MILITARY MILITARY FACES Marine couple Former Afghan Pixar’s ‘Luca’ draws honored for president Karzai: on director’s childhood rescuing hikers ‘forever war’ failed fascinations in Genoa Page 3 Page 4 Page 18 Bucks top Nets, advance to Eastern Conference finals ›› NBA playoffs, Page 24 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 46 ©SS 2021 MONDAY,JUNE 21, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas United States to reorient military posture Pentagon orders drawdown of air defense systems, troops from Middle East to put focus on China, Russia BY CHAD GARLAND administration officials told the McNulty said in an email to Stars Stars and Stripes “We maintain a robust force posture in the newspaper. Troops were also be- and Stripes on Saturday. “Some The U.S. is cutting air defense region appropriate to the threat.” ing reduced in Iraq, where the of these assets returned to the systems and force levels in the U.S. already cut its presence in United States for much needed Middle East as the Biden admin- Cmdr. Jessica L. McNulty half to 2,500 early this year, the maintenance and repair. Some of istration realigns its military pos- Pentagon spokesperson report said. them will be deployed to other re- ture to focus on countering China “The Secretary of Defense di- gions.” and Russia. Wall Street Journal reported Fri- A Terminal High Altitude Area rected the Commander of U.S. The Pentagon is focused on Cmdr. Jessica L. McNulty, a day that eight Patriot antimissile Defense system, or THAAD, was Central Command to remove making sure the high-demand as- Pentagon spokesperson, con- batteries were being withdrawn also being pulled from Saudi Ara- from the region this summer cer- sets are ready in case of a con- firmed the plans but would not from countries including Iraq, bia, and fighter jet squadrons tain forces and capabilities, pri- provide specific details, after the Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. were being reduced, unnamed marily air defense assets,” SEE POSTURE ON PAGE 4 Study: Side effect skepticism led to vaccine hesitancy BY WYATT OLSON Stars and Stripes Medical workers and the young were most hesitant to be vaccinated against the coronavirus during the early stages of the vaccine rollout, primarily over concerns of short- and long-term side effects, a study that surveyed personnel at an Air Force base found. Researchers analyzed responses from 816 people — uniformed, retirees and civil- ian contractors — associated with Wright- Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio about their likelihood of getting vaccinated, ac- cording to the study published June 12 in the journal Military Medicine. The voluntary survey began in Novem- ber, a month before the Food and Drug Ad- ministration issued its first emergency use authorization for a vaccine. The survey con- cluded in February. “In a setting where COVID-19 vaccina- tion is not mandatory, we found that the ma- jority of individuals working at a military [base] would accept the COVID-19 vaccina- tion if offered; however, nearly one-quarter of our respondents would not,” the study SEE STUDY ON PAGE 6 A registered nurse fills syringes with Pfizer vaccines at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on June 3 in Bellingham, Wash. ELAINE THOMPSON/AP PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Monday, June 21, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Boeing’s newest Max makes first test flight EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1,135.07 Associated Press hours over Washington state and Max jets get better fuel mileage Switzerland (Franc) 0.9218 Euro costs (June 21) $1.16 Thailand (Baht) 31.49 SEATTLE — Boeing’s newest did a touch-and-go maneuver at than previous versions of Boeing’s Dollar buys (June 21) 0.8181 Turkey (New Lira) 8.7332 British pound (June 21) $1.35 version of the 737 Max jetliner an airport near Moses Lake, venerable 737. Airlines began us- Japanese yen (June 21) 108.00 (Military exchange rates are those available completed its first test flight Fri- Wash., before returning to land at ing the plane in 2017, but Max 8 South Korean won (June 21) 1,103.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ day in a move that the company Boeing Field in Seattle, about 7 and Max 9 planes were grounded many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3769 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ hopes will signal improving for- miles from where they left. worldwide for nearly two years af- Britain (Pound) 1.3818 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2426 your local military banking facility. Commercial tunes for its most important plane. The Max 10 is a slightly larger ter crashes in October 2018 and China (Yuan) 6.4531 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.2640 A few hundred employees version of Max jets that are al- March 2019 killed a total of 346 Egypt (Pound) 15.6644 when buying currency. All figures are foreign watched the plane take off from ready flying. It is designed to seat people. Euro 0.8423 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7629 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ Renton, Wash. As is typical for a up to 230 passengers and compete U.S. regulators cleared the way Hungary (Forint) 299.76 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2787 first test flight of a new plane, the with the A321neo from European for Max jets to resume flying late Japan (Yen) 110.16 INTEREST RATES only people on board were the two rival Airbus. last year after Boeing made Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3013 Norway (Krone) 8.6693 Prime rate 3.25 pilots, Jennifer Henderson and Chicago-based Boeing expects changes, including overhauling Philippines (Peso) 48.51 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.83 Federal funds market rate 0.09 Jim Webb. to begin delivering Max 10s to air- flight-control software that played Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7502 3­month bill 0.04 The pilots flew for about 2 ½ lines in 2023. a role in the crashes. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3443 30­year bond 2.03 WEATHER OUTLOOK MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST MONDAY IN EUROPE TUESDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 65/60 Kabul Seoul 83/73 77/61 Baghdad 106/72 Osan Tokyo Kandahar Drawsko 78/61 74/66 99/61 Mildenhall/ Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 85/68 70/65 53/50 Iwakuni Kuwait City Bahrain 72/67 106/83 Zagan Sasebo 88/84 Brussels Ramstein 87/68 76/67 Guam 68/63 77/66 83/80 Riyadh Lajes, 107/80 Doha Azores Stuttgart 107/80 66/63 80/66 Pápa Aviano/ 93/73 Vicenza 86/66 Naples 84/70 Okinawa Morón 79/76 78/57 Sigonella Djibouti Rota 99/64 The weather is provided by the 69/62 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 102/84 77/69 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Classified .................... 13 Comics .........................16 Crossword ................... 16 Faces .......................... 18 Opinion ........................ 14 Sports .................... 19-24 Monday, June 21, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Marine couple honored for flood rescue BY JONATHAN SNYDER Once they reached the water- Stars and Stripes fall, he noticed the weather start- The Marine Corps honored a ing to change and suggested they dual military couple who helped head back. rescue more than a dozen people “As we were getting the kids stranded when a flash flood out of the water the rain picked up U.S. Marine Corps struck a riverside hiking trail to a right away and the waterfall U.S. service members and their families help one another across a raging river during a flash flood at scenic waterfall on Okinawa last picked up immediately, making it Ta­Taki Falls, Okinawa, on Sept. 13, 2020. year. tough for us to advance back,” he Master Gunnery Sgt. Ronald said. There was no trail to go down Thomas, 42, and Master Sgt. Sara Minutes later, the fast-rising because the current was so quick, Thomas, 44, were awarded the river along the trail turned muddy Sara Thomas told Stars and Navy and Marine Corps Com- and began rushing with a danger- Stripes. mendation Medal on Tuesday at ous force, the Marine statement “We were making our own path Camp Courtney. Both are as- said. on the side of the mountain,” she signed to the III Marine Expedi- “I’m about 6-foot-4 and the wa- said. “At any moment, any one of tionary Force on Okinawa. ter was up to my shoulders,” Tho- us could have fell. It was muddy, “The whole mentality for me mas told Stars and Stripes. the rocks were slippery and the was never leave anyone behind,” The group made a path through rope was no thicker than a pinky.” Ronald Thomas told Stars and the riverbank’s steep hillside, ac- The group finally made it to Stripes during a phone interview cording to the Marine statement. safety after hours of trekking and Friday. After getting to a safe spot, they helping one another through the On Sept. 13, 2020, the couple helped more than a dozen people, raging waters, according to the and their son were trekking with including Japanese residents and Marine statement. friends toward Ta-Taki Falls on a fellow service members, trapped “When faced with this chal- 1 ½-mile out-and-back trail in Ku- on the other side by using a rope lenge we didn’t know the other nigami, according to a Marine found on a fence to guide every- NATALIE GREENWOOD/U.S.