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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 9, 1987 -- § Viewpoint by John B. McClelland A MODERN VON RICHTOFFEN? I have a sense of admiration for Mathias Rust. He is a young man of obvious courage, skill, and for so- meone not yet out of his teens, he has a wonderful sense of esprit. _ Yes, the young Mathias has captured the imagina- tion of the world. I hope the Soviets throw him in prison for ten years. Mathias Rust is the 19 year old German lad who last week climbed into a single engine Cessna near Helsinki and charted a course right to the doorstep of the Kremlin. Flying at low speeds and low altitudes in broad daylight, this daring young man cressed Estonia, then followed the Leningrad-Moscow trath tracks to the Soviet capital where he buzzed the Kremlin and 'land- ed his craft on the cobblestones of Red Square. Incredibly, he posed for photos, grabbed a bite to eat and chatted with the awe-struck Russians in the Square before the authorities hustled him off for questioning. Just how a 19 year old in a light plane could make such a journey, penetrate Soviet air space and fly to the very gates of the Kremlin without being forced down or blasted from the air by a Soviet missile remains something of a mystery. Naturally, the Soviet military brass] is reluctant to hand out a lot of details, but heads are.already rolling over the incident. While you have to admire the pluck of young Mathias, there is no doubt that the Soviet must deal severely with him. He could go on trial and face ten years in a Russian military prison. Mathias may be a -mere youth, full of youthful adventure and abandon, but what he did was reckless beyond belief and a threat to the lives of millions of people in Europe and around the world. Sure, we may all be getting a huge chuckle at ti.e fact that a 19 year old can buzz the Kremlin in a light plane after flying through several hundred miles, of Soviet air space. But to put this incident in some kind of perspletive, imagine how Washington would feel if a .Cuban youngster took off from Havana, flew up the Atlantic coast of the United States and then landed on the lawn of the White House. The greatest fear of how World War 3 might be touched off i$"by human error or through a series of flukes. What if the Soviets had misjudged the flight of Mathias, thinking it was hostile? ' What if the Soviets had scrambled their fighters to meet this hostile threat. NATO installations all over Europe would have immediately detected the Soviet ac- tion and they would have gone on full alert. Suddenly, thanks to a foolish boy flying a light plane, the military forces of both the Soviet Union and as the senior Air Defense boss in Russia was sacked / the NATO powers are on full alert, planes are taking off into the sky, and pilots from many nations have their fingers on the triggers. The chance of human error of misjudgement is quickly multiplied a thousand-fold. By the way, young Mathias did not fly completely "undetected to Moscow. The Russian radar did pick him up, a MIG fighter was sent to investigate, but turned away thinking the plane was Soviet. Still, the incident could have turned into a full-blown military crisis on both sides of the Atlantic. Most military analysts conclude that Mathias was an extremely lucky young man. He was lucky to: pull this feat off and was very lucky he wasn't blasted from the air. It was a million-to-one shot, and the Soviets, not surprisingly, strongly suspect that he had some top level help from someone along the way, either in the plann- ing or the actual flight. You can be sure the Soviets are going to find out how this incident happened and they are going to shake up their whole system of air defense to make sure it can't happen again. So what will be the result in the next "week or month or three months if some commercial plage filled with passengers accidently goes off course. and penetrates Soviet air space? You can answer that one yourself. In a world that lives on the edge of the nuclear balance of terror, perceptions are more important than realities. The Soviets may come to the conclusion that Russia's '"'enemies" may try to exploit the apparent weakness in their air defenses. The Soviets in turn may be tempted to seek out weaknesses in the defense on the other side. The dangerous game escalates and whenever this happens the risk factors go up. Herr Mathias Rust may be viewed by some as a daring modern day von Richtoffen who reached out, grabbed the big Russian Bear by the nose and gave it a good twist. (Tumto page 6) Yesterday' Ss Memories | 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 6, 1917 Rev. Mr. Bunner is attending the Methodist Conference in Picton. 5 A A grant of $40,000. was made by the County to the Patriotic Fund. Prince Albert delegates attending the U.C.T.U. Convention at- Cannington are: Miss Madden, Mrs. Bunner, Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. D. Boe. Mr. Roberts who was baggageman at the station'in Port Perry for over 20 years was superannuated and has accepted a position as caretaker of the new high school in Whitby. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 7, 1942 Mr. and Mrs. John Larmer, Blackstock, celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Miss Irene Mulligan left for Ottawa where she has Socepied a position with the Civil Service. Rev. W.P. Brown recently celebrated his 95th birthday. Messrs. James Harrison and Ivan Bowerman of Detroit were in town during the week. Port Perry Yacht Club are sponsoring a dance at the High School. Admission 25¢. Bring your own lunch. Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Holmes are now occupying their new home, the former: Crozier house on Bigelow Street. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 7, 1957 Congratulations to Jimmy Wilkinson, Utica, who secured first class hon in his course at lthe ] Ryerson Institute. Mrs. Joel Miller, Manchester, was in Toronto for the graduation of her grandson, Wayland Miler Drew from Victoria College. Mr. Drew gradugted in English languages and literature. Mr. and Mrs. Everett Hooper, Greenbank, left for the West coast. "Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wotten, Blackstock on .. the birth of a son. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 8, 1967 Joanne Jackson and Mary Nelson were presented with Gold Cords, the highest honour in the guide movement, at a ceremony held in the Port Perry United Church on Sunday evening. Congratulations to Miss Margaret Terrett who received her Bachelor of Arts Degree at the Spring Convocation at Queen's University. Starting with next week's issue of the STAR, readers will be con- fronted with a new look. A new printing method will be introduced which is commonly known as "'off-set.' Sisters Helen Redman, representative and Minnie Diamond as Scholar, were appointed to attend the Rebekah Assembly of Ontario at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, which will be held next week Y 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, June 8, 1977 Good weather accompanied the hinkh annual Canoe the Nofigues ' (T urn. to page 6) Letters Teens answer concerned parents To The Editor: In response to the letter to the "editor in'the June 2 issue of the Port Perry Star regarding the serious problem of teen-age drinking, we feel that we represent the majority of teen-agers when we say that the 'events listed by the "concerned parents' are badly exaggerated and do not reflect the average teen- -age Great day for Canada? To The Editor: What a day for Canada. Our " Prime Minister, the great con- ciliator, has preserved peace yet "again. His record, so far, is superb. With the U.S. he has knuckled under on _virtually every demand or issue: the Foreign Investment Review Board, ' - shakes & shingles, gas exports, air & water pollution, and the sputter- ing soverignty claims when the U.S. decided to. use the waters of the Canadian Arctic as "international" waters, but only for U.S.-and those nations whom she decides are "friendly."' With France, he ignored and in fact insulted, Newfoundland Hats off, To The Editor: I was pleased to see that Mrs. Mary Payne had her wreath return- ed to her by. Don Raby, who thoughtfully had put it aside for grass cutting. (letters page last week) i These wreaths are basically winter wreaths and should be plac- ed only on' ation Day and from November 1 to March 31. They should be removed by March 31 to allow for proper spring maintenance of the cemetery. It is because of people like Mr. - don't feel that * party in this community. We are not going to deny that we "have never been to a party where there was alcohol, beeause we have. A lot of teen-agers. drink, but we 'our lives are in danger." Drinking and driving has become socially unacceptable among teens and it rarely occurs at . any of the parties we attend. Teens look our for each other and-everyone "and Maritime fishermen in favour of handshakes and vague promises of "discussion" about absolute and undeniable jurisdiction over cod stocks in Canadian waters. The provinces in the west "want" and Ontario 'wants,' and Quebec . 'demands' and who speaks for our nation? Internationally our country is ignored and it really shouldn't be surprising. Confrontation , can always be avoided - if you are prepared to accede to the demands of every antagonist, including those within your own family. Yours truly, Andrea Jones, R.R.2, Port Derry. is aware of the risks involved. We don't feel that is the issue the parents -are concerned about. We think parents are angry because they think their kids are doing something behind their. backs. If your children drink and keep it a secret, it is only because they know that you would not understand. When the parents of today were our age, I'm sure they went to par- ties where alcohol was available, not to mention narcotics, which were so prevalent jn the sixties. We are proud to say there are no drugs at our parties. Finally, we feel that discipline starts at home and the "Parents Group' should be concerned with their own children, instead of everybody else's children. Have faith in your children's better judge-- ment and give them a chance to pro- ve that your trust was not wasted. As the parents chose to remain anonymous in their letter to the editof, so have we. Yours truly, A group of teens without drinking problems/| Editor's Note: the above letter was ~ signed by about 80 Port Perry and area teen-agers. ter to the editor Letters to the Editor . our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters col- umn helps make a better community newspaper. "We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name; if we feel there are very good reasons to do so Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous let- While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer.