70 Pleasant St.
Cohasset, MA. 02025 ,781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett
Ben517@aol.com
< Click on
Hello
I just arrived back from the West Coast and am trying
to catch up on sleep and Mail Call. Will tell about the reunion in later Mail
Calls. This Mail Call is incomplete.
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
517TH ST. LOUIS REUNION BEGINS:
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 THRU MONDAY, JUNE 30,
2008
THE 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
Toivo Moisio (?), Company
D
Blue Book Magazine articles - 1947-1948 
Our President in his usual surroundings at a Spurs
game
Ray Hess
Good Morning
Ben: It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my Wife
to members of “F” Co. and to all the
friends that she made attending the various reunions thru out
country. She passed away in her sleep this past Tuesday ,.April
15tth. ) She will be missed by Our three Daughters , six Grand
Children, and ten Great Grandchildren and My self. Ray R. Hess “F”
Co.
Adam Berry
Hi Ben
Thank you for replying to my message.
The simple reason i have an interest in the 517th is because over here in the UK
it's all about the 101st and the 82nd, and although they deserve the recognition
they get, you guys deserve exactly the same, and i hope to at least play a small
part in getting the 517th recognized for what they did. Your combat and training
records speak for themselves, amongst the best. I do also have an interest in
the 551st and 509th although the 509th are pretty well covered here in the UK as
obviously they spent a small amount of time here as the 2nd Battalion, 503rd
PIR.
My interest in the 517th (although i was more than aware of the
units existence before hand) was finding the 1st Battalion Memorial at the
Quatre Bras between Hotton and Soy. I have always been one to read up on units
that don't instantly register in my head, and suffice to say i read up on you
guys and i'm damn glad i did! The same area also sparked an interest in the 51st
Engineer combat Battalion. Me and my dad, like i said in my message, have a
small apartment in Belgium and i am over there whenever time permits studying
the battlefields for my book to better understand the tactical side of your
combat missions during the Bulge, as well as those of the 551st and 509th.
I'm sure you don't need me to tell you, you were part of one of the
finest units to come out of the ETO, and one to be damn proud of, and it would
make me proud to do at least a small bit towards getting the name of the 517th
to become as legendary as the Divisions that, like you say, appear to be better
received.
Regards from the UK,
Adam
Pat Seitz and Allan Greer
Dear Ben: We have finally had the chance to catch up on Mail Call
and we very impressed with your son to Wikipedia (sp?) entry on the
RCT. Would you please tell him he has done an excellent job and thank
you. Pat Seitz and Alan Greer
Helen Jeffcoat
Hi
Ben This new mail call looks
great. Thanks for a great
job. Hopefully we will be able to come to St.
Louis in June. My husband, Allen Jeffcoat, Co. D
517 is going to his heart doctor and cancer doctor this week and hopefully we
will be cleared to come. We were in Washington at the great
reunion and in Sept. 2007 he was diagnosed with cancer. He has had
43 radiation treatments and now he is taking shots every 4 months for 2
years. Sure would love the prayers of all of our e-mail
friends. Thanks again for a great job.
Allen's wife Helen Jeffcoat.
Debi
Coates
Ben,
My Dad, Staff Sgt.
Robert F. West, HDQ 2nd Platoon, read in the January Thunderbolt that
the son-in-law of Melvin Scheirs was asking for any information on Melvin
Scheirs. Dad told me he has information about Scheirs but he needs an
address to send it to. Do you know the address or who I can contact to get
an address? Dad thinks the son-in-law lives in Logan Utah.
Debi
Coates
Daughter of Robert F.
West.
**********
Can any one help Debi?-Ben
Robert Knight
George Earl Vanderford, Co. B, 517th
Parachute Infantry Regiment. Service No.34738630. I know my uncle received the
purple heart and the silver star at France in 1944. Would like to know more
about his time in service. My name is Earl. I was named after him. He was an
upstanding person til the day he died. I know he received his purple heart on
Jan 23rd 1952. Do not have record of silver star. He attacked a german
machine gun nest and was wounded. Would like very much to have copy of silver
star award. Would also like to have picture of his company if possible. I am
Viet Nam vet. This would mean so much to me. My aunt had all his records, but her
house burned. Please advise me, or if you happened to know him or someone who
might have would very much appreciate any help. Robert Earl Knight.
Patricia Seitz and Allan Greer
Dear Claire:
Congratulations to you and Helen. We are so thrilled for you, the men of
the 517th PRCT, and the Auxiliary and family members. My excitement on
reading this good news propelled a little donation to Karen Frice
Wallace for the Auxiliary. You are outstanding and we are so
grateful. I will let you know when our copy arrives. Sincerely, Pat
Seitz and Alan Greer
Merle McMorrow
Subject: WWII Prison Escape
I guess
everyone has seen The Great Escape at least once. This is
about the
tunnel. It is awesome. The interactive map is also
creative, but not
nearly as much as the fortitude it took to engineer
the escape itself. The
animation alone is worth looking at, but the
story of the tunnel is
amazing.
This was the inspiration for the Steve McQueen movie in the
60's. It
is a fascinating look at a tunnel that was built in a German
POW
camp. The tunnel allowed 76 Allied POWs to escape. Check it o ut.
Run your cursor over each number and it will tell you about it. Click
on
the link:http://www.kerman94.com/tunnelharry.html
Phil McSpadden
Ben...just received my Spring
2008 issue of The Thunderbolt, and I don't think a professional advertising
agency could have done a better job!!! Claire and Helen are outstanding in
everything they do....
Is there anyway we can get a write-in vote to get
these two to run our good ole US of A before our politicians, (past ,current and
future) destroy it???
Helen and Claire....a big, BIG, BIG, BIG thank you for a job not just 'well
done', but Fantastic!
Phil McSpadden
Steve Markle
Ben,
I noticed that the information brief that was handed out about the 517 at the
Palm Springs reunion (
http://517prct.org/overview.html)
did not include the information about the Belgium Croix De Guerre. I found this
reference;
My dad
had one of these items identified as the fourragére in his collection,
and we were trying to figure out what it was. Now we know. You may
want to include this information with the overview (since the 460th and the
596 were honored with the Belgium Croix De
Guerre).
-Steve-
Steve
Gomez
Hello Ben,
Hope you had a good time in Palm
Springs!
I will be leaving this Tuesday for
Italy and will be making a commemorative C47 jump North of Florence next Sunday
for the liberation operations of 1943.
There is an interesting YouTube video
at...
It was last January in Frederick,OK
and I was in the second stick.
AIRBORNE!
Steve Gomez
Jim Royer
Ben, I just told Helen and Claire what a great job they
did on this
first issue. It was truly great. June and I read it from cover to
cover.
I received it today, the 21st. A true "labor of love."
Jim
Royer,Hq.
3rd