Hello,
I often receive stories that aren't accurate or are false. I check them out before placing them in "Mail Call". One that I receive often concerns Lee Marvin and Captain Kangaroo ( Bob Keeshan ).Lee Marvin and Bob Keeshan did not originate the story and are innocent of wrong doing.I also received a storry about Mr. Rogers being a war hero.
Mr. Rogers never served in the military.
Lee Marvin did serve as did about ten million others and was wounded as also were most others who were in combat.
Lee Keeshan was born June 1927 and enlisted in the Marines in 1945 too late to see combat.
Ben
Website-----ww.517prct.org
Mail Call---Ben517@aol.com
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Subj: Don Fraser
Date: 8/23/2003 2:19:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: hhensleigh@earthlink.net
Dear Ben: From us who served with the third Battalion, here is a word of thanks to Boom Boom . Sometimes we had the notion that noone else knew we existed. So, a word of recognition is appreciated. We must hasten to admit that there were two other Battalions slugging it out at St. Vith, Bergeval and elsewhere in the Bulge, all of us supported by those troopers in the 460th and the 596th. Here is a word about a First Battalion man we should recognize. His name is Don Fraser. When Bill Boyle was willing to bleed to death to make sure his battalion was properly commanded, Don was the guy to whom Bill sent the change of command order. Bill was in such a hurry to have that order delivered that he didn’t want the messenger to spend any time to get him to a medic. That says something for Bill as well as Don. Fortunately, that messenger, after taking a few steps, came back to challenged Bill to get to his feet so he could deliver Bill as well as the message. Don served as acting commander of the First Battalion and its executive officer during most of the 517th combat. He previously was in A and B Companies and possibly commanded both. Don was a quiet guy who got things done. He inspired confidence through what he did without bluster. In 1949 he had mustered out and was the Postmaster of Blue Island, Illinois–a Chicago suburb. He along with Whitey Hillsdale of B Company and some of the other members of the Chicago area organized our first reunion. It was at the business meeting of that reunion that our Association was born. Don has faithfully attended the minis and the biannual reunions from then on. But, he was not at Oklahoma City for good reason. Don has been successfully fighting the cancer battle for some time. I talked with him a few days age. He was in good spirits and and we discussed our experiences in the Combat Team as well as our cattle raising days thereafter. Don should be kept in our hearts and prayers in his battle ahead. Howard Hensleigh
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Subj: Parachuting into water (Fog)
Date: 8/22/2003 9:15:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: WALTERWS
To: JBJB93, Ben517
John, that email to Boom Boom and Ben with a couple of mentioned things' one of which is so familiar, the thought that we might actually be jumping into watrer! It is old hat now, but for a few moments immediately after leaving that airforce C47 many of us looked down on a shallow fog covering the ground which we determined as water. That was just a brief belief, long enough to mutter "That @#$&% *#^%* pilot jumped us into the bay! Then immediately through small bushes and some barbed wire we were on the ground! That particular 4:00 AM (appx) experience led me and several in our jump-stick to a rendeveaux with a tower suppporting high voltage wires in which one of our boys, Danny Fisher, upon being sent on a mission to interupt electric power with an entrenching tool, was electrocuted and fell from the tower. The very next morning we caught Hell in Les Arcs, if I remember that village name correctly. Anyway, that same morning in a withdrawal to a vinyard (thigh high) we encountered a machine-gunner on the far bank in which one trooper just ahead of me took one or more bullets which left him in one of the rows. while we crawled back to the beginning near a fence row. two of us crawled back in that particular row to retrieve the fallen comrade. By that retrieval time, apparently the machine-gunner must have fled, leaving the two of us able to carry the man out and fashion a makeshift carrier out of meshed wire from the fence to continue on to the nearest house. I mention this, because I never remembered hearing what the trooper's name was and never heard if he survived. Any one in that small column of first Bn Hq. Co. or others from any other Bn or co in that column that remembers that incident, please respond. It haunts me not knowing who or if he survived.
Walter W. Smith Hq, 1st Bn.
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-Subj: Dragoon Jump
Date: 8/22/2003 8:44:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: BoomBoomAlicki
To: Ben517
John Bramswig - jbjb93....Not so, to my knowledge of any 517th troopers releasing their chute belts and hitting the ground dead during our drop into Southern France. Most of us had training in landing in water prior to the drop. Getting wet was not a problem. Losing our equipment would be the main factor.
Boom \boom
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Subj: Re: MAIL CALL NO. 529 517TH PRCT--August 22, 2003
Date: 8/23/2003 12:48:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: artann3447@juno.com
To: Ben517@aol.com
Thank-You so much fore all the suggestions for pain relief in the legs,
My Dr put me on a pill called pletal 100mg take twice a day on an empty
stomach, (should be effective with in 3-4 weeks) I started on it Aug 4th
so the three weeks will be up the 25th. Today has been my 1st day
with-out the sever pain in the calf of the leg, I know some is still
there but it feels alot better and tonite will be the tell tale or not,
It has kept me awake for hours, if I get to sleep it manages to wake me
up.and all I have been able to do is rub this Flexal on it that helps
long enough to get to sleep. Anyway Thanks alot Tom Mcavoy
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Subj: 517
Date: 8/23/2003 1:41:31 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Genesir
Ben,
Just informed by Gary and Jeanne Davis that Al Adleman's family (F Co) advised that he had passed away. The one loss of any of our troopers is a loss to all.
To a number of 517 members who have had messages (or missions) for me-please accept my apology. Left home in San Luis Obispo (SLO) about a month ago and have had infrequent use of the computer, nor have been able to accomplish much in respect to 517. Currently in WA DC in its beautiful bureaucracy, heat, and humidity. Their solution is to stay in offices, hotels and air conditioned cars.
Will be returning to OR next week and ultimately (another week) to my home in SLO.
Regards to all and I will get back to yo'all.
Gene Frice, F Co.
PS Picked up several beautiful prints (art work of troopers and others-military, law enforcement, etc) from a friend-the artist has given permission for submission to Thunderbolt-beautiful work. Some may be interested in obtaining a print. His work is much better than mine. _
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_Subj: Some thing for the Thunderbolt and Mail Call
Date: 8/23/2003 12:40:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Bigdegner
To: bobx517@juno.com, Ben517
Hi Bob Christie and Ben:
Just read the letter to Boom Boom from John Bramswig in the latest Mail Call regarding the Dragoon jump into France.
I was second to the last to jump out of our plane, Sgt. Ira Western (deceased) was the pusher or the last man to jump. I left my life vest in the plane, too dam much to carry. Ira and I came down together over a grape vineyard separated from the others. In the dim light it looked and sounded like waves. I unbuckled all but one leg strap and prepared to swim. Needless to say we were two happy troopers to be on firm ground. We could hear gun fire so we stayed put until day light. We crawled to the edge of the field and saw a German on a motorcycle get cut down by a machine gun. That's how we found some of the rest of the outfit.
Now to answer Johns question. I never saw or heard of anyone getting completely out of their parachute belts and jumping to their deaths. I will say this, grapes were a hell of a lot better then swimming with about 100 pounds of equipment strapped to our bodies.
Ben keep that Mail Call going, great job. Bob Christie, I hope you are getting enough material for your first Thunderbolt. My little helper and I mailed out 66 letters to Hq. 2nd Bn troopers that are not on the Internet, hope it helped.
Darrell Egner
Hq. 2nd Bn.
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Subj: A man with a memory
Date: 8/23/2003 1:19:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Bigdegner
Hi Ben and Bob
Last week I got a call from Jack Collins (Hq 2nd Bn) asking me where I was 59 years ago at the moment he made the phone call. Needless to say I questioned his sanity as I have a hard time remembering what I did last week.
He worked out the math and informed me that we were in the air parachuting into France at that very moment.
He promised that he would be in Kissimmee next January and would drag Sam Povich with him. I believe the following will also be there, Chris Lindner, Hunter McDonald, June Huffman and Dorothy Mackinzie. Christie I believe you will have a great turnout for your Mini Reunion in Florida.
See y'all in Kissimmee,
Darrell Egner