I was hoping that one of the 517 Troopers would recognize the T4(??) standing to the right of my father Jim (H Company). I found this picture in with a family photo album. You posted a similar picture on the 517 website with my dad and this gentleman seated in the chairs they are standing in front of. My daughter told me that my dad said this gentleman was killed the day after this picture was taken. There is writing on the back of the picture (enclosed). I’m not sure if this is my dad’s chicken scratch, or it is written in French, and if so, possibly one of the 517’s French speaking friends could translate.

Thanks again

j (Jay Sutcliffe)

[I love when we get notes from the Europeans. They are polite enough to give us an Out-of-Office reply in 3 languages – BB]

Mijn excuses, momenteel zit ik in Zwitserland en kan u bijgevolg tijdelijk niet beantwoorden.

Mes excuses, je suis en Suisse et alors je ne vous peux pas répondre pour le moment.

I apologize, for the moment I'm Switzerland and therefore temporarily can not answer.

Dieter Laes

Bob,

Please extend my many many thanks to Wayne Cross for putting the officer picture of the 2nd Battalion on mailcall. My Dad talked a lot about Lt Lissner and CPT McKinley when he was in 2nd Battalion. I never knew what these men looked like and now I do. In the Book Letters Home: A Paratrooper's Story, this is what my Dad said about Lt Lissner and CPT McKinley:

Lory Curtis, son of Bud Curtis HQ, 1st BN

Bud Curtis arrived at the Toccoa train station about a month after the 517^th was organized. It was around the 15^th of April 1943. Bud was assigned to the Second Battalion, “F” Company, and would be one of the first men to receive this new style training devised by Colonel Walsh. Bud remembered very clearly the day he arrived. “It was raining and cold and between 3:00 and 4:00 AM.” Army trucks picked up the new trainees and took them to camp. As soon as Bud arrived at Camp Toccoa, he was taken to his barracks where he was assigned a bunk. He was then marched off to “Chow” (breakfast) around 6:00 AM. Then back to the barracks. There the first officer of the 517^th he met was Lieutenant John Lissner. He was a rugged man and had a commanding voice. He yelled at the men, saying, “If you think this is bad now it is going to get worse, if you think the Chow was bad, it will get worse. If you think you can make it through this you won’t.” And he was right. Many of the men dropped out.

Then in a letter he wrote to his mother on May 10, 1943 he asked:

Did my Company Commander send you a letter about me being in this outfit? I heard he sends everyone’s folks one what did he have to say?

Bud

Bud’s Company Commander, then First Lieutenant John E. McKinley, from “F” Company did send a letter to his parents telling Bud’s parents about the training and how Bud would become one of the world’s finest fighting men. Note: This was quite a letter to send to the parents of an eighteen year old boy who was being turned into a man very quickly to fight for America’s freedom. Colonel Walsh felt it important to have the families of these new paratroopers involved in their lives. If family members would encourage their sons to do their duty they would be better fighting men. Colonel Walsh ordered each company commander to write a letter home to each paratrooper’s parents. Bud started his career with F Company and here is the letter sent to his parents by his company commander.

Bob - I saw Mike Wells' reference to the morning reports for 3rd Battalion. If you have any for 2nd Battalion (D, E and F companies) I'd be happy to help with entering the data onto spreadsheets. Just let me know. Also, I really like the "who's this trooper" series in the past few mail calls. Interesting, especially, about Ronald Coleman's younger brother, Dabney. Please keep up the good work.

Be well,

Mark Landreth

[Q: Did anyone else get copies of Morning Reports? -- BB]

Dear friends , dear you all,

Veterans, family or friends planning to come in southern France Le MUY, La MOTTE, DRAGUIGNAN cemetery, celebration of the 66th anniversary are very welcome to contact us as soon as possible to let's us book rooms hotels and accomodations in time. The size of our french hotels are not the americans one !!! and summer along the riviera is very buzy.
like last year, We also have possibility of hospitality home in the Drop Zone area. More confortable beds than during WWII !!
Hurry up and come back !!
You are so welcome dear friends
Warmest regards
MICKAEL and ERIC, LE MUY AIRBORNE MUSEUM /
Celebration Committee LE MUY LA MOTTE DRAGUIGNAN.
14th 15th and 16th of August 2010
anvil-dragoon@hotmail.com

cabrian9@aol.com

Tell Your Story

We’re still waiting for more entries for the Meet the Troopers section of the Web site. There were 2500 soldiers in the 517^th, and we only have 63 bios on the site! It is an important part of the 517^th history. There’s no time like the present to make a few notes about your life. Start simple. You can always add more info and more photos later. Where is Leo Dean? Gene Frice? Lud Gibbons? Families and friends, please get after your troopers to get their story in. Just get a few words down.

Material submitted is completely up to the soldier, or to their family and relatives. Take a look at the biographies already submitted -- Jesse Darden's bio is a great example. So is Merle’s -- if he would send me some better pictures. http://www.517prct.org/bios/merle_mcmorrow/merle_mcmorrow.htm

But feel free to be as creative as you like. It's your story. This information can be as long or as short as you like. We would like to see any or all of the following items:

¨ photos - then and now

¨ memories from 517th training and WWII

¨ biography - before and after the 517th

¨ comments, philosophy, opinions

¨ anything you want to say to your friends and relatives

Send your news to MailCall@517prct.org