I had a phone conversation with Brian Joyce yesterday and will meet
with him tomorrow. He is a history buff and has visited Southern France
and has met our friends at the Le Muy museum. He is very much interested in the
517, which is an unusual fact in this part of the country. Any information
that you can
give him will be appreciated.
We have heard from Jeanne Davis about the reunion. Please help the reunion
committee by registering soon. My registration is in the mail.
REGISTRATION FORM
Jeanne Davis
Hi Ben,
Thanks for the correspondence regarding the reunion in Portland. The
registrations are coming in ..........maybe not as fast and furious as we would
like, but, coming in. So far, these are the registrations that I have
received.
Leo
Dean
Patrick
Edwards
Lud Gibbons & Marty Donahoo
Barbara Jeffus & Gary
Willmart Bob
& Katie Rust
William MacRae & dt'r Karen
Mahlide Charles
& Vera Derbin
Richard, Lillian & son Lowell
Kachalsky Harold &
Jeanne Roberts
John & son John
Knopf
Joe & Sue
Sliakis
Robert & Kathy Hart
Bruce & Liz Broudy
Severin (Swed) Erickson Thomas &
Anna Mc Avoy
Jack & Florence Cason .
To this list can be added lots of Frices and Davises.
These are the people who have sent checks for registration fees
and money for the tours they wish to go on.
I have just checked with the hotel and there are 35 rooms reserved so
far. The RV question at the hotel....... There is RV
parking on the west side closest to the freeway. However, you are not able
to stay in the RV while its parked there. If there is an over-flow from
that area, or you need to stay in your RV, there is an RV park on the
island near the hotel.
On the subject of roommates........... I've misplaced the name of the
lady that wished to be paired up with a roommate. I have another lady
that would also like a roommate. So can you send out
a notice so that the lady can contact me? And then I can
get them in touch with each other.
Please have people contact me for anyone with special needs. The 517th
Auxiliary will be working on a plan to help people with a need, such as help on
and off buses, help getting up or going to bed, or maybe a ride to Portland if
someone is on someone else's way......... or just about anything (unfortunately,
nothing financial). We want everyone to be able to attend even if they
have a special need.
That's all there is to report right now. Except, get you registrations
in early!!
Regards,
Jeanne Davis
Edith Miller
Joe Miller received a letter from him asking for any experiences of
WWII. I haven't done it yet, but may send him several framed medals etc
that Joe has--hope to have my son photograph them to see what he would like -- and
send them on Email. Joe is in long term care -- just recovering now from a
bacterial infection of the colon so has been in isolation for a week.
Considering it all, his spirits remain quite positive. I had lunch
yesterday with Don Malarkey -- one of the "Band of Brothers" that Stephen Ambrose
wrote about. He is in really good health -- lives in Salem, OR. Best
wishes to you all -- Edith Miller
Dan Smith
Ben,
Brian Joyce's
telephone is (617) 325-0527 . He sounds legitimate . Brian said he is a second
generation fireman, a history buff, and not a professional author.
He knows about 517th plans to revisit Southern France in 07, is signed up to take jump training with the reenactment group, and
perform with them this June in Normandy.
Toujours,
Dan
Smith
Hqs 1st 517.
Jean- Loup Gassend
Dear Ben, I would like to ask a question to the veterans of the 517th
and particularly to Howard
Hensleigh.
Do you by any chance remember a
quartermaster in the 517th, who's name was James, and who liked drinking
a bit to much. A local french citizen who new him well and remembers him
would like to know what his family name may have been and maybe see a
picture of him.
Apparently he was quite a personality, and was responsible
for supplies going to a large part of the
517th. If no one remembers him,
could somebody tell me what company he was probably in, and what his
rank would have been? I suspect Sergeant, in the
HQ company??
Thanks a lot
Jean-Loup Gassend
Brian Joyce
Hi Sir,
I just emailed you from my yahoo account before checking my AOL mail.
I printed out direction to your home and along with the pictures I should have
no problem finding it. I am looking forward to Friday and if you would like me
to bring anything, coffee, etc, please don't hesitate to ask. Take
care.
Brian
Hi Sir,
As discussed, please add me to the Mail Call list. I will see you Friday at
1PM. Thank you very much for adding me and inviting me to meet you. I look
forward to it. Take care.
Brian Joyce
Brett Stadler
Hi Ben, Greetings from Virginia,
Just wanted to touch base with you and let you know I'm still
reading every mail call and still appreciate this work that you do. I'm
sure there are lots of relatives such as myself who may not write in frequently
but benefit greatly from this connection to our veteran family members who have
passed on.
I recently read an email from Nace Cohen who was a 2nd
Battalion member attached to S2 and wondered if you might have an email address
for him.
I'm still a practicing physician in Central VA and miss
practicing in the Navy in part because I was able to meet so many veterans and
help take care of them. I hope you are doing well and look forward to
attending another reunion with my Dad in the future.
With warm regards,
Brett Stadler
**********
Brett is the son of Tom and grandson of Burton Stadler Hq, 2nd
Bn. Any information concerning Burton who was a pathfinder would be greatly
appreciated by Tom and Brett. - Ben