70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA. 02025 *781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben
Barrett
Ben517@aol.com 
<
Click on
Hello,
I am in California today and I will visit Howard Hensleigh
tomorrow
This Mail Call may be incomplete and error prone. I do not have
all resources with me such as a scanner, Morning Reports etc. and This
laptop has to get used to me.
You must notify me when you change email address.
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 .
Ben
Snowbird mini-reunion
Kissimmee,
FL
Jan 20-24, 2008
Banquet Jan. 23
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)
Ben,
Since speaking with you on the
phone Sunday night when I told you my Dad had passed away, this is the
first time I have felt like writing into mailcall. I have received
some condolences from our 517th family, and I just want to say thank you so much
for thinking of us. My Dad's death was sudden, we still do not know for
sure what happened, but we think some intestinal problem occurred that
caused some rupture. Anyway he died quickly which is what he always hope
for so he did not suffer, and our family is very grateful for
that. He leaves behind his sweetheart Lois, 3 sons, 4 grandsons, 3
granddaughters, 5 great-grandsons, and 4 great-granddaughters. His funeral
will be on December 27, 2007 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, 3701 Elm Street, Long Beach, CA at 2:00 pm with military
honors. He will be buried at the National Veteran's Cemetery in Riverside,
CA. If anyone needs to contact me my home email drlvc@comcast.net, and my cell is
801-232-0009. May God Bless all 517th troopers still with us.
Lory, Tim , and the entire Curtis family of Harland L "Bud"
Curtis, HQ, 1st Bn
Kathy March
Dear General Seitz (and other 517 supporters),
Thank you very much for your message (forwarded to me by Ben). It
seems very strange (and very moving) to hear from you and others with
your recollections of my husband's uncle.
Your account
about the capture of Hunnange was particularly useful
to me in piecing
together David Hines last days. What I have assembled
(and will
reproduce for the family) about the movements of the 517th
PIR, especially
the 2nd Battalion, and, even more specifically whenever
possible E Company
is as follows; I'd be grateful for any additions or
corrections:
* by Dec 10, 1944: (from the
Regimental History on Wikipedia and
www.ww2-airborne.us/units/517/517.html) All of the 517th was in
Soissons as part of the XVIII Airborne
(but I cannot locate
Soissons on a Belgian
map)
* Dec 15-16, 1944: German offensives begin the
Battle of the Bulge
* Dec 21, 1944: 517th 2nd
Battalion: attached to the 30th Division
at
Malmedy
* Dec 25, 1944: 517th 2nd Battalion:
detached from the 30th and
returned to the
XVIIIth
* Dec 26, 1944: (from Gene Brissey's of E Company
"Wartime
autobiography") 517th captured Manhay; but
other sources seem to
say that this involved only the
3rd Battalion; if so, what was the
2nd doing?
* Dec 26-29, 1944: (from Gene Brissey's "Wartime
autobiography")
517th in "a little Belgian
town"
* Jan 3, 1945: 517th acting as the left flank of
the 82nd, moving
south on the Salm River; 2nd Battalion
captured Trois-Ponts
* Jan 13, 1945: 517th 1st & 2nd
Battalions captured Butay, Lusnie
(can't find), Henumon
(can't find), Coulee (can't find),
Logbierme; and
establish blocks (what are these?) at Petit Their
and
Poteaux
* (no date): 517th 2nd Battalion moved from
Goronne to Neuville to
be assigned to the 7th Armored
Division (does this correspond to
the establishment of
"Task Force Seitz"? and was "Task Force
Seitz" part of
Combat Command A at Polleux?)
* Jan 20, 1945: 517th 2nd
Battalion (as part of Task Force Seitz)
attacked from an
assembly near Am Kreuz (can't locate on
contemporary
maps, but gather was somewhere near Born and/or
Deidenberg?) to capture Auf der Hardt woods (can't find on
contemporary maps), with "E Company on the right and D Company
on
the left" (from "The capture of Hunnange"):
where did you "jump
off" from at 4 in the morning?
Was this on the 20th or the 21st?
* Jan 21, 1945: It is
in this offensive, en route to Hochkreuz
(can't find)
that David Hines was apparently killed by a sniper; I
know this was the 21st. Reading your "Capture of Hunnange" really
carefully, it sounds to me as though it may either have been
early
in the day (before 10 o'clock), when you recalled
that "there was
allot of sniping and the commander of E
Company estimated that he
had killed 40 or 50
Germans." Or it may have been later, as you
were
securing the road between St Vith and Ambleve (or Amel), in
that other "small town, I don't recall the name, which was
along
that road. There they ran into problems,
they did not surprise
the Germans and some of our TD's
were ambushed and destroyed by
German self-propelled
guns."
* Jan 22, 1945: on through Der Eidt woods and
Hunnange
* Jan 23, 1945: St Vith captured
* Jan 25, 1945: road between St Vith and Ambleve (Amel)
cleared
I thought you might like to know that I am putting
together a book
with your messages, selected documents from the 517 website
and, above
all, copies of the two photos found so far for the family.
I am struck again by the very great sacrifices made by so
many.
Thank you.
--Kath
--
Kathryn S. March
Professor of Anthropology, Feminist/Gender/Sexuality
Studies, and Public Affairs
224 McGraw Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
14853 USA
Phone: 607-255-6779
Vanessa Armand
Hello Ben!
I hope this email finds you well. How are
your holidays? Not too cold I
hope.
I am writing regarding a possible
memorial service for Don Fraser at the
St. Louis reunion this summer.
As you already know from my mother and
aunt, we would like this memorial
service to commemorate other recently
deceased veterans of the 517th,
not just my grandfather. The Tri-State
Reenactors would like to attend
the St. Louis reunion, as well, (you would
remember them from Washington this
past summer), and would like to
contribute to the service. A request
has been made for the names of our
heroic veterans that have passed in the
last year or so, so that they
maybe be remembered at the ceremony.
Where would I find such information?
Thank you for all your help and
Merry Christmas,
Vanessa Armand
Granddaughter of Don
Fraser
Tom McAvoy
http://www.andiesisle.com/didsheknow.html
Tom McAvoy
Hey Ben I was informed by Jimmy Degnans (of H Company) Sister
that he has had a stroke, and effected his whole left side including his left
eye. come on guys say a prayer for him? Beaver Carrillio
please send him a letter (get well card) he spoke often of you.
his address is Manteno Veterans Home, Number One Veterans Dr.
Unit K-3 West Manteno, Ill. 60950 Tom McAvoy
Timothy D. Williams
In the subject mail call there was
mention of a picture of the HQ Co. 2nd Battalion in the Thunderbolt. I
don't currently get the thunderbolt but would really like to see the annotated
copy. Is it on the website or will it be?
My uncle was SSgt. Kenneth E. Miller. His
nickname was "Hawks" but I don't know if he got that in the war or at some
later date. He died several years ago before I got a chance to interview
him. He is listed on the Christmas program as Supply Sgt. HQ Co. 2nd
Batt. Was he assigned to one of the letter company's earlier on and
during training? He was wounded twice but I haven't been able to find
out where or when. I don't have any pictures of him during the war and
wanted to know if anyone remembers him or if he is identified in the recent
Thunderbolt picture?
Tim
Timothy D. Williams
Maine Community
Foundation
245 Main Street
Ellsworth, ME 04605-1613
Howard Hensleigh
Ben: The last thing Dick Seitz needs to do is apologize
for failing to remember detail. His knowledge of his men, down to the
squad, what they went through, and how they fell is amazing and rewarding to
family members. Howard Hensleigh
Steve Markle
From Ancestry.com;
| Name: |
David T
Hines |
| Inducted From: |
California |
| RANK: |
Staff Sergeant |
| Combat Organization: |
517th Parachute Infantry Regiment |
| Death Date: |
21 Jan 1945 |
| Monument: |
Henri-Chapelle, Belgium |
| Last Known Status: |
Buried |
| U.S. Awards: |
Purple Heart Medal
Bronze Star Medal
Additional Army
Awards | |
Source Information:
National Archives and Records Administration.
World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas [database
on-line].
Mark Landreth
Hi Ben - According to his grave marker,
SSgt Hines was KIA on 21 January 1945. I'd seen a morning report, or some
other document, that listed him as MIA for a day or two before. mark
landreth
