70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA.02025 *781 383 0215 * Mail
Call : Ben Barrett Ben517@aol.com
Hello,
I want to express my deepest sympathy to the family of Elbert "Bert" Duran, A Co on the passing of Elbert.
I last met Elbert with his son Rubin at the 2004 Palm Springs West
Coast Reunion. They both were thrilled that because of MailCall, Elbert
was able to get in touch of the family of a buddy who was killed in the last
days of the war and they had a pact that if either survived, they would get
in touch with the family of the deceased. Elbert was seriously wounded and
lost information but search for the family for sixty years and then found out
that they lived not far from him.
I have more mail which I will try get out
tomorrow.
Ben
Reunions
Kissimmee , FL Mini
January 21 - 25
2007
Palm Springs, CA Mini
April
Washington, DC National June
27 - July 2
Recent website additions:
Hello Ben, Ray Estrella here.
It is my sad duty to report to you that my Father-In-Law, Elbert "Bert" Duran, A Co.,
passed away yesterday, September , 18, 2006. He had been diagnosed with double
pneumonia 48 hours earlier, but the root
cause of his medical problems was prostrate cancer. He was having a very
difficult time breathing due to the fluid in his lungs, so his children
decided to call in the Hospice Team. They connected some oxygen equipment to
him, gave him some morphine and anti-anxiety medicine, and he went to sleep.
He lasted about 18 hours this way, until he died peacefully in his sleep. Our
family cared for him 24/7 for the last 15 months of his life, never leaving
his bedside. He will be greatly missed. He was "Airborne All The Way",
intensely proud of his Airborne heritage, his time in combat with "A" company
in the Bulge, and his beloved 517 P.I.R. Association. He was a true patriot,
he loved his country and his flag. There is never a shortage of our
great flag in our family, it is always on display. Even though Bert is gone,
we will remain a part of the 517 family. There are 4 ex-troopers in our
immediate family, and I also come from a long line of ex-troopers. We are
"Airborne" in every sense of the word. -- Ray Estrella
Dan Hoskins
Pardon me, Bob Ben, but I had one more question. My uncle said that he
was wounded in the same minefield blast as R. C. Brown of Hastings, NE. Might you
know were I could reach Mr. Brown or his
family?
Again, thank you for any help that you can
provide.
Dan
Hello, Bob
Ben. Thank you
for managing the guestbook and the website. It is a TERRIFIC resource for family
members of 517th
veterans.
Per my
earlier note, my uncle (Tommy McCoin) passed away recently. I truly regret that
I did not proactively transport and accompany him to any of the 517th
reunions. I am seeking some additional information on behalf of my aunt (his
wife) and our extended family.
I was
hoping that you could point me to the right place for a few things
…
I
always understood my uncle to say that he served as an infantry man in Company A
of the 517th, yet the December 1944 roster shows him in Battery A of
the 460th. My aunt and his brothers also understood that he was in
the infantry (not artillery). I believe that the 1944 roster is incorrect
because 1) I think that he would remember correctly and 2) he trained at Toccoa
for many months in 1943 before transferring to Georgia and NC <I understand
from your website that members of the 460th did not train at
Toccoa>. Are you aware of other errors on the 1944
roster?
On a
related note, my uncle has two Purple Hearts for wounds received in
Italy and in Belgium, yet I can’t find any record
of those on the Casualty Reports for Company A. His last wounds were suffered in
February 1945. The February 1945 Company A casualty report says “Page 1 of 2” on
your website yet it contains data only through February 10 or so. Where might I
get the casualty report for Company A for the rest of February
1945?
Finally, can you point me to any living members of Company A? I would be
grateful for the opportunity to contact them to learn any more about my uncle’s
experiences in WWII.
Thank
you for any help that you can provide, and thank you for your work on the
website. Best regards,
Dan
Hoskins