From: Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2001
2:49 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Mail Call NO.
64
Hello,
Just lost this Mail
Call. ONE THOUSAND, TWO THOUSAND,THREE
Ed Flannery has suggested
that I make "Mail Call" shorter and send more
frequently. I agree. You can
always read them at your convience. I will try
to limit them to four pages.
I
place O.B.Hill's column in last Mail Call for two reasons. Deactiviation
and
Patrotism. Like the 508 soon the 517th will have to consider the same
thing.
That is why it is so important that we get as many members as possible
online. It will enable us to keep our association with each other togeather
for many years. Even after the final jump, the website will still be there.
If you agree with his writing about patriotism, why not drop him a line.
(ohill08@aol.com).
IThe book Beyond Valor is on the market
now. Would like your thoughts about
it. Pat is a good friend of the Airborne
and I know that he would appreciate
hearing from you about his book.
______________________________________________________Subj:
photos
Date: 2/25/2001 10:44:28 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Omega173
To: Ben517
Thanks for posting the photos on the site.
They look great!!!
Matt Myers
_____________________________________________________________________-
Subj: Fwd: translation
Date: 2/26/2001 10:19:56 AM Eastern
Standard Time
From: jalicki@yahoo.com (John Alicki)
To: Ben517@aol.com
Ben
Can you provide the info
that the translator is
asking? If so forward the answer to her e-mail.
Note: forwarded message attached. Appreciate what you
are doing for us
old troopers.
Boom Boom
Dear Mr. Alicki:
It's going to take me a day or two longer
to do the poem translation for
you. Please forgive me. The poem is
proving to be more difficult than I
thought it would be. I'm ignorant
of WWII & arms terminology in both
languages. When I look up
a French word, the dictionary defines it with
an English word that I'm
unfamiliar with. I'll have it for you though
I'll probably e-mail you
with a few questions before the final draft.
Can you give me any info on
the poet, Eddy Monfort? Is it correct to
assume that this is the
Allied part in the Battle of the Bulge?
Hope your weekend was a good
one.
Sincerely,
Nancy Prushinksi
I have sent her the
information.
Ben
______________________________________________________________________Subj:
Re: Manhay Poem
Date: 2/26/2001 9:07:21 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: mmepru@abts.net (Nancy Prushinski)
Reply-to: mmepru@abts.net
To: Ben517@aol.com
Merci, beaucoup. That info will help me get a better
feel for Manhay.
Sincerely,
Nancy Prushinski
___________________________________________________________________-
Subj: Reunion in Bismark
Date: 2/26/2001 2:06:55 PM Eastern
Standard Time
From: ljdarden@mmind.net (Louetta J. Darden)
To: Ben517@aol.com
Ben: The only info I have
on the reunion is on the PRCT web page. I
have sent our registration
to Mrs. Chapman, but I need to know if
tickets for the extra activities will
be available when we check in to
the reunion. We are coming in our RV
& plan to connect there at the
Hotel. Plan to do some traveling
before & after the reunion. Don't
want to do all the extra's but
don't want to miss the ones we do want to
do. Thanks for your
help. Jesse A. Darden, 460th hdqts.
________________________________________________________________________Subj:
Washington Times runs a huge story on Beyond Valor
Date:
2/26/2001 3:05:55 PM Eastern Standard Time
From:
historian@thedropzone.org (Patrick O'Donnell)
Reply-to: historian@thedropzone.org (Patrick O'Donnell)
To: Ben517@aol.com
Copyright 2001 News World
Communications, Inc.
The Washington Times
February 25,
2001, Sunday, Final Edition
SECTION: PART A; Pg. A11
LENGTH: 954
words
HEADLINE: Area WWII vets tell their story;
After 50
years, combat recalled
BYLINE: Gabriella Boston; SPECIAL TO THE
WASHINGTON TIMES
BODY:
John Burke's generation doesn't go on Oprah
to "tell all."
The 77-year-old Richmond veteran saw friends and foes
destroyed when he was
in the 5th Ranger Battalion in World War II, but for
more than half a
century, he held back his tears.
"I didn't cry when
my brother died. I didn't cry when my best friend died,"
Mr. Burke said.
"Our generation did what we were told and came back and . .
went on with our
lives."
But now, thanks in part to films like "Saving Private Ryan" and
books like
"The Greatest Generation," Mr. Burke and other veterans who for
years kept
their memories to themselves have begun to share their wartime
experiences.
Mr. Burke is one of several Washington-area veterans
featured in "Beyond
Valor," a collection of the firsthand remembrances of
more than 700 U.S. Army
Ranger and Airborne veterans of World War II,
compiled by Fairfax Station
author Patrick K. O'Donnell.
The
collection, recently published by Simon & Schuster and available on the
shelves of major bookstores, starts out with the British and Canadian Dieppe
raid in 1942 and ends with American soldiers returning home in 1945.
Other than short introductions by Mr. O'Donnell, the stories behind the
battles - the 12-hour shellings, the wounded and killed soldiers, and the
cold, frightening nights - are all told by veterans like Mr. Burke.
"Now I don't mind talking about the war . I just don't know where to
begin,"
Mr. Burke said on a recent morning at Mr. O'Donnnell's house.
It was the first time Mr. Burke and another World War II veteran, Jack
Trovato, 75, of McLean, met face to face - over coffee and bagels - with the
author who made their brutal war experiences public.
"He's done a
wonderful job with the book ," said Mr. Trovato, who fought in
the 155th
Battalion, 17th Airborne Division.
Seeing the book brought tears to the
eyes of Mr. Burke.
"I got emotional" he said.
"I did too,
immediately," Mr. Trovato said. A moment later he was wiping his
eyes.
Mr. Trovato and Mr. Burke both said they put away painful memories for
decades. Mr. Trovato kept busy supporting his family as an electrician. Mr.
Burke also settled down, marrying his high-school sweetheart, finishing
college at Georgetown and going to work for a pharmaceutical company.
Looking back on their lives, they say family and friends seldom asked
about
the war. It was as if it were off-limits.
But then came the
veterans' reunions and the persistent Mr. O'Donnell, who
wanted to write a
book on the war unlike any other.
By the age of 10, Mr. O'Donnell had
plowed through hundreds of books on the
war. His fascination with history,
and with the war in particular, continued.
But in his 20s he decided
something was missing from the historical books he
had seen: the soldier's
view from the front lines.
Mr. O'Donnell wondered what established
historians would say about his book.
Not because of accuracy - he double
checked the accounts in the archives,
verifying the soldiers' stories - but
because the storytelling technique was
so different.
As it turned
out, Mr. O'Donnell received praise from many historians,
including Carlo
D'Este, author of "Patton: A Genius for War," and other
writers like W.E.B.
Griffin, author of "The Corps" and "Men at War" series.
"It feels nice.
I really didn't expect it. I wasn't sure if historians would
get it," Mr.
O'Donnell said.
Mr. Trovato and Mr. Burke said they hope the book will
spur conversations
across generational lines about what the war was like for
the soldier.
"It's positive if we can learn something about the war . .
. . Anything that
will make the country understand why we don't speak
Japanese or German," Mr.
Trovato said.
He says telling his story has
helped him quell nightmares that began
recurring once a week after he
started going to reunions a few years ago
"I used you for therapy. You
didn't know that, did you?" Mr. Trovato said,
smiling at Mr. O'Donnell.
In the Burke household, Mrs. Burke read her husband's chapter in the
book.
" 'This is great. . . . I never knew you ever felt like that,' she
said, and
then she went on to correct my grammar," Mr. Burke said.
Mr. Trovato and Mr. Burke divide their time between working out, playing
golf
and volunteering - Mr. Burke in the emergency room at a Richmond
hospital and
Mr. Trovato at a veterans' hospital in the District.
Surviving the war taught them to be thankful and never take anything for
granted.
"I feel very fortunate," Mr. Burke said. "And I want to
give back."
Mr. O'Donnell is working on a second book that covers the
war in the Pacific
through firsthand accounts.
"I couldn't include
everything in this book, or it would have been 4,000
pages," the 31-year-old
author said.
****BOX
WORLD WAR II REMEMBRANCES
Excerpts
from the oral histories collected in "Beyond Valor":
"Our mission was to
go and cut off the road so the tanks couldn't get
through. I think it took
something like nine days. My recollection of it was
just pure, absolute
murder. The adrenaline flows beyond belief every second
you were in combat.
You just said you're not going to get out of it. Our
squad and the guys I
was with - even though I was a medic, I stayed with the
squad - only two of
us came out walking. We went in with 400 guys and we came
out with 200 and
something."
- John Burke, a medic in the 5th Ranger Battalion, recalls
the Irsch-Zerf
raid in 1945
"You really get hardened in combat. I'm
not saying these guys were
cutthroats, but the atrocities I've seen and some
I almost participated in -
like killing a German guy just to get his
rations. You're hungry."
- Jack Trovato, 155th Battalion, 17th Airborne
Division
GRAPHIC: Photo, World War II veterans Jack Trovato (left) and
John Burke
(right) meet "Beyond Valor" author Patrick O'Donnell in Fairfax
Station, Va.,
yesterday. The book tells about these and other men who served
in that war.,
By Rod A. Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times ; Box, WORLD WAR II
REMEMBRANCES,
By The Washington Times
LOAD-DATE: February 25,
2001
----- Original Message -----
From: Ben517@aol.com
To: historian@thedropzone.org
Sent:
Monday, January 29, 2001 10:28 AM
Subject: Beyond Valor
Hello Patrick,
Just returned from a mini reunion if
Florida. Tom Cross told me about the
book and about you. We have already
posted "Beyond Loyalty" on our website
and have publicized it in a news
letter that I send out to online members
twice a week. We will do anything
that you wish to get word around about
your
book.
Best Regards,
Ben
"H" Co.517thPRCT
_______________________________________________________________________Subj:
Re: MailCall NO.63
Date: 2/26/2001 7:39:20 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: CackyG
To: Ben517
I understand about not wanting to mess up all of
mail call. I don't blame
you. It would be much easier for you if
everyone would not use colors and
easier for most of us to read if everyone
used # 12 bold type. That might be
a suggestion for a future letter in
mail call. It's getting harder and
harder for some of us to see small
print even with bifocals. LOL. Keep up
the good work. I
really enjoy visiting the website periodically to see what
is new.
Thank Bob for all his help. We are all doing fine down here in the
panhandle......enjoying the warmer weather.......70s today.......love
it.............Dot
I think it is a good idea about color and print.
However, sometimes the
computer has a mind of its own..
Ben
____________________________________________________--
Subj: Mail Call
content.
Date: 2/26/2001 11:25:53 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: edfla@netzero.net (edfla)
To:
ben517@aol.com (*Ben and Mary Frances Barrett H Co)
Hi Ben, In
reply to your request for input on the content of your Mail Call
emails I
offer these thoughts.
No matter what you send, there will always be
someone complain about the
content. Therefore, use your best
judgement and let them criticise I
think we all still have the ability
to mentally discard anything not to our
liking. This policy will inform
those of us who are interested and give the
critics something to do
also.
Just
remember, if you haven't been criticised then you haven't done
anything.
I would recommend you send smaller, more frequent
letters. This would enable
those with limited space to receive more of
the contents.
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