From: Ben517
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 3:10 AM
Subject: MAIL CALL NO.777 517TH PRCT--OCTOBER17,2004
Hello,
 
Recent Mail Calls as well as this one has had correspondence between Howard Hensleigh and Joe Largen's family. I may have lost some of it  due to delay in posting it.
 
Ben

Website                      www.517prct.org
Mail Call                      Ben517@aol.com
Mail Call Archives      www.517prct.org/archives
Roster                         www.517prct.org/roster.pdf

Florida Mini-Reunion 2005
January 23-27, 2005
Kissimmee, FL


2005 Biannual Reunion
August 15-19, 2005
Savannah, Ga.


Sent: 10/11/2004 9:28:13 PM
Subject: Re: Joe Largan

Hello again, Mr. Hensleigh,
The past few days have been laden with great excitement over  the phenomenal revelation that we have been treated with...the knowledge that there are other men who knew (and remember) our Dad, Grandfather, Uncle, and friend, Joe Largan... It is especially wonderful for me, one of his children, to communicate with people who knew my Dad when I myself did not.  I will be happy to relate to you my memories of him, based upon what he actually told me (would never give details of skirmishes or battles... always said that war was literally "hell") as well as information on how he spent the rest of his life.
As far as I know, after he returned from WWll he was still in service: my Mom told me she traveled around with him to Alaska, Georgia.  I know he was a member of the 82nd Airborne.. and went to Korea...in March 1952, he was point man (he insisted, my Mom says) on a vehicle he called a "mule" crossing an unexplored mine field.  A land mine was tripped and exploded, taking his left knee with it...thus began a very long stint in Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco.. (always remember Mom saying it was three years he was there)  Many surgeries followed, much pain and rehabilitation...but, I can honestly tell you, Mr. Hensleigh, I NEVER heard my father complain about his disability.  He always said there were men a lot worse off than he (typical Dad statement).  Anyway, he limped horribly for the rest of his life, the leg was an incredible source of pain for him, but he took it all as it came.  Dad officially retired from the US Army in 1957, and drove with my Mom and four oldest sisters to New York...  lived on the second floor of a two family house in Queens, NY.  I was born in 1958, another sister in 1961, and, finally, his only son, John in 1963. As you can imagine, that 2nd floor apartment was quite crowded with 6 girls and 1 boy, so my parents bought their very first home in Floral Park, NY (my Mom is still there) in 1964.  My Dad worked in Manhattan, Forest Hills, and Garden City (all in NY) for different insurance companies.  With his disability he had to take a desk job...again, never complained about the pain we all knew he suffered with every day (in silence).  Dad was always the pillar of strength and always seemed to me to have a lot on his mind.  We were never, as children, to touch his foot locker or explore its contents, and I have always respected my father's privacy and wishes regarding his belongings.  Things weren't always so serious, though.  He loved the New York Mets, and especially loved the Football New York Giants! (heaven help you if you made a sound while Dad watched his Sunday football game!)..  Much more to follow, sir.  I am sure you will receive many points of view from my sisters and brother as well as my nephew, Joe (guess who he was named after?) Bisch.   I do hope I have not rambled on too much.  Suffice to say, that in life as well as long after his death, my Dad, Joe Largan, is still touching people's lives.
Hoping you and your family are well, Mr. Hensleigh,
Will stay in touch...Sincerely,   Anne Largan Balzac

 Donald Spears
 
DEAR BEN,
 
I GET MY E-MAILS FROM YOU OK.  I GET THE THUNDER BOLT OK.  HOWEVER MY E-MAIL ADDRESS AND ZIP CODE ARE LISTED WRONG IN THE 2004 ROSTER.  MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IS DGSNAKE@COMCAST.NET.  MY ZIP CODE IS 46804.
AIRBORNE REGARDS'
DONALD G. "GEORGE". SPEARS 
Tom McAvoy
 
I just heard from Morris McDowell (I think a cousin of Pippen H- company
KIA )  He was able to get in touch with Fred Harman,  a new telephone
number 803-754-0239,  Don't know why the telephone number change??? Tom
McAvoy
Virgina Jorgen
 
Joe:    I read your message on Mail Call and you mentioned that your
father, Joe Largan, was at Letterman Hospital in San Francisco.   I am
interested because
my husband, 1st Lt. Andy Jorgen, was there at the hospital.   He was
there for about a year and a half, after being wounded on his way to the
Battle of the Bulge.   Was your father there around that time?     Andy
was in E-Company from the beginning of the 517th.
Virginia Jorgen

Sent: 10/16/2004 12:40:57 AM
Subject: Re: Joe Largan

 Dear Mr. Hensleigh,
Thank you, sir, for responding to my e-mail.  I was more than happy to add some details about my father for you.  My mother would probably be happy to receive a letter from you regarding any memories or information shared with other members...it is funny, but my Mom is a very busy woman; it seems you must make an appointment with her to grab her for an occasion or a luncheon!!  She is very excited about all of this attention, and so many of your members who remember my Dad. My mother became quite emotional when I mentioned that you had made contact with me and with my nephew, Joe Bisch.   They were married for 54 years before he passed away in Feb. 2001.  Thank you for your comments regarding my Dad having lived such an exemplary life under such dire circumstances...any of you who survived the Depression as well as went to WWII are to be commended and admired for your unfailing strengths.  We are hard pressed to even measure up to all of you, sir. I don't know if you knew this, but my father grew up in an orphanage in New Jersey, and was actually in a seminary when he met my mother on a visit home.  (I guess she changed his mind about the priesthood!)
As it happens, just this evening I met my brother, John, coming home on the train...he said he has a ton of photographs that you would probably enjoy immensely. If you would like to post my letter on your website, please do so, sir.  I will try to answer any inquiries about my Dad that arise.  These communications with you have stirred some very happy memories for me, and have made me even more proud of my Dad (he never failed to seize an opportunity to say he was proud of me!)  God be with you and your family, Mr. Hensleigh.
Anne Largan Balzac
Howard Hensleigh
 
Note to Tom Reber,  It is a small world, Tom.  As you will see, several members of Joe Largan's family have found us through Mail Call.   They are chips off the old block.  Your father and Joe served as fellow platoon leaders (81 mortars and machine gun/bazooka) in Hq. 3rd from start to finish.  Howard Hensleigh

Dorothy Karl
 
From: Louis Karl
Sent: 10/15/2004 7:21:48 PM
Subject: Joe Largan

Hello, Mr. Hensleigh!
 
I'm enjoying the correspondence between you & my family.  Thank you for sending it my way.  I am daughter number three of his "six-pack" of girls.  We were in Camp Kilmer, NJ when I was born, but my earliest memories were of San Francisco.  I remember Dad holding me on his lap in the living room where we had a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
 
After daughter #4, my sister Kathy, was born, we packed everything up in our two-tone 1950-something Pontiac sedan and drove across the country to settle in Hollis, Queens.
 
Dad delighted in treating his kids to lollipops, a six-pack of Pepsi and a bag of Fritos every Friday Night.  It was a ritual.   
I remember when my brother John was born.  He posted signs up and down the block-- "King John the First!"
 
We've got many happy memories of Dad.  My favorite is the Father-Daughter dance at my high school when I was 16.  In spite of his bad leg, he was determined to out-dance everybody, and he did!  My sister Anne already told you that he never complained.  This is true.  In fact, he made his leg such a non-issue that we were only reminded of it when people meeting him for the first time quietly asked us on the side, "What happened to your father?"  It took a moment to realize what they meant.
 
His example helps me to get through things.  I tell myself, "I can do anything.  I'm Joe Largan's daughter."
 
Sincerely,
Dorothy Karl