Hi Ben, Three cheers for Bill Mauldin for saying it like it
was. Who had time to look noble. And, congratulations to Tom Reber
on his over achieving Badgers and his new (more 517th friendly ) job. I
think the Hawks under achieved this year.
Note to Dennis Sura: My phone number until December 10, 2006 is (904)
270-8797. After that it will be (707) 773-4811. I will be happy to
talk to you about H Co. and the men who pulled off some very successful attacks,
including Manhay, Belgium, and around Col de Braus, France. Your father
went through all the combat until the last day we fought.
HAPPY DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING, HH
Pat Seitz and Allan Greer
Dear Ben:
Hope you and your family had a very blessed Happy
Thanksgiving. This season gives us the opportunity to tell those who make
a difference in our lives, Thank you. Your work and that of your son on
behalf of the 517th make such a positive difference in not only our lives but so
many others of the 517th and their families. Thank you for being such a
blessing.
And our very special thanks to the members of the
517th for their service, dedication and sacrifice.
Sincerely, Pat Seitz and Alan Greer
PS Thank you also for the Bill Maudlin piece and cartoon.
Karen Reece
Hello Ben,
We are at my parents' house in FL for the Thanksgiving
holiday, as you may have guessed. We'll drive back to Atlanta tomorrow. We were
trying to get their internet service up and running. They hadn't received any
emails since September. Well, once we re-connected the computer to the modem
(yes----these things do somehow become unplugged) and contacted their ISP to
reboot the modem, they still did not receive emails. I could not tell if our
emails had been transmitted to you, so of course I kept re-composing and
sending. Sorry for the barrage of emails from us. Well, I finally had an "aha!"
moment and checked their anti-spam device and yes, all of the Mail Calls were
being held in a "quarantine" file. Once I submitted your address, fifty-three
unread Mail Call messages were in his inbox. Thank you for checking the address
on your end. The protection device on my parents computer has blocked all of
their emails. Another computer crisis resolved.
I hope you had a nice
Thanksgiving. I imagine Massachusetts to be beautiful this time of year.
Am I
correct?
Best regard,
Karen
(2)
Bill
Maudlin wrote about his meeting with
General George
Patton
in his book, The Brass Ring
(1971)
There he sat, big as life even at that distance. His
hair was silver, his face was pink, his collar and shoulders glittered with more
stars than I could count, his fingers sparkled with rings, and an incredible
mass of ribbons started around desktop level and spread upward in a flood over
his chest to the very top of his shoulder, as if preparing to march down his
back too. His face was rugged, with an odd, strangely shapeless outline; his
eyes were pale, almost colorless, with a choleric bulge. His small, compressed
mouth was sharply downturned at the corners, with a lower lip which suggested a
pouting child as much as a no-nonsense martinet. It was a welcome, rather human
touch. Beside him, lying in a big chair, was Willie, the bull terrier. If ever
dog was suited to master this one was. Willie had his beloved boss's expression
and lacked only the ribbons and stars. I stood in that door staring into the
four meanest eyes I'd ever seen.
Patton demanded: "What are you
trying to do, incite a goddamn mutiny?" Patton then launched into a lengthy
dissertation about armies and leaders of the past, of rank and its importance.
Patton was a master of his subject felt truly privileged, as if I were hearing
Michelangelo on painting. I had been too long enchanted by the army myself to be
anything but impressed by this magnificent old performer's monologue. Just as
when I had first saluted him, I felt whatever martial spirit was left in me
being lifted out and fanned into flame.
If you're a leader, you don't push
wet spaghetti, you pull it. The U.S. Army still has to learn that. The British
understand it. Patton understood it. I always admired Patton. Oh, sure, the
stupid bastard was crazy. He was insane. He thought he was living in the Dark
Ages. Soldiers were peasants to him. I didn't like that attitude, but I
certainly respected his theories and the techniques he used to get his men out
of their foxholes.
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