Dear Ben:

We have two inquiries from authors for information about men in the 460^th. One of our two year objectives is to assist authors interested in writing about men in the Combat Team. In this way we preserve the historical record of the 517^th and the men who served in it. For that reason I will appreciate any scrap of information that will help the authors round out the stories they are writing.

The first one should be easy. Brian Behrens, who did a splendid job of recording things at OKC, needs the address of Ray Cato who commanded the 460^th all the way through the war. All the infantrymen have a lot of respect for Col. Cato who provided us the artillery support we needed to keep the enemy heads down in the early stages of our attacks. Sometimes his 75 mm howitzers were so far forward they were firing point blank into enemy positions. The address we have on the roster does not do the job. Mail comes back. That probably means that he has moved from that FL address more than a year ago. We not only need the address for Brian, we need it for our own purposes. We should be in touch with this man who added so much to the Team. How about some help from you 460^th troopers.

The second request comes from Ms. Colette Michel, 722 ch. du jas de la paro, 83 490 Le Muy, France, 04 94 45 95 47; email etelau@wanadoo.fr. She put her request very well in her letter. "As a writer of HISTORICAL STORIES, I would like to write the story of three young men whose names appear on a stele at the entrance of the village of Trans en Provence (Var-France); these men are a French man and two American paratroopers who were killed in action on the landing of 15 August 1944. All I know so far is that Jacques DEBRAY, Lt. Harry F. MOORE and a soldier Philip Kennamer belonged both to the 460^th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, (Lt. Col. Raymond L. Cato).....Can you tell me information about Harry F. MOORE and if it is possible I would like to know his ‘curriculum vitae’‘"

Mainly from Merle McMorrow I have ben able to to get some of the story. On the morning of August 15, 1944 these three men attacked a German machine gun nest directing fire at our troops. They were killed in this heroic assault. I have no more information about Lt. Moore. According to sketchy information available, Kennamer was the son of an Oklahoma judge who got him released from jail, provided he would join the paratroops. Kennamer’s (spelling difference) cousin, Woodie E. Kennemer attended our Oklahoma City reunion. His address is, 2733 N. W. 11^th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73120.

Standing on its own, this is a fetching story. It is a reflection on how paratroopers in general, and the 460^th in particular, functioned. It also says something about the assistance we received from French civilians of Provence. These two artillerymen and this civilian tackled an infantry objective. We can be sure the situation at hand required it. In the absence of orders or even organization, our men and many civilians did what was necessary to push toward the victory ahead. Many of the 460^th troopers deserved to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB). Woodie Woodhull, who was killed at Bergstein, and Herb Jeff often related that they would be honored to wear the CIB. Had the Army regs. permitted it, they would have worn it.

Please send Ben anything you know or can find out about Kennemar and Moore. That will round out the story for us as well as Ms. Michel.

As a footnote to civilian heroism, a villager of Callian kissed his wife’s tear stained face to volunteer as a local guide to find safe ways to get from Callian, where we landed by mistake, back to Ms. Michel’s home town of Le Muy, where we were supposed to land in the first place. He was invaluable and I trust returned to Callian and his family safely. Howard Hensleigh

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Checked with Clark Archer. Contact with Ray Cato has been lost for over a year. Can anyone help?-Ben

Tom McAvoy Regimental Headquarters

A note about this fire at the records Dept. St Louis Mo. that destroyed
all records, I (Tom McAvoy)have been after them for 50 years to update my
records if they find away, I received a letter from them about a year ago
stating they can now use magnetic tape of hospital records of some sort
to fill in the records by knowing (finding out via the tapes of when a
Veteran was actually in what hospital) date etc. They (the V.A.) had
told me for years that they didn't believe I had ever been in an airplane
let alone jump out of one???? I made the Aug 15,1944 jump into France,
broke my back in 5 places, on the drop??? Remember the law passed by
Congress, that when ever in doubt about a veterans injuries They (The
V.A.) should rule in favor of the Veteran,,What a bunch of crap..when
they can ignore it the way they have done for so long. I wonder what I
was doing in 2 different body cast for 4 months, and sent to convalese
for 5 months???Flew home on a all stretcher cases C-54 from Naples Italey
to Miami Fla. Sept 15,1944 It almost makes you believe the Army has set
up a program that the more cases the records people can get rid of by
there sillyness then the better for them.???And let the poor veteran
worry about trying to prove his case. Tom McAvoy

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Jim Lathers -- Company C

Yo Ben,

Your website is awesome and your hard work and dedication is appreciated.

The post on Sgt. Stark put me back in time to Camp Toccoa and although I can't be of any help as requested by his son Fred, I do remember him as an intense and intimating non-com that had the assignment of herding a bunch of bitching and unruly cats around that red clay of Georgia some sixty years ago and doing it quite well I might add.

Having long since lost the ability to recall even things that have happened last week what I find remarkable on reading Fred's E-mail is that the second I saw his father's name in print a clear and vivid picture of Sgt. Stark appeared in my minds eye. The most distinctive part of that image was of course his eyes.

Incidentally, another E-mail appeared on your mail call, which I promptly lost on this damn computer but it mentioned the name Deacon Jones. It was certainly heart warming to know that he is still with us. A man among boys if you know what I mean. Regards, Jim

Morris McDowell

Ben,
Could you send the map of Bergeval again, the one with the markings showing where you were hit with the artillery round? I also wonder if you know the name of the man that removed the personal effects of Layton Pippin, when he was killed. I would like to talk with him. I met him at the Fort Benning reunion a few years ago, he lives in Alabama, I remember. If you could help, I would appreciate it. Regards. Morris McDowell