Nobleman Up a Tree in GI Search

--Somewhere out there may be an American GI who left his mark on a beech tree near Stratford-Upon-Avon 43 years ago, and a British nobleman is determined to find him. The Marquess of Hertford said that sometime after D-Day a soldier carved “R J 1944 US ARMY” into the tree at his ancestral home, Ragley Hall, which was used as a hospital during both world wars. The tree is dying and must be cut down, but Hertford said: “It would be particularly pleasing to locate ‘R.J.’ before the tree has to go.” Hertford said he will pay the man’s transatlantic air fare and treat him like royalty for a night--a personal tour of the 300-year-old, 6,000-acre estate, dinner served on the Hertford family silver and a bedroom fit for a lord. “But the most important thing is, I thought it would be quite nice if it were known that at least one member of the British House of Lords remembered with gratitude that the Americans helped my country win the war.” Anyone who thinks that he might be the “R.J.” Hertford is looking for and can produce evidence attesting to the fact should write to the Marquess of Hertford, Ragley Hall, Alcester, Warwickshire, England.

--Prince Subhadriadis Diskul of Thailand says Yul Brynner’s portrayal of a Siamese king in “The King and I” so offended Thais that the movie was banned in their nation. Diskul said of his late grandfather, King Mongkut, on whom Brynner’s character was based, “We don’t think our king is like that, jumping around and so forth.” Diskul, who teaches art at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wash., spends part of his free time taking foreign dignitaries on cultural tours of his homeland and clearing up misconceptions perpetuated by the movie and stage musical.

--A 21,000-mile canoe trip across two continents may not be everyone’s idea of the perfect honeymoon, but Valerie and Verlen Kruger have been at it since June--and they’re still married. The newlyweds started paddling near the Arctic Ocean on June 8, two months after their wedding, and hope to reach Cape Horn at the tip of South America in early 1989. In lieu of candlelight dinners, they are conducting an acid rain study along the way. The Lansing, Mich., couple met, logically enough, on a canoe trip five years ago. They average about 25 to 30 miles a day traveling in separate 17-foot canoes--perhaps adhering to the adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder.