Dear Ben:

I must join in the tribute to a great man and great soldier. We all feel the loss of John Lissner.

John was known throughout the 517^th. There are four things that stand out in my memory of John. The first is General Frederick’s inspection of 1^st Lt. John Lissner’s F Company in Southern France. After a thorough inspection of the Company, the General approached John with a barrage of questions. John knew where all his men were–so many in the hospital, so many on each detail. The general congratulated Captain Lissner and pinned the railroad tracks on.

No. 2. I’m not sure the French Government has recognized it yet, but there is a piece of topography in Southern France named for John–Listner Hill. As you face East towards Sospel on the road that runs through Col de Braus, there is a hill to your left front that has this distinction. John and his F Company had a standing argument with a German captain and his company about who should be the ultimate occupiers of that hill. F Company took that hill several times. When John left it the last time it was to move on to Sospel and the Italian border, with the Germans moving backwards a little faster ahead of him.

No. 3. The third occasion was at Bel Manoir (sp?) a large PX complex west of Paris, sometime in the 1958, 59, 60 time frame. In this PX, I came face to face with Johnny Lissner. He and his men were doing some very tightly held work in the Paris area. We had a good chat about times past and the men we served with in the 517^th.

The fourth set of memories come from seeing Johnny at many of our reunions. Seeing him there made the trip worthwhile. He will remain in the memory of all of us and in the memory of our Association.

Howard Hensleigh

Tom Cross

BEN.
MICHAEL ATERBURN'S COMMENTS CONCERNING LT. COL. WEST'S CASE IS SCARY. HARD TO BELIEVE AND UNDERSTAND JUST HOW FAR THIS HAS PROGRESSED AND WHY!
IF SOME RESEARCHER COULD GO ALL THE WAY BACK TO WW I AND SEARCH FOR SIMILAR SITUATIONS UP TO AND INCLUDING THE LAST GULF WAR WE WOULD NO DOUBT FIND THAT LT.COL. WEST WAS JUST ONE OF MANY OTHERS WHO PLACED THE VALUE OF THEIR MEN'S LIVES AS A LEADERS DUTY AND JUST CAUSE. IT IS INDEED DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE LT. COL. WEST INCIDENT GOT AS FAR AS IT DID AND SO FAR OUT OF HAND. HOW NOW DO WE DEFINE LEADERSHIP AND COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY ?
REGARDS, TOMX

Bob Piper

was a sad day when I received the word that John Lissner had made his
last jump. He came to the 505 at Bragg in 1946 when those of the 517 who
were staying in the US Army came
to the "05.

I had the privilege of knowing John at many
meetings and especially the "Old Airborne
Gatherings" at Bragg each year. He was a true trooper and a true friend.

My sincere heartfelt sympathies go to the members of his family for not
only have they lost a true hero but the "old troopers" have lost
a genuine "member of the ranks".

Bob Piper -Old 505 AND Honorary 517 Trooper

John Alicki

I was grieved to learn of the passing of John Lissner, an original member of the 517th. Truly, He had in his veins some of the best of American Patriotic blood. "No language would be too strong or eulogy to high to pronounce upon him who did his duty during that long and dreadful war, who manfully braved its dangers, patriotically endured its trails, cheerfully obeyed the orders, who was ready to march and suffer, to fight to die, without once caging in question the wisdom of the orders or necessity for the sacrifice."
My deepest sympathy to the family.
John Alicki, Reg HQ

Phil McSpadden

Hi Ben.....Just to let you know so it can be passed on to all paratroopers, a new license plate for the State of Florida has been authorized for issue after l/l/04. On the left side of the plate are both the paratroop wings and glider wings, and the bottom of the plate has "U. S. Paratrooper" on it. To be issued the plate, you must show some authorization for the award of this hard earned badge. Phil McSpadden

Leo Turco

Hi Ben,

It is with great sorrow that we read of the passing of John Lissner. He was always so friendly and cheerful at the reunions. He certainly will be counted as one of our many "brother" troopers we will miss dearly.

My oldest brother who was 91 in July died the same day as John. Unfortunately I will not be able to go to Rochester for the funeral. He was in the same nursing home as another of my brothers who also died about 3 months ago. That leaves one older brother and myself from our family. It is hard to know these people will not be around any more.

Guess we all have to live our lives to the fullest and realize that is not just us older people dying every day with this terrible strife going on that seems to never stop.

Hope you had a great trip to CA but bet you are glad to be back home even though you probably have to put up with some snow and cold weather.

Best wishes from Leo and Joyce Turco

Howard Hensleigh

Note to Thomas W. Hibben (Grandson of Wayne W. Hibben of F Company). We are delighted that you have found Mail Call. I just received your letter through the courtesy of Merle McMorrow. I hope some of you F Company men will be able to help Tom and his family learn more about Wayne who served with us.

We wore a number of unit patches. While in the 17^th Division we wore its patch. At the conclusion of Tennessee maneuvers, we became a separate combat team and shipped out to Italy. We were 5^th Army troops in Italy. Somewhere in Southern France, Dick Spencer came up with the Battling Buzzard patch which I am not sure is official. We were 18^th Corps troops when we arrived in Soissons in northern France. This was our official unit patch until we joined the 13^th Division after our fighting was concluded. Were entitled to wear its patch. I would say our unit patch was Dick’s Battling Buzzard, official or not. I do not have one of these patches. I think they are available. Can someone help Tom locate one for Tom’s family display. He also needs help in locating all his Grandfather’s awards. They would be listed in his statement of service. There are things on our website that will help a Descendant get Army records as well as replacement awards. It takes time and patience, but we know the procedures.

At Oklahoma City, we started to set up a contact point for each company and battery. Dick Seitz covered the water front with men for the 2^nd Bn. in which F Co. falls. Ben, can we put these on the website (if not already there) for easy reference? My hope is that we will have a ready source of information contact points for Descendants interested in our Members.

Welcome to our Association, Tom. We will do our best to help with your project in remembrance of your grandfather and his service. Howard Hensleigh