Administrivia:

- If you have trouble reading this MailCall, or seeing the images, you can read it online at http://www.517prct.org/mailcall/1995.htm

- At any time, if you want to be added or removed from the MailCall list, just let me know.

- Donations for any programs involving the 517th should be sent to our treasurer Leo Dean at 14 Stonehenge Lane, Albany NY  12203.

- New address for MailCall:  MailCall@517prct.org  I will also continue to search Ben's gmail and AOL accounts for a while as well. 

- If you send me email that you do not want included in MailCall, just label it as “FYEO”.

- I now understand how Ben could get confused about what he already posted and what he didn’t.  If I miss something, please just send it again.

Website                                           www.517prct.org

Mail Call                                   MailCall@517prct.org

Mail Call Archives            www.517prct.org/archives

Roster                            www.517prct.org/roster.pdf

Recent website additions:

Robert Kennedy, F Company biography

Ray Hess, F Company biography

1943 May 10 - Letter to parents of new recruits from Lt. McKinley

Officers of the 2nd Battalion at Camp Toccoa, 1943

Arlton Bearden, Demo Platoon, I Company (KIA Italy)

Video of A Company in Italy, Aug 14, 1944

Le Muy infos magazine - selected pages of the August 2009 celebration

MailCall News

I am hanging in there with the posting of MailCall news.  But as I mentioned in the last MailCall, I am behind in getting to some photos and articles that have been sent to me for the web site.  I'll be working on it some this weekend, then we're off on a short family vacation with Paula and the girls, and get back just in time to show up for my first day at the new job next week.  So I probably won't get another MailCall out for at least a week after this one.  But keep the news coming! 

-- Bob Barrett

Lisa,

I will add you to the MailCall roster.  Just let me know anytime you might want to be removed from the list.

It turns out that your Dad was in H Company and was wounded in Bergeval with the same rounds that wounded my Dad, Ben Barrett, and 16 other soldiers from H Company.  That was on January 5^th, 1945.  I can see your Dad’s name listed on the same Morning Report as Ben.  You can see that Morning Report, as well as a map of the incident, on Ben’s bio page: http://www.517prct.org/bios/ben_barrett/barrett_b.htm

Bob Barrett

Bob,

thanks for taking over for Dad and keeping the 517th flame burning.  I thought I heard you mention of having access to the morning reports.  My dad Michael Sura of Chicago was wounded and taken off the field in Bergstein Germany about 2/6/45 along with Dick Huggler from Alpina Michigan

Are there morning reports that verify this?  Are there actual copies that can be sent?
 
Dennis Sura son of Mike Sura 3 Batt. H Company

Dennis,

Good question.  Most of the morning reports were delivered to Mike Wells for safe keeping.  I hope he has them all.  We do not have the originals, just printed copies that Clark Archer managed to get dumped from microfilm records many years ago, probably while writing the 517^th history, Paratrooper’s Odyssey, which was published in 1985.  I don’t know how or where he found those records.

Mike Wells did spend some time transcribing all the morning reports for H Company into a spreadsheet, with the idea that we can make all the Morning Reports into a digital and searchable database for anyone doing research.  I have not yet figured out how to post it into a simple database on the web site, but I’m sure I will eventually.

In the meantime, here is a copy of the H Company spreadsheet.  You need Excel to open it.  I did a “Data Autofilter”, and searched the column LastName for Sura.  I got the following 3 entries:

If you use the Autofilter and search for all entries on 8-Feb-1945, you will see a LOT of entries.

Note that the dates of entry often follow the actual events by a couple of days, especially during battles.  And there are plenty of spelling errors.

Bob Barrett

The next National Reunion for the 517th PRCT is tentatively scheduled for July 13-18, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia.   Lory Curtis will be the contact  person through whom all details relating to the reunion will flow.  Selection of a Committee and others to work with him on the planning of the reunion I leave to his choosing .He has been in contact with the Armed Forces Reunion.  As the details began to jell he will keep us advised through e mail as to how the planning is progressing.
 
This early announcement before all details have been finalized is being made to permit you to arrange your 2011 summer activities to include an attendance at the National Reunion.  Lory will announce some of the exciting events that are in the planning stage and I believe two of them are return trips to Benning and Toccoa.  This could be the last time for many of us to see again where it all started sixty-eight years earlier.
 
We are indeed fortunate to have people like Lory Curtis, Michael Wells, Claire Giblin, Helen Beddow, Rhonda Wells and many others who are willing to sacrifice time in their busy schedule to insure that we continue to remain a cohesive organization.
 
Make a commitment as early as possible that will permit the planning committee to know what type of attendance they might be working with and for.
 
                                                          Merle W. Mc Morrow

Bob:

Please tell Jerry Wofford he writes a great story beautifully. Very well-done on the "Name the Trooper." 

Pat Seitz and Alan Greer

Hi, Bob ~~
 
I think that Claire speaks for all of us,,,,but we did want to add our "thank you" to you and your family.
We were honored to be part of the gathering.  We both have tremendous respect for your Father.
We thank you all for including us in the reception and the great dinner in the evening.
 
And one more big "thank you" for keeping Mail Call going.
 
Lud and Marty

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Dreams/living-dream-bill-weir-skydiving/story?id=10576103

Hey Bob -

Did you see the video on Good Morning America of Hal and Leo?

Wahoo for the 517!

Claire

Michael [Soldi]:
 
I don't know if you have a copy of this letter or have even seen it before.
 
                                         Merle

From Darrell Egner:

A Poem Worth Reading (lots of truth!)

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simply headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

Pass On The Patriotism!
YOU can make a difference

Name that Trooper

ANSWER TO LAST EDITION'S "NAME THAT TROOPER" QUIZ:
 
A.  LES  PERKINS  /  C  CO.  517
B.  REGINALD  RICHARDS  /  C  CO.  517    
 
Jerry Wofford
N E P H E W O F A B U Z Z A R D