From: Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 7:35 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: MAIL CALL NO. 1586- 517TH PRCT- JULY 19, 2008
 
70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA. 02025 ,781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett  Ben517@aol.com
Hello,
Please let me know if you want to receive Mail Calls or if you have a problem receiving them. You can always read Mail Calls  by clicking on
 
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

 

 

517th Annual Florida Mini-Reunion January 17,18,19, 20, 2009

 Banquet on the 20th (Tuesday) and Departing on the 21st (Wednesday)

  Hosted by: Leila Webb and Donna Hilliard

 Location: Ramada Hotel & Inn Gateway

 7470 Highway 192 West

 Kissimmee, Florida  34747

Tele: 1(800)327-9170          FAX 1(407)396-4320

Contact: Leila Webb

4155 Kissimmee Park Road

 St. Cloud, Florida       34772

Tele:(407)892-3595 

Rick Sweet
 
I too Met Rueben Duran at the St Louis reunion dinner. I wish I had met him sooner and had more time to talk with him. I heard about the bonfire too so I don't think it was a secret but it does sure sound like a lot of fun. I am having surgery for my knee now on Sept 3rd so I should be ready for a bonfire by April. That would be a great experience and I would be ready to camp out myself. Rueben I gave you my e-mail, shugarhill@fuse.net   all lower case.. so feel free to send me a note whenever you like. Anyone else is also invited to strike up a conversation anytime !! You all are my second family and I really enjoyed your company. Rueben you also mentioned a T-shirt that you could send me . I would be happy to pay you for it. I was honored to meet you at the dinner and enjoyed our conversation. I have never been out west and I need to make a plan to see it someday. I am part Cherokee but they are more in the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee.  The west looks like a beautiful place to visit. When my wife finally retires and my daughter has gone to college I hope that I am healthy enough to see the rest of the USA and overseas where my dad and his friends kicked the Nazi's out of France and Belgium. Since finding the 517th website I have made many friends and hope to find more. It is a great bunch of men and their families and if you haven't been to a reunion you don't know what you are missing!! Merle Travers and his wife Betty were very nice too me and I thank you for inviting me to sit with you and sharing your stories and conversation. The other couple that was there with you, I apologize for forgetting their names but they were just great people and I really enjoyed their company. He flew on a bomber during the war. I am sure that was a very dangerous job also. So many great and friendly people to talk with I enjoy your company very much. I wish that a few more could make it like ,Howard Hensleigh ! I would like to meet him. If I ever make it to his area I will make a point of stopping by so that we can meet and talk for awhile. Thanks to all of you and stay well until next time...
 
                                      Son of a Buzzard
                                      Rick Sweet
Wayne Cross
 

Wayne:
    That was a nice message that you sent to Dan. I appreciated his comments regarding my service in the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment.  You might send him my comments about my 81 mm Mortar experience when I served in Lou Walsh's Company "M" in the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1941-42. Dan was fully aware of Colonel Louis Walsh when he commanded the 517th.
    Here is another story about my experience about serving with Lou Walsh during the above mentioned period. As I mentioned in my last message all three of the Company "M" Platoon Leaders were crossed trained in all of the heavy weapons (30 Caliber Water Cooled Machine Gun, 81 mm Mortar, and 50 Caliber Machine Gun) so that any one of us could take over command of any Platoon used in Exercises and Demonstrations for Students at the Infantry School at Fort Benning.
    The ammunition we used for the 81 mm Mortar in early 1941 was leftover ammunition for the Stokes Mortar used in World War I. We had to use it up before we were issued the new 81 mm ammunition which had a better fuse and had fins for  better accuracy The trouble with the Stokes ammunition it was subject to misfires because of its age. Taking these misfires out of an 81 mm Mortar was a little "hairy" and we had to make certain that the Infantry School Students were a safe distance away from the mortar in the event that a misfire took place in the tube or shortly after leaving the tube.  When these misfires occurred we cleared our own personnel away from the Mortar for safety reasons leaving only leaving the required personnel to accomplish this task. I always left my place at the lecture podium and went to stand beside the crew when they removed the misfire. We seldom exchanged words unless it was necessary so there was no diversion during this task. I adopted the habit of saluting the crew when the misfire was safely removed and they in turn returned the salute. No words were spoken. We then resumed the Instruction and/ or the Exercise.
Captain Lou Walsh liked this action and it became Standard when we had Misfires. The Students liked it too. Those that participated were relieved that all went well for we knew what the outcome would be if a premature explosion took place.
    Throughout my military career I always had a deep respect for the Mortar Crews.  They were all hand picked. Later when I commanded the  First 501st Parachute Infantry Battle Group in the 101st Airborne Division in the early 1960's I had an Artillery Battery assigned to the Battle Group that was equipped with 4.2 Mortar used to fire the Nuclear Davy Crockett Weapon. It was quite a change from my early days with the 81 mm Mortar.  They too were elite Troopers. They had to be.  When the Davy Crockett Battery fired in Training Exercises they placed an insert into the 4.2 Mortar Tube which could fire the 60 mm Mortar Round. We used a lot of 60 mm Mortar rounds in training. The Davy Crockett weapon was serious business and invited serious and frequent training.
    Thought you would fond this of interest
Regards, Dad
Bobbi Spencer

Please add my mother to your mailing list, she doesn’t think she is getting the mail call.

Irene and John Krumm

Hi Ben,

This is Irene and John Krumm in Stockholm, Wisconsin.  Hope you are having a great time in California.    You are very special and we really appreciate all of the wonderful work you do for the 517th.  You and your son contribute so much to the lives of so many people.  It makes a difference! 

Tom Cross

Wayne:
    Thanks for the help. Dan Coleman sounds like a real  517th Parachute Infantry Regiment Trooper.
     I  had a lot of experience with the 81mm Mortar. It started in Co. M, 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1941. Captain Lou Walsh was my Company Commander. Company M was a Heavy Weapons Company and consisted of a 81 mm Mortar Platoon., a 30 caliber water cooled Browning Machine Gun Platoon and  an Anti Tank Platoon equipped with the 50 caliber Machine Gun. I was Platoon Leader of the Anti Tank Platoon. All three of the Platoon Leaders were equally trained in all of the weapons. When I first joined  Company M, Lou Walsh had the three Platoon Sergeants check me out for proficiency in all three weapons so I would not be an embarrassment to Lou Walsh and the rest of the Company.  With this kind of command oversight we became the best Heavy Weapons Company in the 29th Infantry Regiment. Lou Walsh carried this type of training leadership over to the  517th Parachute Infantry Regiment and as a result we had outstanding 81mm Mortar Platoons.
Regards, Dad
Kelly(Coghan) Holderbaum
 

Hello Ben,
I am a member of the Association of the Professional Genealogists and I received this email from them today.  The article is about a man from the 17th Airborne Division, and caught my eye.  Thought it might be good for the mail call.
Kelly (Coghan) Holderbaum
Granddaughter of Pvt. John S. Hopkins, of the 517 & 513 Airborne
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dick Hillenbrand <nygenes@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Subject: [APG] World War II Soldier's Grave Attendant in Holland is United with Soldier's Only Surviving Sibling by Upstate New York Genealogy
To: apg <APG@rootsweb.com>


You know, some times you've just got to do what you've got to do.

I met a newspaper reporter quite by chance while I was waiting for the
Triple A truck to come change a pesky flat tire that I could not get the lug
nuts off of.  Dave Shaw, reporter for the Finger Lakes Times met me in front
of the Seneca County Court House and when he told me this story, I just
blurted out that "I would do the research at no charge!"

Ms. Rianne Prevoo, a Dutch native who cares for the grave of Pfc. Paul J.
Scott, a parachutist with the 513th PIR, 17th Airborne Division, who was
killed in action in the closing months of the war is buried in Margraten,
Holland.

I was able to find and talk to Paul's only surviving sibling, Mrs. Irma
Gansz, and  she is trading photographs with Ms. Prevoo.

What an honor.

Here is a link to the newspaper article in the Finger Lakes Times of
Thursday, July 17th.

http://www.fltimes.com/articles/2008/07/17/news/doc487f7811cc4b4395451549.txt

Dick Hillenbrand
Upstate New York Genealogy
www.unyg.com
                                                                   *****************
The above article is about the 17 Airborne, we also have a great friend in Netherlands, Ronald Stassen, who takes care of the grave of Robert Woodhull
 
Dear Webmaster,
 
My name is Ronald.
I adopted a grave on the War Cemetery Margraten, at The Netherlands. The grave i adopted belongs to Robert P Woodhull, Captain from the 460th Field Artillery Bn that was part of the  17th Airborne Division. But when they left for combat on the ETO he was attached to the 517th PIR.
His registration-number is O-388043 . Date of death 7th of february 1945. The State he's bin born is Ohio. He earned a Bronze Star and a Purple heart medal.
That's about all the information i have!
Can  perhaps anybody give me more information about this soldier?

I would appreciate it a lot.
I also have a website as a tribute to all the US Paratroopers.

Kind regards

Ronald Stassen
Roebroekpad 2
6191 WK
Beek, The Netherlands
E-mail: ronald@band-of-brothers.nl