From: Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 8:31 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: MAIL CALL NO. 1393 517TH PRCT-SEPTEMBER 1, 2007
70  Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA. 02025  *781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett  Ben517@aol.com
 
Hello,
 
I had a download in last Mail Call and some were not able to receive the email and that is why I don't like to include downloads. We will put such information on the website where it can be copied into Mail Call in the future.
 
I received the inquiry about Colonel Graves some time ago and hesitated to put it in a Mail Call because I did not know all the facts. At the time that higher Command were privy to the situation, my only concern was the location and condition as well as the depth of my fox hole.
Les Hughes had his doubts about the story.
 
 Paratroopers' Odyssey is  available for $22.50. Send payment to Leo Dean.
 
You may at times have a problem viewing photos. However, we place most photos on the website under Training and WWII Photos .
 
Please try to send in donations by August 15 to Keep the 517 PRCT Association viable. Suggested amount $30.00 to  include Thunderbolt.  Auxiliary members $20.00 Plus $10.00 if you want to receive the for the Thunderbolt.  Send donations to  Leo Dean, 14 Stonehenge Lane, Albany, NY  12203.  Make checks payable to 517prct.       Donations for the Auxiliary should be sent to  Karen Frice Wallace   66295 Highway 20  Bend, OR 97701
 
Please let me know if you want to receive Mail Calls or if you have a problem receiving them. You can always read Mail Calls by clicking on www.517prct.org/archives
 
 Ben

Website                                   www.517prct.org                                                        
Mail Call                                  
Ben517@aol.com
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Recent website additions:

Matthew Skovera, HQ Co, 3rd Bn.

PFC Anthony S. Celli, I Co. (KIA)

517th Commemorative March 2007- Southern France

Richard Eaton videos - Witness to the War
Madawaska Victory passenger lists
1983 517th Reunion Booklet - San Mateo, CA

Bill Boyle news article


517 PRCT Association  Officers


Pat Seitz and Allan Greer
 
 
Dear Ben:  please let Boom Boom know he is very much in our prayers with lots of positive thoughts going his way.  Pat Seitz and Alan Greer
Dick Seitz
 
Ben, reference Les Hughes request for information on Colonel Graves. I find the comments of Orfaleao insulting to me and every member of our great combat team.   Colonel was an honest man full of integrity and compassion.  He was an innovative sound trainer and brilliant tactician.  Colonel Graves was one of the finest leaders I have served with and I have served with some damn fine leaders in my time.  As concerns Colonel Grave performance while in command of the 551.    The high incidence of VD and AWOLs and poor discipline in the unit was known and existed prior to Colonel Graves taking command of the unit.  Apparently Colonel Graves efforts to correct the situation  upset a small group of leaders.  Dick Seitz
Les Hughes
 
Thank you for passing this along to me. It confirms what I suspected.
 
Les Hughes
Howard Hensleigh

Dear Ben:  Note to Les Hughes re the 551st.

Although there is better authority ,ie. for example, Dick Seitz, Bill Boyle and Tom Cross, I could not let the recent 551st comments go without responding.

I recently read that Henry Kissinger once said that just because you are paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't after you.  All of us are a little paranoid and that may be why we are still alive.  However, the recent rumblings from the 551st are too much.

The charge roughly stated is that Rupert Graves had a bad time commanding the 551st and as revenge saw to it that the 551st did not get credit for what it did and possibly that they got suicidal missions that destroyed them.  Anyone who knew Rupert Graves knows that such a charge is ridiculous.  Rupert Graves was a man of sterling character.  He was slow to anger, if he ever got angry.  He was a man who was eminently fair, an inborn trait always with him, but whetted by his many years of service. 

We were all in the army and did what we were told.  If the 551st thought they were fully trained and ready for combat, but held at Mackall for more training, it may have been that they were not needed just then, or with low morale and high VD and AWOL rates, it may have meant that someone in higher headquarters concluded that they were not as ready as they thought they were.  We had a sergeant in G Co. who had trained for years and was dying to get into combat, but when he got there in Southern France went stark, raving mad and was sent to the hospital never to be seen again. 

There is no doubt that the 551st did not receive the credit it deserved.  None of the smaller parachute outfits did.  This includes the 517th, the 509th and others.  The 509th also was almost obliterated in the Bulge; Rupe Graves had nothing to do with that.  We were commanded by general officers who believed that paratroops should be fought as units no smaller than divisions;  this included Mat Ridgeway, Maxwell Taylor and Jim Gavin.  Yet in the Bulge, they fought us not as a regimental combat team, but as battalions.  If a battalion ever got a commendation it usually came from the grateful commander whom we had assisted in completing a tough mission, such as J. Lawton Collins (Lightning Joe).  Ridgeway only endorsed the commendations.

Mel Zais, the 517th executive officer and Graves right hand man, also had been in the 551st.  Even if Graves had been the villain as some would paint him, Mel would not have let him get away with downplaying or destroying those 551st men he loved.  Mel was invited to be the principal speaker at one of the 551st reunion banquets.  I have a copy of his address which is replete with respect and admiration for his fellow troopers of the 551st and their great loss of their commander, Woody Jeorg.  Incidentally, the book Operation Dragoon gives full credit to the 551st in the invasion of Southern France.  Another interesting incident brought out by that book is that the original invasion order received by General Frederick had us landing as small units all over Southern France, rather than in mass.  Frederick dispatched the commander of the 509th or the 551st to get the order satisfactorily revised so we were to concentrate on the la Motte--Le Muy.  We, who were scattered all over hell and high water, could conclude that the troop carriers never got the word.

We in the 517th had our agony resulting from orders including the one at Bergstein where our outfit was all but wiped out.  Rather than concluding that someone was trying to wipe us out, Graves and the rest of us have concluded that it was a diversionary attack.

In these instances, I recommend a little more charity, a little less paranoia, and a lot more praise for the troopers of all outfits who accomplished much under harsh circumstances.

Howard Hensleigh


Tom Cross

Reference: Les Hughes' Request for Information about Colonel Rupert Grave's Short Command Time of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion
    
    I wish to thank Les Hughes for his insight and interest in giving us who knew Colonel Graves better than anyone else the opportunity to comment on our experience and evaluation of our last 517th Parachute Infantry Regimental Commander, Colonel Rupert Graves.
    Colonel Lou Walsh, our first Regimental Commander was an outstanding officer who put his heart and soul into the training of the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Colonel Lou Walsh was the best Parachute Regimental Commanders in the U.S. Army.  We were an outstanding unit when Colonel Lou Walsh left the Regiment and we were all concerned about who his replacement would be. We knew it would be difficult to replace him.  When Colonel Rupert Graves took over command it took only a short time for us to realize that he was, without any doubt, the most logical and best replacement we could get to take Colonel Walsh's place. Colonel Graves was an older officer, quiet in manner but wise enough to know he was one of the best Parachute Regimental Commanders in the U.S., Army.  Colonel Graves quickly won our respect and we accepted his style of leadership knowing that we were in good hands with this man. I met with him several times after his retirement and he always praised the Officers and Troopers of the 517th. In his eyes and ours we were a "family".
    As for the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion they had never been in combat as a unit.  I did not know Lt. Col. Joerg but I knew Major William Holmes his Battalion Executive Officer very well.  In my opinion Holmes was the better officer and leader. The 551st Parachute Infantry History as depicted by Author Orfaleoa in his book" Messenger of the Lost Battalion" was done very poorly by a second generation author who spent too much time at Airborne Reunions listening to the gripes and laments of the uninformed and misled. I bought the book and threw it in the trash for the manner in which Colonel Graves was treated.
    Much has been written and lamented about how the 551st  was beat up by the enemy in the Bulge. I have discussed this subject with Bill Boyle who Commanded the 1st Bn. of the 517th PIR at the time and was supposed to have had contact with the 551st during the critical period when they were in trouble.  From what I learned the 551st jumped off not waiting for supporting artillery and could not be located as they were not in their designated area of operations.
    It is difficult to write about this subject and the damage was done and caused by a second generation author who did not know the true facts and appeared to care less .
Regards, Tom