THE MASTERS MILITARY FACES No blooms, no fans, Iraq War soldier Nickel Creek reflects no roars make this set to receive on trio of influential year like no other Medal of Honor Americana albums Back page Page 3 Page 18 Trump emerges from the White House to mark Veterans Day » Page 9 stripes.com Volume 79, No. 149 ©SS 2020 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2020 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas VIRUS OUTBREAK No signs of slowing Kim Tapia holds US hits record number of hospitalizations, surpasses 1M new confirmed cases this month her granddaughter Amariah Lucero, BY MIKE STOBBE signs of slowing. comes to improved medical tools and knowl- 3, as she’s tested Associated Press The new wave appears bigger and more edge, said William Hanage, a Harvard Univer- at the Utah widespread than the surges that happened in sity infectious-disease researcher. National Guard’s NEW YORK — The U.S. hit a record num- the spring and summer — and threatens to be Newly confirmed infections in the U.S. were mobile testing site ber of coronavirus hospitalizations Tuesday worse. But experts say there are also reasons running at all-time highs of well over 100,000 for COVID-19 on and surpassed 1 million new confirmed cases to think the nation is better able to deal with per day, pushing the total to more than 10 mil- Tuesday in Salt in just the first 10 days of November amid a the virus this time around. lion and eclipsing 1 million since Halloween. Lake City. nationwide surge of infections that shows no “We’re definitely in a better place” when it SEE CASES ON PAGE 8 RICK BOWMER/AP Trio of Trump loyalists get top Pentagon jobs after Esper’s firing BY LOLITA C. BALDOR he made, including about Islam. do in the months before President-elect undersecretary for policy, resigned Tues- Associated Press The abrupt changes sent reverberations Joe Biden takes office and whether there day morning and he was quickly replaced through the Pentagon as nervous civilian will be a greater effort to politicize the his- by Anthony Tata, a retired Army one-star WASHINGTON — A day after President and military personnel waited for the next torically apolitical military. While radical general. A short time later, Joseph Kernan, Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary shoe to drop. And they fueled worries of a policy shifts seem unlikely before the Jan. a retired Navy vice admiral, stepped down Mark Esper, three staunch loyalists to the wider effort to drum out anyone consid- 20 inauguration, the changes could further as undersecretary for intelligence, hasten- president were named to top defense jobs. ered not loyal enough to Trump. damage prospects for a smooth transition ing what had been an already planned post- Among them was a former Fox News com- The unease was palpable inside the already hampered by Trump’s refusal to election departure. Kernan was replaced mentator who failed to get through Senate building throughout the day over concerns concede his election loss. confirmation because of offensive remarks about what the Trump administration may James Anderson, who had been acting SEE PENTAGON ON PAGE 6 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Thursday, November 12, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Bankruptcy court approves sale of J.C. Penney Military rates Switzerland (Franc) ............................... 0.9184 Euro costs (Nov. 12) ............................. $1.15 Thailand (Baht) ......................................... 30.40 Dollar buys (Nov. 12) ........................€0.8255 Turkey (Lira) ............................................. 7.8964 British pound (Nov. 12) ........................$1.36 (Military exchange rates are those Associated Press acquired by Brookfield Asset as they offer low prices and one- Japanese yen (Nov. 12) ......................101.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (Nov. 12) ..........1,089.00 facilities in the country of issuance Management Inc. and Simon stop shopping. Commercial rates NEW YORK — J.C. Penney is for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Property Group through a com- J.C. Penney filed for Chap- Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................... 0.3771 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For on course to emerge from bank- British pound ......................................... $1.3211 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., ruptcy by Thanksgiving, after a bination of cash and new term ter 11 bankruptcy protection in Canada (Dollar) ...................................... 1.3059 purchasing British pounds in Germany), loan debt. The approval followed May, becoming one of the larg- China (Yuan) ............................................ 6.6315 check with your local military banking U.S. bankruptcy court approved Denmark (Krone) ................................... 6.3347 facility. Commercial rates are interbank the sale of the ailing 118-year-old a lengthy court hearing Monday. est retailers to do so during the Egypt (Pound)....................................... 15.6503 rates provided for reference when buying Still, the retailer faces an up- pandemic amid a wave of store Euro ............................................ $1.1753/0.8509 currency. All figures are foreign currencies retailer to its two largest land- Hong Kong (Dollar) ................................ 7.7540 to one dollar, except for the British pound, hill battle to attract shoppers this closures forced by the spread of Hungary (Forint) ..................................... 302.43 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, lords and its primary lenders. and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) holiday season as they stay away COVID-19 infections in the U.S. Israel (Shekel) ........................................ 3.3783 The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Japan (Yen)............................................... 105.52 the Southern District of Texas ap- from the malls and stores for The Plano, Texas, chain will Kuwait (Dinar) ........................................ 0.3061 INTEREST RATES proved a purchase agreement, an- safety reasons and shop online shed nearly a third of its stores in Norway (Krone) ..................................... 9.0887 Philippines (Peso) ................................... 48.50 Prime rate ................................................3.25 nounced earlier this fall, that has more. Meanwhile, Amazon and the next two years as it restruc- Poland (Zloty) .............................................. 3.82 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 big discounters like Walmart and tures, leaving just 600 locations Saudi Arabia (Riyal) .............................. 3.7505 Federal funds market rate ...................0.09 substantially all of J.C. Penney’s Singapore (Dollar)................................. 1.3508 3-month bill ............................................. 0.10 retail and operating assets being Target are only getting stronger open. South Korea (Won) ............................ 1,114.83 30-year bond ........................................... 1.76 WEATHER OUTLOOK THURSDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST THURSDAY IN EUROPE FRIDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 54/37 Kabul 67/48 Seoul 66/40 Baghdad 78/56 Kandahar 80/53 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 66/39 64/52 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 53/48 43/38 64/48 Iwakuni 66/46 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 87/77 Brussels 45/39 Guam 81/69 55/43 Ramstein 70/55 86/80 Lajes, 56/42 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 93/63 80/53 64/57 58/42 48/35 Aviano/ Vicenza 56/40 Naples 67/56 Okinawa Morón 79/70 71/50 Sigonella Rota 71/50 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 87/77 72/55 65/54 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 14 Classified .................. 13 Comics ...................... 16 Crossword ................. 16 Faces ........................ 18 Opinion ..................... 15 Sports .................. 20-24 Thursday, November 12, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Senate clears path for Medal of Honor Iraq War soldier Cashe repeatedly entered burning vehicle to save 7 BY DAN LAMOTHE to recognizing this unbelievably heroic Division when the armored Bradley Fight- The Washington Post soldier, who died saving his men, with our ing Vehicle he was in rolled over an impro- nation’s highest award for combat valor vised explosive device on Oct. 17, 2005. He WASHINGTON — The Senate passed — which he earned beyond a shadow of a was slightly injured by the explosion and legislation on Tuesday that clears the way doubt.” drenched in fuel, and realized the vehicle’s for President Donald Trump to award the Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., said in the fuel cell had erupted and the vehicle had nation’s highest award for valor in combat same statement that Cashe’s bravery has burst into flames. to Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, who inspired many people, and the passage of Cashe made numerous trips into the ve- repeatedly entered a burning vehicle in the legislation will allow him to be properly hicle to recover fellow soldiers, suffering Iraq to save six fellow soldiers and an in- recognized. burns in the process. He died about three terpreter from harm and died a few weeks “I’m incredibly proud to see both sides of weeks later on Nov. 5 at Brooke Army later. the aisle, in the House and the Senate, come Medical Center in San Antonio, which is The legislation, passed by unanimous together to honor Cashe’s legacy and award known for its unit treating burns suffered U.S. Army consent, waives the legal requirement that him the Medal of Honor,” Waltz said. in combat. the