70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA.02025 *781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett Ben517@aol.com

Hello,

Website www.517prct.org
Mail Call 517th Mail Call
Mail Call Archives www.517prct.org/archives
Roster www.517prct.org/roster.pdf

Reunions Kissimmee , CA Mini January 21-25

2007 Palm Springs,Ca Mini April

Washington, DC National June 27-JULY 2

Howard Hensleigh

Dear Ben:

I appreciate the poem about MANHAY which General Ridgeway ordered Lt. Col. Paxton to take at all costs. There are two things that need to be said about the 3rd Battalion's taking it during the wee hours on December 27, 1944. All the civilians had not left. We found one old lady there a day after the attack. We offered to evacuate her but she would not leave her beloved Manhay. Secondly, although we were attached to General Rose's armored division, there were no tanks anywhere near that night we took the town. After the artillery barrage, we took it with two rifle companies (H and I, with I in the lead, G was guarding Ridgeway's CP) In previous attacks and defenses of the town, there must have been US and German tanks involved, but the only ones we saw that night were ones that had been knocked out. The SS commander's armored vehicle was one of the casualties of the attack and I still have his picture recovered form it. A day or two after the attack, a US tank came blazing into town stopping in the middle of the intersection covered by an SS antitank gun. The tank commander, standing up in the turret, was told by a trooper to get the hell out of there. As he was giving the trooper some lip he was hit and killed by a round that did not explode until it had bounced down the street a few times. If the rest of the tank crew did not understand the advice of the trooper, they got the drift from the antitank gun and disappeared in haste. That is the last tank we saw and withstood the counter attacks on our own.

My highest regards to Eddy Monfort and those inhabitants of MANHAY who still remember us,

Howard Hensleigh

Bob Barrett

The web site search engine seems to be working again.

Note that there are 2 different site search places. One is on the Table of Contents, which searches everything EXCEPT the MailCall archives. And on the MailCall index page, there is a search for only past MailCalls. They both seem to work OK, probably better and quicker than before, but no guarantees that they find every occurrence. Also, they do seem to have a limit of about 250 entries, so you won't find every instance of Barrett or Howard.

Bob Barrett

Virginia Jorgen

Dear Ben, My roommate at the reunion, Ponnie Davis (Bill Lewis's sister} would request that you send MailCall (for her) to two people. She does not have a computer herself, but her close friend would give her the news. Her address is:

Christinella_476@MSN.com

(Note: There is a lower dash before '476"

Also, would you please send MailCall to her son. His address is:

Dondavis@ FRII.com

She thanks you so much, and so do I.

J C Miller

I AM J.C. MILLER SON OF HOWARD E MILLER HE WAS A SGT IN CO G 517TH PARA INF REG. ACCORDING TO HIS HONORABLE DISCHARGE PAPERS DATED 4 NOV 1945 HE SERVED IN THESE CAMPAIGNS GO 33&40 wd 45 ROME ARNO SOUTHERN FRANCE RHINELAND ARDENNES CENTRAL EUROPE HE ALSO MADE THE COMBAT JUMP IN TO S. FRANCE, HE RETUNED TO ACTIVE SERVICE JUNE 1946 AS A JUMP INS. AT FT BENNING. HE RETIRED IN 1963 AS A MAJOR AS SECURITY OFF. G 2 HQ.USASP WAR CEN 822O FT BRAGG NC. IM LOOKING FOR SOME ONE THAT MIGHT HAVE KNOWN HIM. HE PASSED AWAY THREE YEARS AGO IN OCTOBER. I HAVE JUST ABOUT ALL OF HIS MILITARY RECORDS BUT HE NEVER SPOKE MUCH OF HIS SERVICE , IF THERE SOMEBODY THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN HIS UNIT I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM THEM. THANK YOU J.C. MILLER CELL # 7703183317

Bob Reber

I am sending the updated roster out to the printer, at Bob Christie's request and I am also copying Gene Frice, Ben & Bob Barrett and Helen Beddow.

Please take note of the different tabs at the bottom of the workbook. There is a main, combined roster tab, a tab sorted by company, a tab dedicated to the auxiliary, and a tab for the mailing list. They are all clearly marked. I am updated through today.

I hope that all of you are well. Our fine city is still reeling from Sunday's tragic (and entirely preventable) plane crash (flt. 5191), but we fortunately did not know anyone directly on the flight. I hope that all of you and yours are safe.

Best wishes to all,

Tom Reber

From WWII Recollections - Soldier's Stories on the website

Subj: Mail Call No. 164
Date: 10/12/2001 4:49:00 PM Eastern Daylight time
From: Mike Spano
To: Ben517

Ben, You asked for personal stories. Here's one I will never forget. I know that thousands of eerie events happened to lots of guys that made them believe in a guardian angel. Here's mine.

It was in Manhay. I was with I Company, Third platoon. We led the attack and were right in the middle of our own massive artillery barrage. That night we all jumped into already dug foxholes. The next morning, one of the guys in the foxhole only a few yards away asked me if I would switch foxholes with him. Can't remember his name, but he was a B.A.R. man. Without hesitation I said "sure", and made the switch. It was late morning, I believe, when a P38 lightning flew overhead. Because of its twin fuselage, it was one of the few planes I could recognize, so I jumped out of the foxhole to take care of a personal matter. Suddenly, the P38 dives and drops a 500 pounder. I dove back in the foxhole. That's when I heard that awful scream. I popped my head up just in time to see the guy with whom I had switched foxholes running with no right arm. Just shreds hung down from what remained of his shoulder. I slumped down in disbelief. If I didn't switch foxholes with him, that would be me. Neither he nor his buddy survived just that one bomb. Friendly fire did it to us again. For quite some time I suffered what is called survivor's guilt. Manhay wasn't the only rime my guardian angel was looking after me. I'll tell you about another incident in which I was shot when leading an attack as pointman at a later time. It boggles my mind. Incidentally, if the trooper who was with me in the foxhole is among our members, please write me.

Mike 517

Date: 10/13/2001 10:00:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Fred Beyer

I was in Manhay, and will never forget the artillery barrage the night before I lost my arm from that P38. It could be the one you are talking about. I was in a foxhole with Cleo Browning and believe he was killed. I do remember that Lt. Stott was killed that night.

I don't remember any one named Mike off hand. Refresh my memory, will you?

Sunday October 14, 2001
Fred Beyer

Date: 10/13/2001 10:51:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From Mike Spano

Hi, FT Beyer...

I was astounded to hear that you survived the P38 attack. When I saw you running, I thought you would never make it with all the blood loss. God bless you. It was either you or your buddy who switched foxholes with me prior to the attack. Do you remember? Believe me, the switch happened. Was it you or your buddy who was the B.A.R. man? Please let me hear from you. However, we are driving to Florida tomorrow to our winter home and need a week to get my PC turned on there. I can't believe it. All these years I thought you were dead. I don't think we knew each other very well, so I didn't expect you to remember me when I couldn't recall your name either. But I'll never forget the incident. I was in the foxhole next to you.

Mike Spano