70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA. 02025 ,781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett Ben517@aol.com

Hello,

Send contributions for Film Project to.

Leo Dean

Update on the 14 Stonehenge Lane

Please let me know if you want to receive Mail Calls or if you have a problem receiving them. You can always read back Mail Calls by clicking on www.517prct.org/archives

Ben

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

Recent website additions:

Photo from St. Cezaire

Photos from Operation Dragoon

A Chronology of the 517th PIR

Operation Dragoon Drop Zone Map, by Clark Archer

1944 Dec 14 - Hamburg Iowa Reporter - Howard Hensleigh in Les Arc

Reunion info:

April 20-24,2009

July 2009

Lory Curtis

Ben,
Just got off the phone with MOH Melvin Biddle, 12.50 p.m. Mountain Daylight Savings time today April 6, 2009. I personally invited Mr. Biddle to attend this years reunion. It was very good to talk with Mr. Biddle and he was in very good spirits. Mr. Biddle told me our President Darrel Egner had just called him earlier today to invite him to the Salt Lake City Reunion. Unfortunately, Mr. Biddle told me he is having some health issues right now and would not be able to attend the reunion. I wished him all my best, and Gods speed. I told him all would miss him at the reunion.

Lory Curtis, son of Bud Curtis, HQ, 1st Bn, Host of this years National Reunion, Salt Lake City, Utah

Lory Curtis

Ben,
Please extend our many thanks to President Darrell Egner for his kind
words about Mike, Debi and me. He is right we are working very hard to
give the men of the 517th and their families the very best reunion. I
know with the last 3 reunions I have attended Portland, Washington, D.C.
and St. Louis they were tops so the pressure is on to provide another
great reunion. I think we have a great one for you. When I was in
Sospel, Col des Braus, and Para Cava in 2004 with my Dad the area
reminded me a great deal of the Wasatch Mountains here in Utah. I think
our city reminds me more of Southern France than any other place.
Which brings me to my next thought. I spoke with Armed Forces Reunion
and they told not too many people have signed up for the Reunion
including myself. I have not been thinking about signing up. I thought
it was too soon, but I am going to do it today. I think this is the
time to make those airline and hotel reservations. The longer you wait
the more it will cost as we get closer to summer. The sooner we can get
folks registered the sooner I can make definite plans for ordering
souvenirs and gifts for the reunion. Please sign up soon.

Lory Curtis, son of Bud Curtis, HQ, 1st Bn, Salt Lake City Reunion
Chairman

From an Old Mail mCall

Boyd Ellis

-----: On the Experience of War: Author unknown

"I now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite. Not to
tell stories or look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep. Comrades gather
because they long to be with the men who once acted at their best; men
who suffered and sacrificed together, who were stripped of their humanity.
I did not pick these men. They were delivered by fate and the military.
But, I know them in a way I know no other men.

I have never given anyone such trust. They were willing to guard something
more precious than my life. They would have carried my reputation, the
memory of me. It was part of the bargain we all made, the reason we were
so willing to die for one another. As long as I have memory, I will think of
them all, every day. I am sure that when I leave this world, my last
thought will be of my family and my comrades... Such good men."

Author Unknown--

To Karen Carpenter This is Tom McAvoy. I am a life member of both the Purple Heart and DAV, It is so easy for these service reps to try and look at reports from the past and say We can do nothing more without more info from you. So I turned to the Purple Heart and they actually told me to have the DAV call them and they would explain what had to be done to get my problem resolved. I did and it was all of three weeks that I got my 100 % disability via unemployability. I had to pay a attorney to rep me and it cost some nonrefundable monies but to think after I spent 51 years arguing with these people and the VFW. it was taken care of. Tom mcAvoy

Was anyone fighting near Epinal, France during the Bulge? If not does anyone know what units would have been near there or any stories from that area? I think it is in Northeastern France.

Thanks for your help

Hello, all -

Darrell has approved purchasing 1000 pins for 517 Association members traveling to Europe this summer to give as gifts of appreciation to local people, as well as the local officials who always work so hard to celebrate your service to their country.

The per-pin price that Lory has secured is incredible: about $1.15 per pin. I might be off by 5 cents either way.

Are any of you interested in purchasing your own pins to give as gifts? If so, please forward your reply directly to Lory, who is copied on this email. He'd like to place the order soon, so please reply asap.

Thank you all -

Claire

1917: U.S. declares war on Germany

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed a declaration of war against Imperial Germany today, signaling the beginning of American involvement in World War I. On April 2, Wilson had called a special session of Congress asking them to approve the war. The vote in the Senate was 82 to 6, and the House of Representatives voted 373 to 50 in favor of war. "Some pacifism developed, but there was no question as to the ultimate outcome -- a hearty support of President Wilson's passage of the resolution," The Frederick Post reported on April 6, 1917. NOTE: The declaration of war came after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, attacking and sinking several American ships.