Hello,

I have to be notified if you wish to be on my Mail Call roster. You also have to make sure that your server can handle it and it is not returned because your mail box is filled. I prefer not to get mail returned to me. Three strikes and you are still out.

Ben

Reunions
Save the Dates!

Annual West Coast Party 2005
April 10-16, 2005
Palm Spring, CA

2005 Biannual Reunion
August 15-19, 2005
Savannah, GA

Recent website additions:
PFC Louis Ferraiolo, B Company

Helen Beddow

Please post this on Mail Call for hotel registration for the Savannah Reunion.

The Reunion will be held at the Hilton Savannah DeSoto Hotel located at 15 East Liberty Street, which is in the Historic District of Savannah. After much negotiation, we were able to get you in the heart of the Historic District for $89.00 per night plus tax. Also, in our negotiations, we were able to get you free covered parking at the hotel. This is especially good since other hotels would not go below $10.00 per day for parking. There are 7 RV spaces located about a block from the hotel, and these will also be free on a first-come, first-serve basis. There are also 3 RV camping areas in the Savannah area, one being a State Park. If anyone is interested in that, please contact us by phone (912) 925-2766 or email HBeddow@cs.com.

The Hilton Savannah DeSoto number for reservations is 1-800-426-8483. If this number is busy, it will roll over to the national 800 number. When registering, be sure to ask for the 517th PRCT Group. If you wish to register online, the address is:
www.hilton.com with the code being 517

Rooms are blocked off for us from August 14 - 21. If you are coming in prior to the 14th, please let us know in order for you to get the group rate. The cute-off date for the group rate is July 15, 2005.

See you in Savannah!!

Tom McAvoy

Hey Ben, I went in to have the ticker checked for another surgery and
damn, straight to emergency surgery for heart cauterization. Then
without touching the ground straight to open bypass surgery. (Makes me
totaled in wonder how I shoveled the driveway last snow-fall without
pain. I know the blower had a lot to do with it. Anyway I received a
4-way by-pass and am now back home, a little tired. Tom McAvoy

Bud Wyatt

Hello Ben,

I hope that you get this information in time.

Subject: FW: A COMPANY OF SOLDIERS IN IRAQ
Importance: High

For your information. According to our G-5, the Army assisted in making this production happen, and the feeling is that this is one Frontline program that does a good job of telling the Army's story.

Barbara Pate

The film A COMPANY OF SOLDIERS will be broadcast next Tuesday night (February 22) on PBS at 9 PM (check local listings). It is the soldiers' story of fighting in Iraq - a month in the life of the 1st Battalion of the 8th Cavalry stationed in South Baghdad. It was shot last November during one of the most dangerous times for that unit.

A COMPANY OF SOLDIERS was made by October Films under the umbrella of the PBS Frontline Series and we'd like to ask you to email this to everyone you know with a request for them to send it on to everyone they know. We are hoping to get as many US Military families to tune in. One word of warning is that the film graphically shows the risks and consequences of what it is to fight in Iraq - so if you haven't told your loved ones, they might be in for a shock.

One senior confidential source at the Pentagon who has seen the film told us: "It is compelling stuff. It proves once again that it is our Soldiers who are our best spokespeople. It is not only courageous filmmaking (both figuratively and literally), but it's also an example of very insightful filmmaking. The film captures our Soldiers' humanity, putting a human face on a very complex set of issues - that is priceless stuff."

More details can be found on the following web link:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/company/

Please pass this on to everyone in your notebook and your email list.

Robert Cohen

Dear Sir,

I am a friend of the 517th since 1984. (Escort by Jeep Association).

As I did in 1993 (Niagara Falls), I wish be present at your Convention in Savannah, to meet again many dear friends.

Let me know rates and conditions, program, and eventually reservation in De Soto Hilton, as "foreign participant".

I begin my trip in visiting my new granddaughter in Maine, and expect arrive in Savannah on August 16th.

Sincerely Your

Robert Cohen

Phil McSpadden

Hi Ben....I thought I had sent you a change of my e-mail address some time ago, but since I haven't received Mail Call for a while, I guess I had another 'senior moment' and forgot to notify you.

I made the mistake of responding to a request to fill out a survey form, and all of a sudden I was getting 60--80 e-mails a day from everyone wanting me to buy something or other....after weeks of trying to shut this out, I finally had to change my address... it is now: fairwayphil@thevillage.net. Please change your files, so I can get back into the system...thanks...phil mc spadden.

**********

Your new address doesn't work either Unless you empty your mail box.-Ben

Jesse Darden

Ben, I know that in the past we have had the friends
from Europe at our reunions. It seems to me that we
have had a fund established for people to contribute
to for their expenses. I am not in favor of using the
517th PRCT funds for this. I agree that if we are
going to spend money in this manner it should be for
"our own 517th Vets". I have contributed to such a
fund in the past & would be willing to do so again.
Thanks for letting me have my "say" Jesse Darden 460th
Hqts.

Matt Greene

Hi Ben,

We are moving to Sandy, Utah in March. Our internet will be canceled on
February 23rd. Please hold our mail until we get our new e-mail address. Thanks, Ben.

Matt Greene G.Co.