From: Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 7:36 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: MAIL CALL. N0. 1512 517TH PRCT-MARCH 29, 2008
  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
 
I have mail from Myrle Traver in this Mail Call and aside of any political references, it tells what is was like in those times when the whole world including the home front was at war. It will give youngsters like Claire Helen, Arlene, Bob, Pat ,Chris, Teresa and many others what times were like during World War II.
 
I would like to send out Mail Call everyday when possible and so when I have little mail, I will try to include an article concerning events of the early forties.
                   
 There is still time to register for the Palm Springs Reunion April 13-18.
 
Please try to send in donations 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  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
 Ben

Website                                   www.517prct.org                                                        
Mail Call                                  
Ben517@aol.com
Mail Call Archives                 www.517prct.org/archives
Roster                                     www.517prct.org/roster.pdf


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.

Information and Registration Forms:

 formatted pdf forms simple Web Page format

Reunion schedule of Events
517th Reunion Registration Form
Reunion schedule of Events
517th Reunion Registration Form

Recent website additions:

Lester Gene Hyman and friends, 596th PCEC

Lots of pictures of the 596th, most unidentified soldiers

517th Victory in Europe Prop Blast - May 19 1945

Toivo Moisio (?), Company D

Blue Book Magazine articles - 1947-1948
George W. Cavnar, Reg. HQ

The Thunderbolt - August 1943

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

 

Darrell Egner
 
Thanks Bob Barrett for including a link to Wikipedia in the subject mail call.  Many of my fellow troopers never did know where we were or what we were doing in the big War.  For the first time I now know why I almost froze and how far I walked.  I still have a groove in my right shoulder from that dam Base Plate.
 
Guys please click on the link, this is a must read.
 
Darrell Egner

Myrle Traver
 

Ben,  This is a good article but I am not sure if you would want to put in the Mail Call.
Myrle Traver

60 YEARS LATER

Sad, but true:

Everyone has a different opinion on the war and our current President. This article is not specifically about the war or the President. This article is about us and our times. I hope you will read it and give it some thought.

What a difference 60 years makes..!!!

'You ain't gonna like losing.'
Author unknown.

President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq.  Bush's mistake was in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in WWII. It is not.

Back then, they had just come out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of that depression but they still believed fervently in this country. They knew that the people had elected their leaders so it was the people's duty to back those leaders.

Therefore, when the war broke out the people came together, rallied behind, and stuck with their leaders, whether they had voted for them or not- whether the war was going badly or not.

And war was just as distasteful and the anguish just as great then as it is today. Often there were more casualties in one day in WWII than we have had in the entire Iraq war. But that did not matter. The people stuck with the President because it was their patriotic duty. (Remember that concept?)

Americans put aside their differences in WWII and worked together to win that war.

Everyone from every strata of society, from young to old, pitched in. Small children pulled little wagons around to gather scrap metal for the war effort. Grade school students saved their pennies to buy stamps for war bonds to help the effort. Men who were too old or medically 4F lied about their age or condition trying their best to join the military. Women doubled their work to keep things going at home. Harsh rationing of everything from gasoline to soap to butter was imposed, yet there was very little complaining.

You never heard prominent people on the radio belittling the President. Interestingly enough, in those days there were no fat cat actors and entertainers who ran off to visit and fawn over dictators of hostile countries and complain to them about our President. Instead, they made upbeat films and entertained our troops to help the troops' morale.
And a  bunch even enlisted!

Teachers in schools started the day off with a Pledge of Allegiance and with prayers for our country and our troops!

Back then, no newspaper would have dared point out certain weak spots in our cities where bombs could be set off to cause the maximum damage. No newspaper would have dared complain about what we were doing to catch spies.

A newspaper would have been laughed out of existence if it had complained that German or Japanese soldiers were being 'tortured' by being forced to wear women's underwear, or subjected to interrogation by a woman, or being scared by a dog.

There were a lot of things different back then. We were not subjected to a constant bombardment of pornography, perversion and promiscuity in movies or on radio. We did not have legions of crackheads, dope pushers and armed gangs roaming our streets.

No, President Bush did not make a mistake in his handling of terrorism. He made the mistake of believing that we still had the courage and fortitude of our fathers. He believed that this was still the country that our fathers fought so dearly to preserve.

He was wrong. It is not the same country. It is now a cross between Sodom and Gomorrah and the land of Oz. We did unite for a short while after 9/11, but our attitude changed when we found out that defending our country would require some sacrifices.

We are in great danger. The terrorists are fanatic Muslims. They believe that it is okay, even their duty, to kill anyone who will not convert to Islam. It has been estimated that about one third - or over three hundred million - of all Muslims are sympathetic to the terrorist's cause. Hitler and Tojo combined did not have nearly that many potential recruits.

So...we either win it - or lose it - and you ain't gonna like losing.

America is not at war. The military is at war. America is asleep!