Ben Barrett,
Referring to the E Mails you sent on Saturday
5/2/2009 at 7:25 PM, I have a copy of the original document
completed on 12 June 1945. Title cover
is shown below.
Recommendation
for
Unit
Citation
___
The
Second Battalion
517th
Parachute Infantry
AND
Attached
Units
____
Narrative Report of
Operations
AND
Supporting Papers
Copy n
of 7 Copies
There are 13 pages in the Narrative Report, 58 pages in the
Supporting Papers, and four large Special Situation Maps of the ST. Vith Battle.
I am bringing the copies of the original documents with
me to the 2009 Reunion in Salt Lake City.
Nolan L. Powell
Frank Ramos
To: Nolan L. Powell
Your discovery of the orignial
citation is great news. I am not sure
if you are aware of my
conversation with Ben Barrett about my interest
in getting the Presidential
Citation issued to the 517th through my
friend Dave Christian, one of the
highest decorated Viet Nam War
Veteran who is joining me in this
effort. David has very close
contacts on the Hill with Senators on
both side of th aisle for his
veteran's advocacy
accomplishments. (you can Google Dave Christian
and see his
accomplishments and book "Victor Six". I have included him
(Combatwriter@aol.com) in this message
If you could copy the
documents (I will reimburse you for the expense)
we will use the write up as
the basis of submitting the Congressional
Resolution to the President via
the Pentagon to have the Citation
issued. Dave and I with our contacts will
push the proposal from
Washington, DC.
You can either scan it and send it
to me or mail it to my home address:
5616 Jarist Drive, Clifton, VA
20124
I mentioned to Ben, that I make no promise that we can do it, but
sure
as hell, we will make sure the right people here will have a chance
consider it at the highest levels.
Thank
you.
Frank
Bob Dalrymple
Beautiful ! Lets see if we can get it made into bookmarks ,
don't you think ? Bob
Bob is referring to poem by Mary Jane- Ben
Gene Frice
Ben,
THE 517th
ORDER OF BATTLE DOCUMENT (Not the 517 After Action Reports)
I have previously mentioned that the
document appears to be the most important historical item relating to the total
combat history of the RCT and the units supporting us. The document was
apparently lost for the 65 plus years. Again, it was given to me by Rita Davis
at Palm Springs.
I subsequently forwarded a copy to General
Seitz. He wrote me back and he too feels it was likely prepared by Clark Archer.
It had to have been developed after the unit was assigned (unfortunately) to the
13 ABN.
I have taken the liberty of relating a
portion of the General's letter to me, as follows: "I (the General) think it is
an amazing account of the organization and operation of the Combat Team and
represents very keen knowledge of the 517th, as well as a tremendous amount of
work...In reading the report , and especially the handwriting, I feel pretty
certain the work is that of Clark Archer. The format is very similar to some of
Clark's work that I have."
I have one master copy of the document. I
will reproduce it as you wish. Karen spent some $50 (her money) reproducing some
copies in Palm Springs. If you desire a copy, and I would highly recommend it,
please contact me. The document is 18 pages of 11 x 17" and difficult to copy.
If any of our group has capability to put on disk (hard to read) or some other
means, plez advise immediately. Otherwise, I figured the cost at about $ 10.00,
including mailing. I was wrong, it probably is $ 7.00, but send me 10, and I
will give the balance to Karen and the Association.
Gene Frice, F Co. (Gene
Frice, PO Box 5459, Bend, OR 97701 5459).
Tel: 805 801 6253
See you in SLC and LeMuy. I will be
in Berlin on or about 15 July. Karen and Robin will meet me there about 1 Aug
and wil be in LeMuy on or about 12 Aug.
Jerry Wolfford
Henry Allen Cavnar Jr was a member of the 89th at the time
this camp was discovered on April 4,1945. We as family members knew him as
Al Jr. His official unit designation was 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Platoon
Mechanized. He was a member of Patton's Army which was made up of Armored
[Tanks] units. Cav-Recon's job was to stay out in front of the Armored and
look for signs of enemy activity and report it back to Command Post. We
will never know now if in fact he was among the first troops to roll into this
compound on that day. I read many of the letters he wrote home and this incident
was not mentioned in any that I read. You must remember that all mail
coming in and going out of the war zone were heavily censored so it may not have
been possible for him to write about this incident. I do remember him saying
something in one of his last letters to Grandma about the way he felt about
being in Germany and fighting for his country. He said something to the effect
that he had seen things during this war that made him grateful to be
able to represent his country and that if it cost him his life it would
be for a good cause. Those may not be the exact words he wrote but it is
very close. Never the less his unit, The 89th Infantry Division is
recognized as being the liberator of the Ohrdruf Death Camp near Gotha Germany
by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The "Rolling W" which was
the unit symbol for the 89th can be seen upon entrance to the museum.