. Staff Writer
Index...
Editorial...............................................Pg.4A
‘Armadillo’........................................... Pg. 4A
Comics......................................Pg. 4A.10-11B
Variety...............................................Pg. 10B
Movies ............................................... Pg. 12B
Radar locations.................................Pg. 15B
Sports ............................................... Pg. 1-4B
“Published by Bell Publishing Company a private firm in no way connected with the Department of the Army. Opinions expressed by writers here in are their own and are not to be considered an official expression of the
Department of the Army. The appearance of advertisements in this publication does not constitute an endorsement by the Department of the products or services advertised.”
The waters of Belton Lake begin to chum
as first one man then another moves the
levers at his control board. The oversized
craft glides away from its temporary rest
ing place and skims toward the other side
of the lake. Another training exercise has
begun.
But this exercise is different. The craft is
a Mobile Assault Bridge (MAB) the pilot
and crew are members of the 2nd Platoon
E Co. 8th Engrs. 1st Cav. Div. and the
cargo consists of the men and equipment of
1st Bn. 92nd Field Artillery 2nd Armd.
Div. on their way to fire in afield training
exercise.
It’s bright and sunny as the first MAB
takes off with its cargo. As this MAB leaves
its berth another slips in to take its place
and the loading ramp is lowered by one of
the crew. Deuce-and-a-halfs jeeps and
armored personnel carriers chug up the
ramp and line up on the bridge. The ramp
is raised and then a whistle sounds from
the pilot of the craft. Propellers start
churning up the water and the seemingly
ponderous MAB glides off to be replaced by
another partner.
This cycle continues throughout the day
with each MAB picking up its cargo cross-
ing the lake depositing its load on the other
side and returning for more of the same.
The next day will find the MAB’s perform-
ing this process in reverse as l/92nd re-
turns from its firing.
The MAB’s themselves area sight to
behold. Each of the two MAB’s is actually
composed of six sections containing a prop-
eller a cab a 325 horsepower engine and a
steering panel. Taken separately each of
these six sections is capable of maneuver-
ing on both land and water but only by be-
ing linked together can they perform the
job of a six-floater bridge.
Once in operation the cab operators in
front of each float are responsible for
hydraulics raising and lowering ramps
and driving their floats on land. The
marine drives which are located on the
back of each float are manned by the
personnel responsible for steering the MAB
while in the water.
All these parts and personnel put
together help to make the MAB an in-
dispensable part of engineer operations. Its
use has allowed units to save time
mileage fuel and many other valuable
commodities. E Company has four of these
MAB’s (two maintained by the 2nd platoon
and two by the 1st) and they call
themselves the “MAB Company. They’re
proud of their unique jobs and with the
services they can provide it would seem
that they have every right to be.
“So far we’ve been lucky VERY lucky
with young children left at home” said
Gulley. “We haven’t had any deaths or any
serious injuries but we’ve come close.
Twice now in recent fires we’ve had the
mother come running from work scream-
ing that her baby was inside that burned-
out apartment. Fortunately in both in-
stances a neighbor got all the kids out in
time. But it’s still disturbing that the
parents weren’t around.”
Older children—curious explorative
eager to imitate adults—present a more
serious problem. If they get hold of
matches or a cigarette lighter—not a hard
thing to do in most homes—they can start a
fire in no time.'
Children playing with matches cause
about 70000 fires in this country each year
fires that kill hundreds of people and injure
thousands more. Often the victims are the
children themselves.
“Worldwide about 80% of all home fires
are caused by children fooling around with
smoking materials” noted David Reaves
Ft. Hood’s Assistant Fire Chief “and its
Runyan
By JOHN B. NOONE
13th COSCOM Staff Writer
“Completely and totally relaxed. That’s
how I felt when it was all over.
Those are the words that Capt. John M.
Runyan used to describe his feelings after
he saved the life of a one-year old child
stuck in a runaway boat. Runyan who is
the commander of the 13th COSCOM’S
602nd Maintenance Co. is one of the two
men credited with saving a child’s life in a
boating accident. The mishap occurred at
Stillhouse Lake in the early evening hours
on Easter Sunday.
“I was putting my boat on the trailer
when a CB alerted me to the fact that there
was a runaway boat with a small child
aboard. I stopped what I was doing and
headed towanl the scene of the accident
trying to get there as fast as I could” he re-
called.
“While heading for the accident which
was about a mile and a half away I re-
member being filled with anxiety. With
something like this there’s no telling what
could have happened” Runyan continued.
Upon arriving at the scene Runyan saw
the runaway boat traveling in a tight circle
going about 30 miles per hours. Although
three or four boats surrounding it no one
had yet mad an attempt to stop the
runaway craft.
After unsucessfully attempting to snag
the boat’s propeller with a ski rope the cap
Some jr. enlisted families
in Europe get extra cash
WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) Non-
command sponsored junior enlisted
families in Europe will begin collecting
about $50 extra each month beginning this
month as a result of a DOD move to ease
financial hardships for these lower income
families.
DOD is allowing the services to pay
junior enlisted soldiers who have brought
their families to Europe at their own ex-
pense housing and cost of living (HA and
COLA) allowances at higher rates to pay
for extra costs of supporting a family
there.
Former policy only allowed a non-
command sponsored junior enlisted
soldiers (E-4 with less than two years’
service and E-l through E-3) to receive
single HA and COLA rates without pro-
vision for dependents. And E-4 with less
than two years’ service living in Frankfurt
for example formerly received a HA of
$2.95 daily and COLA of $1.65 daily for a
monthly total of about $138. The new policy
Yaknow
e’llgetcha...
In a week long ARTEP 1/67
Armor 2nd Armd. Div. op-
posed the 1/47 Inf. in a series of
mock battles. This type of
training gives the soldiers a
feel of a real combat situation.
Read all about it in this week’s
photo feature on Page 6B. ..
COSCOMmer helps save child’s life
during Easter boating mishap
THIRTY-TWO PAGES
not any different worldwide than it is on Ft.
Hood. What that means is this: a child un-
der 12 or 13 years of age shouldn’t be left
home alone. He needs someone there to
watch him.”
So far in FY ’78 the fire reports on post
housing areas seem to prove him right:
Fire No. 1 Total less: $75 Probable cause:
child playing with lighter
Fire No. 2 Total loss: $153 Probable cause
child playing with lighter
Fire No. 3 Total loss: $1682 Probable
cause: child playing with lighter
Fire No. 4 Personal loss: $10000 Total loss:
$40142 Probable cause: unattended child
playing with matches or lighter
“The reason you see ‘probable cause’ on
these reports is because we can’t actually
prove that the children were playing with
matches” explained Gulley. “But in our
own minds based on our years of ex-
perience that’s the only thing that could
have caused them.
Continued Gulley “I remember one fire
where the smallest child told me he took a
(Continued On Pg. 8A)
tain picked up Gary L. Parker a total
stranger from a nearby boat. “We tried to
snag the propeller again but only suc-
ceeded in roping the boat’s transom. This
only pulled me closer and closer to the un-
controlled boat” he explained.
“Throughout our attempts to stop the
boat we could see the small child wedged
between the side wall and the seat. It
looked as though he couldn’t move at all”
the captain continued.
“By this time it was obvious that to stop
the boat a jump would have to be made.
Gary had less experience than myself in
controlling a boat in this type of situation so
he volunteered to make the jump.
“As Gary prepared to jump I followed
the runaway boat getting closer and closer
with each revolution. Then on the ninth re-
volution he jumped” Runyan recalled.
“The jump made toward the front of the
boat was against my advice but fortunate-
ly he (Gary) was able to grab onto the han-
drails of the bow and pull himself aboard.”
Within seconds the boat was stopped and
the child was examined for serious inj-
uries. “After the child was checked I asked
Gary if he was alright. When he said he was
O.K. I left for home” Runyan explained.
“Gary showed a great deal of courage by
jumping into that other boat.” His dis-
regard for his own life in this particular in-
stance was truly awe inspiring Runyan
added.
will allow the same E-4 to draw HA of $4.35
daily and COLA $2.05 daily for a total of
$192 monthly. The $54 monthly increase
became effective March 1 and was in-
cluded in March 31 paychecks.
The value of the dollar which has
declined to less than half its value in
Germany 10 years ago and the long family
EM were cited by an official as reasons for
the DOD policy change.
Some 20000 junior enlisted soldiers are
serving non-command sponsored tours in
Europe according to officials. It is not
known how many of these soldiers reside
with dependents there.
The DOD policy which affects soldiers
already stationed in Europe and those as-
signed there in the future included the
following conditions:
Service members must have been in
grades E-l through E-3 or E-4 with less
than two years’ service before reporting to
(Continued on Pg. 8A)
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The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 13, 1978, newspaper, April 13, 1978; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth309343/m1/1/: accessed July 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Casey Memorial Library.