From: Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 7:06 PM
To: Ben517@aol.com; Tomx517@aol.com
Subject: MAIL CALL NO. 1814 -517TH PRCT- JUNE 19, 2009
70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA. 02025 ,781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett  Ben517@aol.com 
 
Hello,
I have had problems with AOL  and may have lost some mail. Starting now from scratch and if your mail is missing, send it again.
 
 
Send contributions for Film Project to.
 
                                         Leo Dean             

Update on the                  14 Stonehenge Lane

517th Film Project            Albany, NY  12203

 
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


Click on                               National Reunion

                                             Salt Lake City

                                             July 9-13, 2009 


Recent website additions:

St. Cezaire and Les Arcs today

A Company in Life Magazine 1944

Pvt. Harry A. Hill, B Company - 200 photos and clippings

Pvt. Richard L. Lynam, H Company, KIA

Operation Dragoon After Action Reports

Mail Handling Procedure During the Invasion of Southern France


Don Saunders

Ben:
I have put off signing up for the Reunion since I had my Hip replaced on 3/26/09. I will have to wait a little longer until I find out if I can handle the trip.My biggest problem is the airports. While I am going through the security line with my 2 knees and hip my wife has to take care of our luggage (carry-ons), shoes ,her purse, camera and keep an eye on me. I think it is harder on her than on me. I should know in a week or so if we will make it and I will register at that time. I have only missed only two reunions (Int) since 1979 and they were the 2 on the even years,06 and 08
Hope to see everyone in 09.
Don Saunders, 596th PEC, 517 PRCT.

Michou (Gene Mar's daughter)
 
Thank you so much for the pictures....my brother will print them for Dad......Michou
Mike Kane
 
Hello Ben,
 
Last Monday I went to the Army Heritage and Education Center, Military History Institute at the Carlisle (Pennsylvania) Barracks. Their listing of items in the collection included personal papers from Col. Graves and quite a bit from John Alicki, original manuscripts or memoirs etc. All apparently donated to the History Institute.  A lot of what is there is already on the website but I photographed quite a bit that I don't recall seeing before.  There is more there.  I just ran out of time and will go back to continue documenting it. 
 
Since the photos are fairly high resolution, it would be a very large attachment so I have posted them on Smugmug and unless these are already on the website somewhere, I'll send Bob a disk.  (Address?)
 
Here's the link:
 
 
You can put the curser over the large photo and click on "X3 Large" to read each slide. Just click "Close" to go back and click on the next slide.  You can also click "Slide show" and then when it starts, click "Slow" in the upper left and corner to give you time to read it.
 
The items include: 
 
Intelligence Summary, Operation Anvil, August 6, 1944, Capt. Albin Dearing (about 30 pages)
Boxing Card, Toccoa, 517th vs. 326 Glider Infantry
Citiation to Colonel Graves, from General Charles DeGaulle, January 29, 1945
Page from "Yank" Magazine re Battle of the Bulge, with with a very moving handwritten note by Colonel Graves
A poster with the handwritten note "The First Concept of the Use of Airborne Troops" apparently written by Colonel Graves
"Compilation of Lessons Learned, August 15-November 2" by Colonel Graves to the Commanding General, First Airborne Task Force, November 2, 1944  (7 pages)
 
Mike Kane

Jerry Wolfford
Hi Ben, I have read several stories in the book "Battling Buzzards" as well as little vignettes in past 517th Mail Calls about Woodrow Mcquaid. I tried to find accounts on the 517th Mail Call Archives site by the search engine [Google] about Mcquaid but came up empty handed. I had decided that there never was a trooper named Mcquaid and that some author made him up to spice up some of the stories in order to sell more books. And that I didn't really read about him in some of the past Mail Calls. So to prove it I went to the 1944, 517th Christmas Roster. Sure enough there he was listed in Company G. as Pvt.Woodrow W. McQuaid. He at least did exist in the 517th and not a figment of my imagination. The story I read in the Battling Buzzards told of an incident in a bar in Italy where he was the only trooper in the place along with Italian patrons. According to the story there were at least a couple of Black Shirted Fascist sympathizers among the crowd that did not appreciate the presence of a rather inebriated U S Paratrooper and made their presence known by producing a long blade knife. To the surprise of the Black Shirts our trooper was packing a Beretta 32 acp pistol in his waist band when the confrontation occurred. As the book related, it all depended on which account of the story you heard but the facts are that at least one of the knife wielding bad boys was shot to death in the altercation. If nothing else Pvt Mcquaid taught the Italians in that bar an important lesson,"never take a knife to a gunfight". Especially if the gun is in the hands of a rather drunk paratrooper. Of course the Mayor of the town wanted Mcquaid charged with murder according to the account I read in "Battling Buzzards". This resulted in Major Zais having to keep Pvt Mcquaid on a short leash. My understanding is that Woodrow Mcquaid sorta vanished into thin air after his military days and was not heard from again. I tried to track him down with the help of the internet and was only able to find one record of a Woodrow W. Mcquaid in all of the United States. This individual was born in Hinds County Mississippi in 1912 and died in Hinds County Ms in 1981. That would have made this person 32 years old in 1944 which would have made him older than most of the officers he served under "IF" this is the same Woodrow W. Mcquaid that served in the 517th. He was an interesting character and in some ways seemed to epitomize the "Trooper Code" other than not being able to hold his liquor. Sounds as though he didn't take any guff from anyone. Does anyone out there know if our Mcquaid was from Mississippi by chance. Does anyone know what happened to him after the war? Gone but not forgotten.                                                   J.Wofford [Nephew of a Buzzard] 
Gilles Guignard
Dear Mr Pastalenic,
 
In the 517th mailcall of June 6th, 2009, it is with great interest that
I read your message about your crossing of the R.R. Embankment at les Arcs.
 
I am currently writing a complete and definite narrative of the battle for Les Arcs since
there is no precise documentation about it.
 
Mr Hensleigh has been of great help; we have shared aerial views and were able
to locate the vineyards, the 3rd Bn crossing point over the RR embankment and the houses were the German
machine guns were posted.
 
Mr Pastalenic, I would like to include your first hand account in my narrative. In order to ask you a few details,
is it possible to drop me a line on my email:
 
 
As soon as my text will be ready, I will send it to Bob Barrett so we can all enjoy it on
the 517th website.
 
There were two battles for Les Arcs:
1st Battle: Bill Boyle's Alamo - August 15th until afternoon of August 16th.
2nd Battle: Attack of 2nd and 3rd Bn - Late afternoon August 16th - August 17th.
 
If anyone else who was at Les Arcs wants to share his experiences, please get in touch.
 
With kind regards,
Gilles
 Dan and Pat Smith
Although I never served in combat with him, I knew from others what an inspiring leader he   was ,and through personal contact at reunions, how much he loved his family, troops, and country.  Our love and condolences to you , Babbie, and to your many siblings.

                                                                                         Dan& Pat Smith