The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 12

.3 I I 3 'J i I K- i A I If'- I Is Is, jf i-) If R- AP Wlrephoto Collecting her 'chute A female member of the 82nd Airborne Division collects her parachute Wednesday after participating in the first mass female parachute drop in military history at Fort Bragg, N.C; West Point will graduate women i rices fro $2800 to WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) For the first time in the 178-year history of West Point, women this month will join the ranks of graduates a roll including such leaders as Dwight U. Li- senhnwer, Douglas MacArthur and John Per- nation shing. Swrptarv of Defense 3 DAYS ONLY! May 15, 16, 17 mm Harold Brown will address the 62 women and their 859 male classmates May 28 as they are commissioned -'second lieutenants at the U.S. Military Academy's 'i graduation ceremonies.

The first female, cadets at West Point weathered turbulent times at the nation's oldest military Rings Beads Bracelets Best Selection in Southern California Jade Expert to Aid in Your Selection Come In and Browse Earrings mm ilvv --''Hiiii. academy, and their futures remain uncertain. Their tenure began in 1976, the year of the Point worst cheating scandal, and their ranks then num- bered 119 women. They endured tough treatment from the upper classes and hostility and resentment from male peers, staff and faculty as did their female colleagues in the nation's other three service academies. I The West Point women who made it learned to camouflage bunkers, build bridges, clear Soviet mines, fire M-102 howitzers, climb mountains and plan night attacks.

They can run two miles in 17 minutes in combat boots. But they cannot enter the Army's combat units, a limit raising questions as to how far women can rise in a service which traditionally has drawn leaders from combat ranks. Of the 859 West Point men of the class of 1980, 710 I plan to enter the infantry, armory, field artillery, air defense artillery, aviation engineering or signal corps all combat ranks. But only 27 of the 62 women plan to enter the so-called "combat support services" limited non-combat 'technical assignments in air defense and artillery. Despite the combat limit, West Point women, now 313 in four classes, view themselves on a par with men.

And they are committed to the military tradition. Santa Fe wins top rail safety award WASHINGTON (AP) For the second time in three the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad has been awarded the top H. Harriman Memorial Award for employee safety. The gold medal was presented at a luncheon here Tuesday by W. Averell Harriman, a former governor f.of New York who has held many presidential diplomatic appointments.

The annual safety awards were instituted in 1913 by his mother, Mary W. Harriman, in memory of her husband, a pioneer in American railroading. Last year's top winner, the Southern Railway Syv tern, earned a second-place silver medal this year. The Missouri Pacific Railroad took the bronze medal for the third straight year. These three railroads are classified in Group employees work a total of 20 million hours or jnore a year.

I'. Winner in Group 5 million-20 million employee hours) was the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, with the Boston and Maine Corporation Staking second and the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway I -third. The Florida East Coast Railway won first in Group ttfewer than 5 million employee hours) for the fourth straight year. The Central Vermont Railway took Second for the third year in a row, and the Ann Arbor Pendants 1 Bangles Mm ti I and I JEWELERS SX VISA1 HOURS: 10-9 SAT.

10-6 CLOSID SUNDAY Central City Mall Downtown San Bernardino Ph. 884-1123 Railroad System earned third place. The Houston Belt and Terminal Railway was first l-among switching and terminal companies, followed the Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad and the Alton and Southern Railway. LUKE VONDEY CHARGE Have a Successful GARAGE SALE Pick up a free pamphlet at The Sun, 399 San Bernardino i Si Hnrift1.