From: Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 8:37 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: MAIL CALL NO. 1547- 517TH PRCT-MAY 20, 2008
 
 
 
   70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA. 02025 ,781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett  Ben517@aol.com 
 
Hello,
 
 
Sign up today for National Reunion. Only 38 days until we will be in St, Louis. 
 
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. Try to make August 15 as the deadline date so that we wont forget to make annual contributions.
Website                                   www.517prct.org                                                        
Mail Call                                  Ben517@aol.com
Mail Call Archives                 www.517prct.org/archives
Roster                                     www.517prct.org/roster.pdf

 
 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:
 formatted pdf forms simple Web Page format
Sheraton Westport Registration Form
Reunion schedule of Events
517th Reunion Registration Form		 Sheraton Westport Registration Form
Reunion schedule of Events
517th Reunion Registration Form
Chris Lindner
 HI ALL:
 
I SURE HOPE EVERYONE IS REGISTERED OR PLANNING TO REGISTER FOR THE ST. LOUIS REUNION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. 
 
REGISTRATION IS COMING IN A BIT SLOW SO I THOUGHT I WOULD REMIND ANYONE THAT IS WAITING TO REGISTER TO GO AHEAD AND DO SO NOW.
 
WE HAVE A LOT OF FUN THINGS PLANNED AND WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE.
 
THANK YOU
 
Chris Lindner and Bev Strothkamp
co-chairpersons for the St. Louis Reunion
 
Sign up as soon as possible.This may be the last National Reunion !!!- Ben
Mary Jane Hanron
Hi Ben,

I just wanted to tell you that I am fascinated by the documents with the headlines from WWII. I am forwarding them to a friend in a middle school who shares them with the history teachers there. It is another wonderful way for all (everyone, but kids especially) to be reminded of the happenings in that period and be exposed to how they were originally reported. The journalism was certainly a far cry from that which exists today!

Take Care,

Mary Jane Hanron

 Peanie Smith

Dear Ben,   Star and Stripes news pictures came thru very clear and I will read them to Walt Thanks so much for all you do. Sorry will miss seeing you and all the rest in St. Louis as Walt's back surgery is scheduled June 2nd. but will be thinking of all having a great time.  Sincerely, Peanie Smith, other half of WW.Smith of Hqs. 1st.

       A Paratroopers Song  click

Blood Upon The Risers

(To the tune of "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!")

 

GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

"Is everybody happy!" cried the sergeant looking up, Our HERO meekly answered, "Yes" and then they stood him up. He leaped right out into the blast, his static line unhooked,
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

He counted loud he counted long and waited for the shock. He felt the wind and felt the clouds, he felt that awful drop. The silk fell out and wrapped about his legs,
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome, The suspension lines were snarled and tied in knots around his skinny bones. His canopy became his shroud, he hurtled to the ground,
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

The days he lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind, He thought about the girl back home, the one he'd left behind. He thought about the Medics and he wondered what they'd find,
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

The ambulance was on the spot and jeeps were running wild, The Medics jumped and screamed with glee as they rolled up their sleeves and smiled. For it had been a week or so since last a chute had failed,
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

He hit the ground the sound of "SPLAT!" The blood went spurting high, His comrades then were heard to say: "What a helluva way to die!" He lay there rolling around in the welter of his gore,
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

There was blood upon the risers, there was brains upon the chute, Intestines were a-danglin' from his Paratrooper's suite. They poured him from his chute and poured him from his boots,
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!!!

Beautiful streamer please open for me, blue skies above me and no canopy.
I counted 10 thousand, waited too long, reached for my ripcord the handle was gone.

GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
GOREY GLORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE!
AND HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE

 
Grade 8 Graduation in 1895!
 
 
What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895.
 
Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education?
Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?
 
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal. 8th Grade Final Exam: Salina , KS - 1895
********************************************************
 
Grammar (Time one hour)
 
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie' play, and run'  
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand
the practical use of the rules of grammar.
 
Arithmetic (Time 1 hour 15 minutes)  
 
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt..
 
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)  
 
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell  Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
 
Orthography (Time, one hour)
 
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals.
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5 Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood,  are, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
 
Geography (Time, one hour)
 
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
 
Notice that the 8th grade exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
 
Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
 
Also shows you how poor our education system has become!