Hello,
The Oklahoma City reunion is just two months from today. Best to make plans as soon as possible.The West Coast mini reunion starts Sunday.
Ben
Website-----www.517prct.org
Mail Call----Ben517@aol.com
__Old Glory
_Parachute Screen Saver
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Subj: 517th, Does anyone remember...
Date: 3/31/2003 1:25:36 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: printers@nmu.edu
To: mailcall@517prct.org
Greetings and a gigantic Thank You to all of you who fought for the
freedoms of the World during WWII. The main reason I am writing to you is
to ask if any of the soldiers remember Pvt Francis L. "Bud" Malindzak, from
Wyandotte, Michigan. I am his daughter, Francine, and would like to know
more about his service time. My father had polio as a child and one leg
was three inches shorter than the other one; yet he was still a Paratrooper
with the Battling Buzzards. He passed away in 1991 of lung cancer. I have
copies of his medals that my step-father ordered and gave to my sister and
I, from his time in the US Army. These are the medals and ribbons he
received and wore on his uniform: Bronze Star; Good Conduct Medal, Victory
Medal, American Campaign ribbon, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign;
Parachute Badge and Combat Infantry Badge. He was a member of many
different 'units' while in the Army, the 517th was his last and most
brave. I am extremely proud of what he did, and what all of you did, to
fight for freedom, liberty and justice in the world.
If you can help with ANY information it would be deeply appreciated. When
I saw the movie, "Saving Private Ryan" I finally understood why my father
rarely, if ever, spoke of his experiences while overseas... I was tearful
and speechless. May God be with all of you always.
Sincerely,
Francine Malindzak
245 Lincoln Ave.
Marquette, MI 49855
email: fmalindz@nmu.edu
****************
Francis "Bud" Malindzak was a member of "D" Co. Can any members of the 2nd battalion help Francine?-Ben
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Subj: Nieuw site about the battle of the bulge and the 517th !!
Date: 3/31/2003 1:50:16 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: winant@planetinternet.be
To: wildbill517@aol.com
CC: Ge517ne@aol.com, ben517@aol.com
Hello Wild Bill, Gene and Ben,
Good news for you lads!
As I told before, in Belgium, people never forget the courageous American soldiers who gave their young lives for the liberation of our country. I still believe that a healthy society will remember and honor its heroes! A friend of mine, mr. Henri ROGISTER made a beautiful site about the battle of the bulge and added now some more pages. This pages are telling a piece of story of the attack on 23-24 december 1944 on the villages of Melines, Soy and Beffe by the 517th Parachute Infantry Regt. against the German 116.Panzer Division Gruppe Bayer. All of you would certainly remember this attack! It's also in that way that I'm going to narrate this epoch in my book.
Here are the websites that you have to consult:
http://users.skynet.be/bulgecriba/battlebul.htm
and
http://users.skynet.be/bulgecriba/fossescemetery.htm
I hope all of you would like it.
Fondest Regards.
Claudy Winant
Belgium.
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Bloody Friday in Halabja
Date: 3/30/2003 9:16:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: newacct1088254 ( Boom Boom Alicki )
To: Ben517
"On Thursday March 17, 1988, and on Friday March 18, there took place one of the most shameful and fearful inhumane crimes of history in Halabja. The town was bombed with chemical and cluster bombs more than twenty times by Iraq fighter planes. In every street and alley women and children rolled over one another. The sound of crying and groans rose from every house in the town."
"Description of Saddan Hussein's chemical attack on Halabja in 1988 as described on a website maintained by the Kurdistan Democratic Party. A complete description, including photos of the attack, can be found at
<http://www.kdp.pp.se/chemical.html>."
But be WARNED. These photos are VERY disturbing and are not for the faint of heart. Then again, maybe it's time for some "American" and other anti-war protesters to have their eyes opened to this harsh reality. Sometimes, war IS the answer.
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Subj: Utah remembers the victims of September 11, 2001
Date: 3/31/2003 1:43:38 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: dinnylee@koalas.com ( Virgina Jorgen )
http://www.getthenews.net/911/
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Subj: Re: O'Rielly articale
Date: 3/31/2003 1:52:37 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: carlosdavis22@hotmail.com
Hey thanx Ben--you bet O.K. city here we come--pls put me back on the mail list--I give up on trying to get rid of all the porn and scum!
I'll use smaller print and try to edit some....Carlos
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_Subj: Re: MAIL CALL NO. 446
Date: 3/31/2003 11:12:14 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Donna.Hilliard@usdoor.com
To: Ben517@aol.com
Ben,
I do want to receive the mail calls. Please send them and keep me on
the list.
Thanks,
Donna
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Subj: And the Winner of the Jane Fonda Award Is.
Date: 3/31/2003 1:54:43 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: BoomBoomAlicki
To: Ben517
...NBC's Peter Arnett.
Disguised as an independent and unbiased "journalist," Arnett appeared
Sunday on Iraqi TV - that's right, IRAQI TV! - and proceeded to dump all
over the U.S. military action. It was pure anti-American propaganda and
without question gave "aid and comfort" to the Saddam regime.
Arnett, you may recall, was fired from CNN several years ago after being
caught producing the false Tailwind story about Vietnam soldiers. This is a
guy with a definite grudge against U.S. fighting men and women.
Here's where you can find one description of the "interview" Arnett gave to
Iraqi TV yesterday as a "professional courtesy." But the actual video,
showing this pompous ass and his loathsome attitude was far worse than the
actual words.
<http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/30/sprj.irq.arnett/index.html>
Folks visiting the MSNBC website - which has a wartime relationship with
Arnett - can go to this page to send Arnett "a message and wish him safety
in Baghdad."
http://www.msnbc.com/news/891269.asp
My note to Arnett wished him something a little less than "safety";
something about hoping the Navy shoves a Tomahawk missile somewhere I can't
exactly describe in mixed company. But I think you get my drift.
You can also write the pooh-bahs at MSNBC and call for Arnett's head on a
platter by emailing them at: letters@msnbc.com.
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Subj: Jane Fonda think alike.
Date: 3/31/2003 3:27:22 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Ben517
To: letters@msnbc.com
Sirs,
I hope the Tom Brokaw has enough sense to distance himself from Peter Arnett and perhaps from NBC.
Ben Barrett
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Subj: Re: Francis Malindzak
Date: 3/31/2003 6:45:48 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: fmalindz@nmu.edu
To: Ben517@aol.com
Dear Ben,
Thank you so much for your speedy reply! I found my father's name on the roster and tears came to my eyes! I look forward to hopefully hearing from some of his jumping buddies in the future. Thanks for adding my name to the mail call too. I have forwarded this message on to my mother and I know she'll be very happy...why didn't I think about this sooner?
Respectfully,
Francine
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Subj: Re: MAIL CALL NO. 452 517TH PRCT
Date: 4/1/2003 9:47:34 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: seitz2@webtv.net
Ben, just a note to commend Gene Brissey on his truly outstanding review
of the action near Bergstein. Genes descriptionis very, very accurate
and describes in detail this awful battle . Dick Seitz.
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Subj: Very important info.for vet records.(
Date: 4/2/2003 10:24:01 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: LiddellDesigns@cs.com
Good morning Mr.Barrett
I ran accross a VERY HELPFULL discovery that is a brand new interactive service from the Records Dept. called "VETRECS". This will help ALOT of the mail call families looking for info. on their Veteran family members.
The US Millitary Dept. of Records, (I think that's what it's called) now has an online form for direct family members to fill out in order to request ALL or ANY information on your Veteran family member who has since passed away called "VetRecs System" All that you have to do is fill out the form which is 4 pages long but only takes a few minutes, then, the 5th page you have to print out and sign (see restrictions below regarding who can sign it) and either fax or snail mail it to the fax # / Given Address. (I faxed mine, that would prob. be best to speed things up) THis is much easier than the route that you used to have to go. (filling out all the paperwork that Bob {you son} very kindly told me where to find. I filled it out and sent it in aprox 6 mos. to 1 year ago and a couple of months ago, they sent me a letter saying that they could only release the info. to non re-married widow, {which excludes my grandmother} my father, or one of his sibblings, not a grandchild) This may help alot of the 517th family members that are looking for info. on their WW2 Veteran. I just went back and found the web-address that will directly put them to the request forms. I hope this helps. It's also supposed to be a VERY short waiting period unlike the old way of going about it. ITs all on computer now. It's called the "Vetrecs System" Here's the web-address that you will need.
http://vetrecs.archives.gov Also, this is not just for Army Vet Records. It covers the other branches as well. Another thing, the person requesting the info. has to have a direct family member. (as I described above- Unmarried widow, son, daughter, or mother/father) Your will need some information ready when you start filling out the application sheets. exmpl: date of induction, date of discharge, (if aplicable) Veteran's Service #, city and state of residence at the time of the war, etc.. There may be some things that I have forgotten but I think that's all of the important stuff. Any family members looking for information, I will be more than happy to help walk them through the process if needed. Feel free to e-mail me anytime. liddelldesigns@cs.com
Chris Liddell
McCalla, AL
"517th Grandson"