From: Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2004 8:11 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: MAIL CALL NO. 642 517TH PRCT--FEBRUARY 13, 2004
Hello,
Website                                       www.517prct.org
Mail Call                                      Ben517@aol.com
Mail Call Archives                    www.517prct.org/archives
Roster                                         www.517prct.org/roster.pdf


2004 West Coast Party
April 19-22, 2004
Palm Springs, CA

Lory Curtis

Tom Reber asked me to contact some of the Troopers who live in Utah.  I have begun to do this and the first person I talked to was Fred “Happy Hot Head” Hyden of Company F.  What a wonderful man.  He is 79 now and has not been active with the association,  I hope that changes, he loves reading Thunderbolt.  Fred told me he got his nick-name when he was in Toccoa and got into a fight. From then on he was called “Hot head”, then Happy was added later on. Said he made PFC five times.  I was telling him about all of the information members were sending into mail-call about the challenge and password.  Fred told me when he jumped the Germans were waiting for them. He still can’t believe he lived through the jump.  He said the clouds layer made it look like water and he was going to release himself from his harness.  He didn’t and landed in trees.  He said he had to use his knife to cut himself from his harness, then fell out off the tree.  He lost his rifle and picked one up from another dead soldier.  Fred said he heard someone and yelled, “Billy.”  The reply he got was, “Hey you dumb bas….d are you a cowboy.”  He said it was his friend Larry.  Fred cannot remember his last name now, but said Larry was one of his best friends.  Larry had two broken legs.  Fred said he covered him up and left him with the rifle he found and went off and linked up with other troopers.  To this day Fred has never has know if Larry made it or died.  Fred tells me he doesn’t has a computer.  I told him I would help him with email.  He doesn’t like talking too much about the war. He says it makes him cry when he thinks back to his lost friends.  I told him I understand completely.  If anyone is out there who remembers Fred Hyden, please email me and I will get the information to him.  Thanks for your comments Fred.  Airborne!

 Lory V. Curtis

Bob Dalrymple

Ben: Re John Davis and a LT Riddler in S  France: I have a faint
recollection of the incident , though I was not there .I seem to
remember a Lt Riddle, 2nd Lt, Inf. I have a faint  feeling that a Lt
Riddle died very soon after we Jumped . Not very sure, though.

Bob Dalrymple

Bob Dalrymple

Ben: Kudos to Gene Frice ! Bless you , Gene, and Bless our President and
our first lady . She is an example of what a First Lady should be, in my
opinion . Hail To The Chief !! Bob Dalrymple

 _________________________________________________________________________________

-Howard Hensleigh

Dear Ben:

This is a note to John M. Davis About Art Riddler of Company G. It is mostly about G Co., but there is a lot of knowledge on I Company in our papers and in our heads if you want it. You can pick up I Co. info on Mail Call, so I recommend it as well as the Thunderbolt. If Olen has any specific questions fire them in. I Co. was isolated for a while around Mt. Scandeous (near Col de Braus), was the lead company in the attack on Manhay and otherwise distinguished itself.

Bob Barrett has remarkable capability to connect the dots. His ability would have been useful pre-9/11. Art is the lieutenant mentioned in your father-in-laws account, Caylor’s notes and Bob’s other references. I don’t know how serious Art’s mine field wounds were, but he recovered from them and was back with us in S. France.

Art was killed in the attack on Col de Braus and Ridge X. I am sending Ben by snail mail a clipping from an old (fall 1944) Thunderbolt with a poem written by Dick Spencer, our poet laureate, cartoonist, Buzzard designer, and war correspondent. In his spare time, Dick also led a G Company platoon. By the time we took Manhay he was Bn. S-1, a position he held until he left us on points at Joigny. The poem envisions the difficulties of a post war visit with Art’s widow and baby girl Art had never seen. Dick was wounded in the same attack; he also had a baby girl he had never seen. She has been with us on Mail Call. Beside the poem, this Thunderbolt also carried one of th first pictures of the Battling Buzzard. You will get a reproduction of both, Ben. When Spencer was in the hospital recovering from wounds received in the attack he ran across a Yank Magazine reporter who published and article on the attack. I don’t have a copy of the article, but do have a set of pictures the reporter took while gathering material for the story.

We say again, the Thunderbolt and Mail Call may tickle some of Olen’s memories. Keep in touch, Howard Hensleigh

                                             *************

I knew the moment that there was an inquiry about the 3rd Bn ( Lt. Art Riddler ) that Howard would give us the lowdown.-Ben

Howard Hensleigh

Dear Ben,

I commend Gene Frice on his fine letter to the President. He expressed the sentiments of many who served and those who now serve in the National Guard and Reserves.

After the War, I spent 7 years in the Red Bull, 34th Division that fought in Italy long before we got there. They were the first to be called in WWII. Floyd Stott who was killed at Manhay left the University of Iowa in that federalization of the Iowa Guard. The South West Iowa towns of Red Oak, Clarinda, Glenwood and Shenandoah had gold stars in half the windows in town after the Casserine (sp?) Pass debacle in N. Africa. They said there would never be Guard units in those towns again. I served with some of the released POWs after the war from those same towns. Again after the war they had thriving Guard units. With the big cut backs after WWII in the military, it was the reserves and individuals volunteering from Guard units that filled the ranks in Korea.

Politicians should tread carefully when they step on the men and women who are responsible for preserving the democracy that gives them the platform from which they speak. Howard Hensleigh

517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team

Would you like to hear regularly from other members of the 517th?

Ben Barrett has organized an email-based mailing list for 517th members and families and friends who are interested in hearing regular updates from other 517th members. These "Mail Calls" are sent out periodically, generally about once or twice per week, as news is received. Each Mail Call message includes a collection of other notes received from those on the mailing lists. Notes are mostly just news about personal events or items that may be of interest to others. Nothing fancy, just a way to keep in touch.

If you would like to be added to the Mail Call list and receive these mailings, just send a note to Ben Barrett at mailcall@517prct.org. Include your email address, as well as any personal news that you would like to share with the others.

We would like to receive at least one email from all on our email roster (about 300 ). and since we have all Mail Calls in www.517prct.org/archives on our website, they will be there for your great grandchildren to view and easy to locate by clicking on  Search this site  on Contents page. - Ben