Hello
Ben
Website www.517prct.org
Mail Call Ben517@aol.com
April 13-18, 2008
517TH ST. LOUIS REUNION BEGINS:THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 THRU MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2008THE BANQUET WILL BE ON SUNDAY JUNE 29
Information and Registration Forms:
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
Blue
Book Magazine articles - 1947-1948 
George W. Cavnar, Reg. HQ
Paras en Provence: Le 517th PRCT Dans Les Alpes
Maritime
from Armes Militaria
Magazine (cover, article)
Hi Ben,
How are you? Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading the entry from Ms.Traver and the account about Ms. Varady in the recent Mail Calls. I think it’s a great idea for you to include entries like these. It is not only fascinating for my generation, but also for those that follow. I am forwarding these issues to any friends and family with kids and recommending that they share these readings with the children. I thought your readers might like to think about doing the same.
As you know, many people my age (40 “something!!!”) still have parents and/or grandparents with first hand accounts of WWII and we have been fortunate enough to learn about this history through their eyes and memories. As kids my brother and I even learned the lyrics to all the patriotic songs INCLUDING those that represented the various branches of the military….” Anchors Away, The Caissons (I know…now it is “The Army!”) Over hill over dale…, From the Halls of Montezuma” etc. … (I am concerned when I see kids today…AND adults…who do not know these American “basics.”)
There are many people, though who are unaware of the types of situations and conditions, the extent of the patriotism and the mood across the nation that existed in the USA during those times.
It is unlikely that children today will learn it in school; unless they have a superb curriculum and even more superb teachers! Even if they do study the 20th century wars and WWII in particular, this is excellent material for special projects and reports. This way, even if it is not in their books, kids get a bit of exposure to it. If one child does a special project about the war, this potentially introduces another 20 (or so in the class) to the story, especially if there is an oral presentation or a class display. I have seen my own nephews interested in picking up another book about WWII simply from exposure to this type of material.
I urge every reader of Mail Call to forward these issues (especially NO’s 1512 and 1513 most recently) to at least one family with a child. I know that one of your goals with this website is not only to keep the 517th and friends connected, but to preserve these priceless memories and launch them into the future. We as readers and lovers of those who fought WWII for our country can help you to reach more people with this simple act.
Best to all,
Mary Jane
Mary Jane Hanron
Patricia and
Roland ORENGO Banquet -
Savannah, August 19, 2005 Dear Friends of the
517e, My husband Roland and I
come from a village in the south east of France, which is called Sospel.
We are the humble
representatives of our village’s mayor and the population of Sospel who
present to the 517e this plate in homage for your action in the World War
II. We are with you today,
thanks to the invitation of Nolan Powell and his family, which are most
generously allowing us to stay with them during our time in the USA. In honour of this
friendship, we present Nolan with the medal of Sospel. We thank you for your
reception but we are especially grateful for the efforts you have made to
give us freedom. We recently celebrated,
like many villages and towns of France, the 60th anniversary of our
liberation which took place on October 28. One of you was in Sospel on
that date. It was Marvin Moles, who had the good idea to mislay his helmet
in a corner of France which then enabled a young guy to find him ! Thank
you.
Eddy Monfort
Hello Mr Barrett,
Just a few words to thanking you for your
answer. I hope that you will receive an little story of this Tiger Tank at
Goronne fom my friends historians. Goronne is situated near Vielsalm when the
517th was in this sector on January 1945.
Of course, I will tried to come next year at
your reunion. I would like so much doing a marvelous trip with my
girlfriend. We had the idea to come together including our friends from
Trois-Ponts. So' I think that we will prepare our travel all together with
Irma and his husband, but for the reunion of 2009 !
I stay in touch and I sending you again all my
thanks and my sincerely friendship.
Your friend from Manhay,
Eddy
Patricia and Roland will be with us in St. Louis
To begin with, let me tell you where I have come from, so that I
can be in front of you today.
A good number of you know our village which is at the southern end of
the Maginot line, between France and Italy with numerous strategic
fortresses and gun emplacements.
We will be eternally grateful to you for liberating
France from the enemy’s yoke and the Nazi suppression. We thank you for
sacrificing years of your life so that our lives can be
free.
We
met Nolan, in Sospel, a few years ago and we persuaded him to make a tour
of the village in our Jeep.
This led to an exchange of correspondence
with letters and photographs, which cemented our
friendship.
He
is among us today and I greet him and thank his family who wrote beautiful
things about us on the 517e’s website. Thanks to Marvin, Diane and
Mark.
We will be happy, in the future, to be your guide to those of you
among us who wish to visit our beautiful village.
Do not hesitate to
tell us when you will come.
Darrell Egner
