Subj: Re: Newspaper
articles
Date: 4/4/2001 11:52:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:    historian@thedropzone.org (Patrick O'Donnell)
Reply-to: historian@thedropzone.org (Patrick O'Donnell)
To:    Ben517@aol.com
Ben,
I just want to thank you guys again for helping spread the word.  Everybody
from the 517 has really been very supportive regarding the book, as have the
other associations, but you guys are special.  
 
We have a great article in Washington Post on Thursday, it should be on their
website.
 
Thanks again,
 Pat
We have put the story from the Washinton Post in this "Mail Call"
Ben
 ______________________________________________________-
Subj: Re: Mail Call NO. 83
Date: 4/4/2001 8:27:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: CackyG
To: Ben517
Really enjoyed reading mail call.  The sayings from 1959 were great.  As
usual, you did a great job.  Thanks for all you do for the 517th.
Dot
_________________________________________________
Subj: email address change on roster
Date: 4/4/2001 10:57:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Perk517th
To: Ben517
      PLEASE CHANGE LES PERKINS , EMAIL ADDRESS TO
      perk517th@aol.com     THANK YOU, YOU ARE DOING A GRATE JOB.

            LES PERKINS
________________________________________________________________________

Subj:
Bronze Star Medal
Date: 4/4/2001 11:15:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:    littlebill01@msn.com (william cornett)
To:    Ben517@aol.com (Ben)
Ben;
My father, Ssgt. Joseph Cornett was awarded the Bronze Star on October 15th
1996. What do I have to do to get this listed on the web page?
Thanks for all the e-mail, dad would have enjoyed seeing all of this. You are
doing a great job for all of the members of the 517th.

Thanks Again;
Bill Cornett

Will take care of it.
Ben
_______________________________________________________________________

Subj:
Patrick O' Donnell Media Book Coverage
Date: 4/4/2001 11:19:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Tomx517
To: Ben517
Ben:
   Talked to Clark Archer this evening. Patrick O'Donnell called Clark and
told him that he was pleased with the media coverage for his new book as well
as the response to the book signing at the Springfield, VA Mall location of
Barnes & Noble Book Store. Patrick told Clark that the TV coverage for the
Springfield event would be covered in a forthcoming C-Span TV release that
will soon be available for viewing. Date is unknown but Clark will get a call
from Patrick when date is known. I will relay this info to you ASAP when
available.
Regards
________________________________________________________________________

Subj:
517th news
Date: 4/4/2001 11:35:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Genedie77
To: Ben517
Ben:
The Albuquerque papers had the story about the vet who received the Bronze
Star 56 years late. Too many similar stories, have come around recently.
The several recommendation as to where future reunions should be held are
interesting but seem to be getting nowhere. The East coast troopers like the
East Coast the boys out west want Reno or Los Vegas. I'm almost in the middle
and would like to see someone in Oklahoma City or Dallas come forward. It's a
tough preposition, perhaps we can come up with someplace at the reunion. Reno
and Los Vegas offers too much distraction with those machines. The East Coast
is too far away from many, so what to do?
With respect to that French medal for vets who helped liberate France, I can
read that only those who participated in the Normandy invasion qualify. It's
a bit confusing. Not overly important anyway. Lets see what develops.
Keep up the good work. Those mail calls are the highlight of my computer week.

Thanks for the news and interesting comments from the 517th family.
Gene
___________________________________________________________________-
From Washington Post about Beyond Valor

Washington Post
April 5, 2001
Fairfax Extra Pg. 9
Military Matters
By Steve Vogel
Airborne Vets Unearth Old Emotions In New World War II Oral History
When Patrick O'Donnell first approached Jack Trovato and asked him to talk
about his World War II combat experiences, the Airborne veteran told the
earnest young man to get lost.
"I told him no in no uncertain terms," said Trovato, a 75-year-old resident
of McLean who has never relished telling war stories.
O'Donnell, a Fairfax Station resident and 1992 graduate of American
University, has been fascinated with World War II history since he was a boy
and had been assembling oral histories from veterans for years.
O'Donnell didn't give up and, eventually, Trovato relented.
"I got to thinking, and I felt I had a responsibility to all the people who
were killed over there -- the hell those guys went through, only to get
killed and be buried in some Godforsaken place," said Trovato, who served
with the 17th Airborne Division in northern Europe. "There are very few of us
left who were there, and we owe it to our buddies to let people know what
happened."
Trovato told O'Donnell his story, and so did many other combat veterans. "A
lot of tears were shed over a lot of their stories," O'Donnell said.
The result is a book just published by Simon & Schuster, "Beyond Valor: World
War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat."
A number of those veterans turned out Saturday for a mini-reunion disguised
as a book signing and discussion at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in
Springfield.
The afternoon featured a belated presentation of the Bronze Star medal to
Francis Lamoureux, one of the veterans featured in the book. Lamoureux was a
Pathfinder from the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment who parachuted into
France early to mark drop zones for the main airborne effort in the Normandy
invasion. "They were at the tip of the lance on D-day," O'Donnell said.
The 174 men in the operation were awarded the Bronze Star, but Lamoureux was
detailed to duties elsewhere and missed the ceremony, and consequently never
received the medal.
The overdue recognition for Lamoureux was arranged after the book's editors
contacted the office of Gen. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, himself a paratrooper.
Lamoureux was presented with the medal by his former commanding officer,
retired Col. Louis Mendez, an Arlington resident who served as a battalion
commander with the 508th during the war.
O'Donnell estimates that he has interviewed more than 700 veterans since
1992. He expanded his efforts by creating a Web site called
www.thedropzone.org. O'Donnell made use of a new technology for gathering
some oral histories: About 30 percent of the book is made up of what he calls
"e-histories."
But face-to-face interviews provided the most emotion, including the one
conducted with Trovato, held at a McDonald's near George Mason University.
"He went out and found us, and he did a great job," Trovato said.
___________________________________________________________________
Subj: 75th Inf Div
Date: 4/5/2001 11:15:44 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From:    donaldm@thestreetfamily.com (Don Street)
Reply-to: donaldm@thestreetfamily.com (Don Street)
To:    Ben517@aol.com
Ben. I happened to pull up a story concerning the 517the when we were in
Beligum, the 75th stated several things that I do not believe. In the town
they are citing, G company
relieve one of their units. That was the first hot chow we had
the pleasure of enjoying, Germans were dropping mortars on
the town (115mm I think). The 75th boys were just lined up
for chow and as soon as the barrage began, they took of,
leaving that nice hot chow for the benefit of  us G Company
troops who did't seem to mind the shelling. You can search
possibly for the 75th Infantry and bring this story us. We
saved their ass to my estimation. Regards Don Street,
ex 3rd Platoon, G. Company. dstreet@azaela.net an Okie
from Muskogee
_________________________________________________________

Subj: Re: Roster
Date: 4/5/2001 11:27:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From:    donaldm@thestreetfamily.com (Don Street)
Reply-to: donaldm@thestreetfamily.com (Don Street)
To:    Ben517@aol.com
Hi Ben, it really does'nt make any difference, I get EMail
from both addresses. My son put me on his web site and
if my mail is addressed either way I will get it. The additional
address was to keep junk mail from getting to me. Thanks,
Ben, for consideration, and I think you are doing a whale of
a job with your EMail news, I really appreciate it. Incidently,
Ed Flannery and myself were in the same Company (G)
Regards, Don Street

I was fortunate to meet Ed Flannery at the Florida reunion.
Ben
___________________________________________________________________
Subj: Re: Mail Call NO. 83
Date: 4/5/2001 12:45:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Genesir
To: Ben517<FONT COLOR="#400080" SIZE=2 FAMILY