From: Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 8:35 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: MAIL CALL NO. 1447 517TH PRCT-DECEMBER 7, 2007
70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA. 02025  *781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett  Ben517@aol.com    http://bands.army.mil/music/bugle/calls/mailcall.mp3< Click on
 
Hello,
 
Chris Lindner and Darrell Egner are working on plans for the St. Louis reunion and as soon as agenda is finalized we will inform all. Frank Ramos has been contacting his sources to help find a speaker. Claire was involved in plans for the 2007 reunion many months before the actual reunion and with the help of Frank Ramos and his connections we were able to get the Vice President to attend, but Claire didn't get confirmation until two days before the reunion
   
Pease let me know if your email is not to be included in Mail Call by inserting FYEO.
 
You may at times have a problem viewing photos. However, we place most photos on the website under Training and WWII Photos .
 
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
Mail Call Archives                 www.517prct.org/archives
Roster                                     www.517prct.org/roster.pdf

Snowbird mini-reunion       
Kissimmee, FL
Jan 20-24, 2008

Palm Springs, CA

April 13-18, 2008

 517TH ST. LOUIS REUNION BEGINS:
 
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 THRU MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2008
THE BANQUET WILL BE ON SUNDAY JUNE 29, 2008.

Recent website additions:

The 551st Attack on Trois Ponts, 2-7 Jan 1945
River Crossing and Attack at La Roquette, 27-28 August 1944
Howard B. Goodman, Service Company

Paras en Provence: Le 517th PRCT Dans Les Alpes Maritime
       from Armes Militaria Magazine (cover, article)

Zoot Snyder
 
Dear Ben:
My condolences to the Fraser family they have lost
a great man.   Don and I saw a lot of each other on a
daily basis the entire time he was CO of A Co.  We were
in the same plane during the S France invasion.     I am grateful
that we again became acquainted this late in life and I was
able to thank him for leading me safely through our WWII
adventures.   When I gave him this thanks,  all he said was
"it's a wonder we weren't all killed".

Zoot Snyder, runner & rifleman  Co. A, hdqs.
 Daniel Jones
 
Hello everyone,
  I wanted to proudly pass on a big "HELLO!" from my grandfather, DW Jones, or known as Deacon to many.  He served in the 517th in '44 and '45.  He is doing well and wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  Please feel free to send a note anyone and I will happily pass it on to Deacon! 
PS...he's still playing that organ and loves his music.
Sincerely,
   Daniel Jones
                                                              ***************
D.C. Jones was a member of C Company. - Ben
Mike Irwin
 
Dear Sir,
 
Greetings and good wishes. My name is Mike Irwin and I am interested in receiving emails concerning the 517th PIR. My grandfather, now deceased, was a member of the 517th PIR in 1944 and 1945. His name was John T. Holbrook and we are interested in learning as much as possible about him and his service with the 517th. My brother John and I are both veterans (he of the Marine Corps and I of the Army) and want to pass on his legacy to our children and grandchildren. After the Army, our grandfather led an interesting and distinguished life: He used the GI bill to put himself through undergraduate and medical school and became a noteworthy forensic psychiatrist in Texas. He was the psychiatrist who did the first psychiatric evaluation of Jack Ruby after the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald and testified numerous times about that subject.
 
I have also taken the liberty of attaching an essay written by him about Operation Dragoon as well as a picture. Please peruse and disseminate as you find appropriate. I have a box of pictures him located in Dallas, TX but do not have access to it now. I will share as soon as I get it.
 
Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance to your organization in any way.
 
Best regards,
 
Mike Irwin
615-289-7015-Cell
615-463-8632-Home Office
mikeirwin0201@yahoo.com
 
******************
John T. Holbrook was a member of the 596 Airborne Engineer Company. -Ben
Rick Sweet
 
Hi Ben, Here is the patch that went for over $3000.00 on Ebay. I thought some may be interested in at least seeing it. I hope you and your family are well... Rick Sweet

Hello from Brussels,

 A friend and me are military collector. We found 1 US WWII paratroopers helmet with serial number.We would like to identify the owner. Name, location…Could you help?

 Here is the info we get:

 Unit: 517 PRCT (517PIR or 596 ENG or 460 PFA) Found: STAVELOT Belgium   s/n: D2331

 I’ll really appreciate if you could help or if you can provide the right point of contact for this matter.

 Best regards,

  Franck Gendebien
OR8 BEAR
Webmaster & Configuration Manager
 
Excerpt from "Combat Team" by Colonel Ruppert D  Graves from Blue Book magazine, 1948 sent to us by Heather Cowan Riley, daughter of Ian Cowan, B Company
 
While thinking back on those days, I can now see that another one of the outstanding qualities  of a paratrooper was his willingness to take a chance. While sometimes this attribute caused some causalities,on the hand it finished up the job more quickly. Casualties are a necessary evil in war and I can remember sweating  them out almost continuously, for if excessive casualties were incurred,there was in most cases something wrong with the plans. It seemed to me that there must always be a way of arranging an attack so that a minimum of casualties would be suffered