From:
Ben517@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 7:19 PM
To:
undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: MAIL CALL NO. 657 517TH PRCT-MARCH 9,
2004
Hello,
_____________________________________________________-_____
Donna
Hillard
Hi Ben,
I am very excited that
the 517th 's history will be back in print and
I want to thank you for giving
me far more credit then deserved. The
reprinting of this wonderful book
would not have happened without Howard
Hensleigh, Clark Archer, Bob Christie
and you to just name a few.
Best Regards,
Donna
****************
Donna did it !
If Donna, the daughter of
Silas Brown Hq 3 , and her remarkable still sky jumping family including her
mother and other siblings had not come out of the woodwork at Kissimmee,
I doubt very much if the Paratroopers' Odyssey
would have been republished now.
Ben
____________________________________________________________
Howard Hensleigh
Dear Ben, Hal, Helen:
Thanks for the information on the 2005 Reunion. And, thanks to Hal and Helen
for making preparations for it in Savannah from 15 Aug to 19 Aug 2005. The real
reason we are assembling in Savannah on August 15 in 2005 is that it is the
anniversary of the Operation Dragoon invasion of Southern France sixty one years
prior to that date. We know Hal and Helen Beddow picked the date for that
reason. In addition as frosting on the cake we will have a lot of the city to
ourselves without being bothered with the influx of
tourists who will come earlier and later. If it is hot then and there, we
should be able to take it. It was hot in more ways than one in 1944. Y’all, come
on down. We will be waiting. Howard Hensleigh
Roger
Marquet
News from
Sibret,Belgium
Today, during works for a new house building, some
workers found an American non-exploded bomb of 500 Pounds into the soil, under a
sidewalk. The specialized services of the Army were called, the village had to
be evacated from all the inhabitants. The specialists then made the schools
evacutaed, they bring three to four trucks full of sand all around the bomb and
they disactivated it. Three TV networks were present because if it is quite
common to dig up bombs from the Belgian soil (a mean of 1 bomb/a day- most of
them in Flanders dating from WW I) it as also uncommon to see a village
evacuated from its inhabitants. I was interviewed by a reporter and the report
was shown on the TV on 6:00 pm.
The bomb was probably dropped either on Dec.21,1944
or Dec. 28,1944, probably by a Lightning or so.It either touched another bomb
during the dropping or ricocheted before definetely digging; those 2 events
could explain the reasons why it didn't exploded.
See Guys, you still left some souvenirs into our
soil 60 years later. But don't worry, we are not angry at all: we know you did
it for very good reasons and for our freedom. It was no panics, because the
oldest people remembered the terrible days of the Battle of the Bulge and they
said : "This is nothing, I'm not at all afraid. It was more terrible during the
war".
One old man even refused to evacuate saying: "If
something must explode, I'll explode with but I don't want to quit my house.
Once is enough ! (he meant in 1944)"
Anyway, it was a small historical momentum and I
succeeded to shot one picture of the bomb with the help of a police
officer.
When I drove again in the village around 5 pm, it
was a strange feeling : nobody in the streets, nobody into the houses, only
police officer for security reasons... it recalled a little bit the
war.
Finally the bomb was desactivated without any
trouble and was evacuated near an ammunition depot. And the people (who had a
fine afternoon, sharing a cup coffee all together in the community hall where
they were directed) could rejoin their house around 5:30 pm.
What an event for such a small
village!
Best wishes
Roger Marquet
John Alicki
Fort Pulaski a site to remember to visit during the upcoming 517th
Prct reunion in 2005.
The fort is named after Count Casimir Pulaski
(1742-1779) was a Polish soldier who served as a Brigadier General under George
Washington in the Revolutionary War. He was killed during the seige of
Savannah where he commaded the French and American Cavalry.
Fort Pulaski
5,516 acres. Massive brick fort captured by Union Forces in 1862 and was created
in 1924 as a National
Monument.
The southern breeze has died
away,
On Fort Pulaski bastioned
wall
No ripple stirs the sleepin
bay,
No sound except the sentry's
call:
The heavens are bright with starry
lightt
The moon rides radiant queen of
all.
The shadows of the rampart
cast
Falls on the grass grown name on
grave
Speak spirit of the mighty past,
Yield up your records of the
brave:
His sword is
rust,
His form is
dust,
Tis yours his memory to
save.
O'soldier on the fortress
stern!
Dreaming to win a deathless
fame,
What spot shall be your funeral
urn,
What strangers hand embalm thy
name?
For truth is
right
Fight the grand
fight
March by the light of Freedom Flame.
Tom Dorman
Dear Mr. Welborn:
I noticed your comments on the 517th Website. I
had spoken with Mr. Hickman this afternoon. My father was in Co. "C" of the
517th and I had heard him speak of Tilly a few times.
I was wondering if
you knew my father, Pvt. Jim Dorman. I have a lot of his items from WWII and
many photos. I have often said that people like you are the uncles we never got
to know growing up. Thanks to Ben Barrett's efforts, we are making our children
aware of the actions of our fathers.
I look forward to hearing from
you.
Sincerely,
Tom Dorman
Tom McAvoy
received a snail mail from them about 30 days ago requesting a
picture
of the jump tower in Toccoa, Tom McAvoy
*************
Tom is referring to Michel Soldi and Eric Renoux who
have the museum in Southern France.-Ben
________________________________________________________________
We are still
interested in collecting stories for "Recollections" on the
website.
Below is a most amazing one that we received sometime
ago--Ben
Subj: Mail
Call No. 164
Date: 10/12/2001 4:49:00 PM Eastern Daylight time
From:
Mike Spano
To: Ben517
Ben, You asked for personal stories. Here's one I
will never forget. I know that thousands of eerie events happened to lots of
guys that made them believe in a guardian angel. Here's mine.
It was in Manhay. I was with I Company, Third
platoon. We led the attack and were right in the middle of our own massive
artillery barrage. That night we all jumped into already dug foxholes. The next
morning, one of the guys in the foxhole only a few yards away asked me if I
would switch foxholes with him. Can't remember his name, but he was a B.A.R.
man. Without hesitation I said "sure", and made the switch. It was late morning,
I believe, when a P38 lightning flew overhead. Because of its twin fuselage, it
was one of the few planes I could recognize, so I jumped out of the foxhole to
take care of a personal matter. Suddenly, the P38 dives and drops a 500 pounder.
I dove back in the foxhole. That's when I heard that awful scream. I popped my
head up just in time to see the guy with whom I had switched foxholes running
with no right arm. Just shreds hung down from what remained of his shoulder. I
slumped down in disbelief. If I didn't switch foxholes with him, that would be
me. Neither he nor his buddy survived just that one bomb. Friendly fire did it
to us again. For quite some time I suffered what is called survivor's guilt.
Manhay wasn't the only rime my guardian angel was looking after me. I'll tell
you about another incident in which I was shot when leading an attack as
pointman at a later time. It boggles my mind. Incidentally, if the trooper who
was with me in the foxhole is among our members, please write me.
Mike 517
Date: 10/13/2001 10:00:42 AM Eastern Daylight
Time
From: Fred Beyer
I was in Manhay, and will never forget the
artillery barrage the night before I lost my arm from that P38. It could be the
one you are talking about. I was in a foxhole with Cleo
Browning and believe he was killed. I do remember that Lt.
Stott was killed that night.
I don't remember any one named Mike off hand.
Refresh my memory, will you?
Sunday October 14, 2001
Fred Beyer
Date: 10/13/2001 10:51:06 PM Eastern Daylight
Time
From Mike Spano
Hi, FT Beyer...
I was astounded to hear that you survived the P38
attack. When I saw you running, I thought you would never make it with all the
blood loss. God bless you. It was either you or your buddy who switched foxholes
with me prior to the attack. Do you remember? Believe me, the switch happened.
Was it you or your buddy who was the B.A.R. man? Please let me hear from you.
However, we are driving to Florida tomorrow to our winter home and need a week
to get my PC turned on there. I can't believe it. All these years I thought you
were dead. I don't think we knew each other very well, so I didn't expect you to
remember me when I couldn't recall your name either. But I'll never forget the
incident. I was in the foxhole next to you.
Mike Spano
