I will be out of pocket for a few days. They will remove the cataracts
tomorrow. For most it is almost an office visit. For me with no heavy
lifting for a while, they want to use the hoyer lift in the hospital to make
sure I don’t goof up the operation results.
More people should follow Bill Webb’s leadership and write a book. I’m
reading Bill’s. It is great to revisit those escapades through someone
else’s eyes. Too bad Paxton and McGeever are not around to enjoy the book.
Bill treats them well.
One of my big moments has come with contact with Jim Birder’s sister. She
found Ben and has been reading a lot about Jim. She was 9 years old when Jim
was killed–6 or 7 when he went into the Army. This is one more tribute to
the job Ben and Bob are doing to hook us up and preserve our history.
I’ll be able to see you guys better when they let me loose.
Soft landings, Howard H.
Lory Curtis
Good to hear from you Ben. My Dad has
been up here in Salt Lake for the past 5 days. We have had some great talks
and stories about the 517th. He seems to be having some
respiratory problems and not breathing very well. Being a tough
Paratrooper, he would not let me take him to the Doctor this week. He didn’t
want to get stuck up here. I put him on the plane for home in Lakewood, CA
this morning at 5:30 am. He promised me he was going right over to the VA
hospital to get check over as soon as he got in.
Anyway, I guess you didn’t need to know
all of that, but to answer your question he is going to try to come to the
reunion in Palm Springs if he gets feeling better. Unfortunately, I am off
from school this week and next Monday. They just wont let a high school
vice principal leave during the week. I sure was hoping that it was held
over a weekend. I sure do want meet you and the other troopers. I have had
some great experiences telephoning some of the Utah troopers. Heard some
were going to the reunion. I hope I can make the next reunion.
Hope my Dad gets to the reunion in Palm
Springs.
Best to you and your family and everyone
in the 517th
Lory
Claire Gibin
Hello, Ben -
We are still planning our visit to the south of France for August - no
firm dates as yet. As people get their dates and plans in place, we
should stay in touch with each other. We were glad to hear from
Jean-Michel on Mail Call..
(now, that's not a link. I don't know how to do a link. Maybe Bob could
fix this part). ( To me it's a link.-Ben)
It will provide a free translation in a number of languages for a
letter-sized amount of text. It could be useful for anyone trying to
communicate with hotels or other businesses. Of course, they also offer
live translation by people, for a fee. For our purposes, it looks like
the free one (done by computer, I'm guessing) is just fine.
It will also, they say, provide a translation of a website. I only
checked it out for a few minutes, but appears very valuable. Could be
helpful on those French websites....
Have a good day and our best to Miss Fran.
Claire Johnson Giblin
daughter of Allan Johnson, 596
Roger Marquett
JUST FOR INFORMATION, MY DEAR
FRIENDS.........
ROGER MARQUET
Foy American Temporary Cemetery
On February 6, 1945, the American Army decided to open a military
cemetery near the village of Foy, Bastogne, Belgium. This cemetery was
to receive the bodies of the American victims of the Battle of the Bulge
(Dec.1944 - Jan.1945) and the increasing number of casualties made its
opening necessary.
But it was soon decided that this cemetery would only be temporary and
in 1947, the transfer of the corpses to other permanent cemetery began.
The corpses were transferred to other American Cemeteries like Henri
Chapelle, Belgium - Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium - Margraten, The
Netherlands and Hamm, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
In the year 1948, after having 2.701 heroes buried in its resting
fields, the Foy American Temporary Cemetery was permanently closed.
In 2003, a group of Bastogne citizens, still frustrated by the fact that
no American cemetery was still built in their area, decided to have a
Memorial dedicated to the memory of those 2.701 Americans who died on
their soil for their freedom.
They created a Committee of Organizations of Bastogne "Remember
Americans" (COBRA). The acronym COBRA was also chosen in reference to
the nickname of the first tank to ever penetrate the encircled city on
December 26, 1944 (Name: COBRA KING).
The City of Bastogne decided immediately to support COBRA and to include
the building and the dedication of the Memorial into the official
schedule of the 60th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.
The monument's construction is still in process, but its name was
chosen:
" FOY AMERICAN MEMORIAL."
It will be made of:
Ø A 1,80 meter X 2 meters wall made of local gray stone.
Ø In the middle of the wall, a three part sign made of black marble and
engraved with a bi-lingual text, a design and a poem by an American
veteran.
Ø On the left (when facing the wall), a Latin Cross made of white marble
of Carrare. This cross is the same as the ones found in all American
Cemeteries across Europe.
Ø On the right, a Star of David (same material)
Ø around the back of the Memorial, a half circle of evergreens will be
planted
Ø In front of the Memorial, there will be a grassy area, with a gravel
path in the middle.
Ø On each sides of the Memorial, there will be one flag: the American
flag and the Belgian Flag.
On September 10, 2004, the FOY AMERICAN MEMORIAL will be dedicated by
the highest authorities of our country, in the presence of the American
representatives in Belgium, the American Color Guards, a Belgian
Military Band, a Belgian Army detachment, patriotic associations of
Bastogne and its area, many different city Mayors, school children, a
fly over by Belgian F-16's, and more… Of course, American Veterans as
well as children of men who were buried in Foy will also be attending.
On the same day, courageous walkers will arrive in Foy from the Henri
Chapelle Cemetery, after a 5 day long march (a distance of +/- 65 Miles)
bringing with them a little bit of soil from the HC Cemetery to pour
over the new memorial grass.
The last stretch of this walk (11 Miles) will begin at Noville, Bastogne
on Sept.10 at 8:00 am and will arrive in Foy right at the time of the
Memorial dedication, which is planned for 3:00 p.m.
We wish to invite any of you (or groups you might know of) who are
planning a trip to the area of Bastogne around the same time, to join us
to attend the ceremony and / or participate in the walk's last stretch
(all is free). Please contact the organizer at the address below if you
are interested. If you plan to participate in the whole 5 day march or
in the walk's last stretch, please contact the organizer ASAP at:
Roger Marquet
Chenogne, 1D
B-6640 Sibret, Belgium
Phone & Fax: + 32.61.21.91.51
Ø The Mayor representing the City of Bastogne: Mr. Philippe COLLARD
Ø The Executive of the 60th Anniversary Committee is made of:
Mrs. Patricia LEMAIRE
Lt.Col. BEM e.r. Joseph GELARD
Cdt e.r. Henri MIGNON
Mr. Guy HORMAN
Mr. Marcel LAFONTAINE
Mr. Olivier DELMEE
Ø The COBRA Group is operated by:
President: Mr. Jean-Claude CREMER
1st Vice-president: Mr. Guy PEREMANS
2nd Vice-president: Mr. Joël ROBERT
Secretary: Mr. Roger MARQUET
Treasurer: Mrs. Monique MASURELLE
Deputy Treasurer: Mrs. Ninie ALEXANDRE
(It was a COBRA communiqué)
