Dear Editor & Thunderbolt Readers,

My name is Tom Reber and I am a proud son of Lt. Bob Reber (HQ 3^rd – d. 1976). About three years ago, I had an epiphany and wondered what would happen if I typed “517^th” into a Yahoo search while surfing the internet one evening. Well, many of you already know what happens, you get directed to Ben and Bob Barrett’s fantastic website www.517prct.org and you quickly discover that not only is the website informative, but you can leave a message on a bulletin board for all to see. This is how Ben Barrett extended the invitation for me to join Mail Call.

I was very interested in trying to contact people who knew my Dad in the service, but reluctant to “intrude” and disturb the troopers. It only took a contact with Mr. Bill Pencak via phone and subsequent e-mails with Mr. Howard Hensleigh and others to quickly realize that the 517^th association that I remember from my early years (ages 5 – 17) not only is still active, it is very vibrant and welcomes us “punk kids” with open arms.

After developing some confidence about pestering all of you guys with my inquiries and gathering some information about my Dad, I decided to try the Florida mini reunion in Kissimmee in January 2001. I had not been to a 517^th reunion since Ft. Bragg in 1975. I had no idea what to expect. I had no sooner walked in the door of the hospitality room when I was warmly welcomed by the Dardens, Ed Flannery and Bob Christie. Bill Webb overheard my arrival and rushed over and said he knew my Dad and sat me down and visited with me.

After a bit, Mr. Webb says, “Hey, there is another guy coming in today that may know your Dad, he was in HQ 3^rd.” Well that was the understatement of the year for me. The other guy was Mr. Jim Royer who was with my Dad nearly every step from Camp Mackall on through, until the day in January 1945, when my Dad was hit by a German mortar.

I need to bring this story to the point I wish to make, to the descendants of the 517^th. Since that day when I first met the FL participants, I have not only learned a great deal about my Dad’s youth and what he experienced, but I have learned to truly care about a group of great American soldiers, husbands, fathers, their wives and families. The fine people of the 517^th PRCT Association are a group who care about and support each other in many ways. The experiences I have shared with them over the past 3+ years are priceless to me and I hope we share many more.

I encourage and solicit those descendants who are able to, to not only attend some reunions but also lend your support to the association. We can and should help pull the cart in any way we can to allow the troopers to lead the organization forward. We can do routine administrative and organizational tasks for the organization to allow the troopers to focus their energies on leading the organization and developing the vision for the future.

If you would like to help, I can share some ideas with you. Please feel free to contact me:

Tom Reber

3821 Bingham Drive

Lexington, KY 40514

(859)224-7098

e-mail: reber83@insightbb.com

Tom Cross

Ben:
June Huffman's story about the action at the 2nd Bn CP on January 1, 1945, in which Archie Brown, Hq. Co. 2nd Bn. PIR was KIA was very interesting. She is a great 517 PIR supporter The story of this incident is covered in part on page 123 of Paratrooper's Odyssey.The only artillery shell involved was the enemy shell that went through the CP and exploded in the midst of the group that I was briefing before heading for Trois Ponts. Archie Brown was standing beside me when the incoming shell burst. In fact I had just handed him my map case when the shell exploded. The enemy artillery had bracketed the CP earlier and then later that day they reduced the CP to rubble but fortunately by that time Dick Seitz had already organized a replacement group and had moved on to Trois Ponts. It was quite an experience to say the least.
Regards, Tom

Tassie Gomez

Hello Ben,

Thanks for responding to my request. Please if you don't mind add me to the mail call. I would love to know if anyone would remember P.J.. My husband and I have went to the last reunion that the Band of Brothers had here in Sept. in Toccoa,Ga. We had a blast listening to the guys tell their stories. My husband would love to know if anyone knew his dad. Thanks again.

Tassie

Howard Hensleigh

Dear Ben:

This message is not for members of the Combat Team; it is old hat for them. For those who may have wondered about the password and countersign it may provide a background to the lively cricket storm.

Both signs were of vital importance to us. At least one of our men was killed in S. France because he did not respond quickly enough. These signs of recognition changed every night at midnight. They were transmitted by wire or word of mouth so the enemy would not have them. It goes without saying that everyone in the outfit had to have the same password and countersign. Otherwise there would have been a lot more mattress covers used to ship troopers to those fields of crosses, row on row.

When we were out with Sgt Kitchen’s G Co. squad south of Stavelot we patrolled all day and came steaming up the road into G Co.’s parameter defense line after midnight. In these situations someone came up with something to save our skins from being punctured by our own M-1s. In this case Sgt. Kitchen bellowed in his deep southern accent no German could match, "This is sergeant Kitchen, and we’re coming on in". Like the Brit’s reference to the American gangster for Billy the Kid, that substitute worked. I like Boom Boom’s "We are here" as a response to Lafayette. If Boom Boom could cook up a response today, I think it would be, "We are back, but won’t stay long if you don’t behave."

Let the cricket war rage. It has perked up interest and made good reading. However, I can’t resist the temptation of saying that they didn’t issue crickets to some of us and not others.

If there are responses out there, let this not be the last word. Howard H.