I have in this Mail Call a request from Chris Liddell to include a memory of his dad who  recently passed away. His dad's name is Mitchell Wayne Liddell and he is the son of 517th member (F Co.)  Sgt. Bobby McCoy Liddell.  

Chris is the person who  gave us the incentive to start a 517 website and eventually Mail Call.

 

A few years ago soon after I learned how to take a computer out of its box I received an email from a Belgium friend asking me if I could help a young man from Alabama find information about his grandfather, Bobby Liddell ,who was a member of 517 "F" Co. and had been awarded the Silver Star.

I then asked Bob, my son, who knew very little about the 517, how to go about finding the information. Bob went on the Internet  and found loads of information about the 517 but it was scattered all over the Internet. He decided to try to collect it all and put it in one place and thus the 517th PRCT website .

 

IN MEMORY OF A FALLEN HERO

 

    When most people hear this title, they tend to expect it to be followed by a war hero, the story of a WW2 general or a past or current president.

 

     Although these people are usually deserving of this admiration, my hero never pulled any of his wounded buddies out of  a burning tank or won the Nobel Peace Prize. 

 

    My hero shot a nickel with a .22 rifle at 25 feet when I was eleven yrs. Old.  It was my first rifle and it was Christmas morning so he and I went shooting.  I had been shooting a few times with my hero in the past and he had taught me the “do’s and don’t's of gun safety  so I hit the target a few times and missed it a few times.  We shot for a while and as we did, I got better with his guidance.  He never tried to show me up or make me feel as if I were doing anything less than  John Wayne.  He bragged every time that we looked at the target and he made me feel like a real crack shot. (as he continued to do in life as I’ve grown older)  As I got better and a little more sure of myself, he put a new nickel on the target and said, “This is going to be hard but it will give you something to work at as you get better”.  I was somewhat over sure of myself by this point so  I scoffed at it and said, “we’ll see about that”  as we both laughed at the comment. 

 

    I think that I went through  at least 50 bullets and had almost demolished the target completely although the nickel still sat in the middle..  Frustrated and laughing at the same time, we looked at the nickel and I said, “It can’t be done”.   Of course he responded with, “sure it can be done and you will do it one day with a little practice”.  I handed him the rifle and asked him to show me.  Although he hesitated, I told him that I REALLY WANTED to see it done.  He “racked a shell” and shot. 

 

    Although I already looked up to him and believed that he could absolutely do no wrong,  I think that the moment when the nickel disappeared in one shot , my Dad graduated from the man who took care of me and who taught me right from wrong to becoming my TRUE HERO who could do anything and he has always been such a huge influence on me throughout my entire life and since he passed away, I feel like a huge part of my soul is missing that I will never be able to replace.  Although this is the case, I do know that my father was ready to go to heaven if he couldn’t continue to live  the kind of life that super heroes are accustomed to so I guess that he’s exactly where he would want to be although we are still stuck here with the sadness of a life that will never be as joyful and fulfilling as it used to be.

 

    I will always miss you Dad and you will ALWAYS be my guidance and my hero.
   I love you so much.

 

   Chris

 

    PS: This nickel has always been the favorite and most valuable thing that I keep in my safe.

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Dear Ben, Thank you so much for adding my Uncle Danny to the Bronze Star List so quickly. My Mom and I sincerely appreciate it. To all 517 Troopers if you have any memories of Daniel Ogniewski PFC Co. D I would love to hear them. I have had the blessing of the Polk's (Floyd and Adrianna) in my life since I was a child. Floyd has briefed me on all the details of Nov. 4th 1944. I was just wondering if their were any other memories you all could share? Thanks on behalf of my Mother and myself. Daniel Curtis  

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50 years ago, in September 44, after four years of occupation the

Belgian people rejoiced as they welcomed their liberators.

But a few months later, in December 44, the celebrations were

abruptly interrupted by a large - scale German offensive.

In 1994 we commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the passed

events and the G.I. of the lithography was the symbol of the Battle

of the Bulge commemorations:

the snow, is a reminder of the tough weather conditions during the

'44 winter, and the green firs represent the woods of the Ardennes.

In the background, the American flag is proudly floating,

triumphant, after the terrible fight, the rip and tears symbolize the

roughness of the battle.

In the lower part of the poster, the Nazi flag is trampled down by a

determined G.I. walking in the tracks left by a tank.

This lone soldier may be a relative, perhaps a son or a friend who

is courageously showing us, step by step

 the way to freedom and victory.