Hi Ben,
Leo passed away today very peacefully. We were going to take him home
tomorrow and I told the doctor I was worried about the transporting him/ Hospice
was coming in and had a bed and oxygen set up just today. It sure was a blessing
that it happened before the move.
There will be no funeral and the family will do what they want for memory
of their wonderful family. We are a very private family and they know well our
wishes.
I will keep in touch with all our friends thru your E-mails who have
already giving us their blessings.
Thanks for carrying on and now we know he is to rest and no more
suffering.
Best wishes to you and Fran and all the 517th folks.
Joyce
Ben:
Reference: WWII Parachute Jump Certificates for 517
PIR Members
I talked to Dick Seitz and
Russ Brami (Co.E) on this subject today. As far as the 2nd Battalion is
concerned we are in agreement that no Parachute Jump School Certificates were
issued to individual members of the 2nd Battalion when the Battalion took the
new unqualified members of the Battalion to the Parachute School at Fort
Benning, Georgia in 1943. The Officers and NCO Cadre of the 2nd Battalion were
previously qualified and may or may not have received Parachute Qualification
Certificates prior to their assignment to the 2nd Battalion. The newly qualified
jumpers of the 2nd Battalion had their individual parachute wings pinned
on them by their Company Officers and it was duly noted that they were fully
qualified parachutists by entries on each individuals Form 20 Record and by
517th Parachute Regimental Special Orders none of which are available at the
present time. There is a photo in our 517th Web Site that shows then 1st Lt.
John J. Lissner of Co. F pinning the individual newly acquired parachute wings
on members of Co. F after graduation from the Parachute School. This is the way
we did it in the 2nd Battalion.
I believe that the 1st
Battalion of the 517th PIR, which preceded the 2nd Battalion at the
Parachute School, followed the same procedure however Bill Boyle who was the 1st
Bn CO can attest to what procedure they used.
The 3rd Battalion of the 517
PIR had a completely different situation as they did not have the opportunity to
fill the Battalion with new unqualified personnel as did the 1st and 2nd
Bns. They received their
new incoming personnel as fully qualified parachutists
from the Parachute School Personnel Pool. They may or may not have received
Parachute School Graduation Certificates depending upon on the manner in which
they were assigned to the Parachute School prior to assignment to the 3rd
Bn. 517 PIR. Bill Pencak and Howard Hensleigh of the 3rd Bn. are better
informed on this subject than I am and I feel certain they would be able more
details on this subject.
I believe that it might be
possible for family members to obtain a copy of a Parachute School Graduation
Certificate either from the Parachute School at Fort Benning, Ga. or we might be
able to reproduce a suitable replica from the 517th PRCT Association. This will
need to be looked into by the Association and Members advised
accordingly.
As regards to obtaining the
parachute wings this can be easily done by using the computer, contacting the
82nd Airborne Division Museum at Fort Bragg or better yet write or call for a
Military Catalog from Phillips Publications at P.O., Box 168, Williamstown, NJ
08094 or phone at 609-567-0695 or Fax 609-561-4967. They have the parachute
wings, 517th PIR and 517th PRCT decals and other airborne items of interest.
Regards, Tom Cross
Walt Smith
Cher Ben et al:
Having
served with good old 517th PIR as a combat team member from Toccoa through the
Belgian bulge thence to U.S.A. as a stop on the way to the CBI that did
not materialize, I am quite certain I made 'chute jumps on that memorable
tour. Frankly, contrary to others' memories, I do not remember how many
jumps I made. In practice, the 8th practice jump is memorable only because
it became indelible in my mind because it came out of it's packing as a tangled
mess with about a third of the canopy open. (I used the reserve to
supplement the slowing effect.) No offense to anyone, I mention this
because the fact that we did jump is all that is important in my mind. The
same goes with awards. It is perfectly OK in my thinking if any
jumper pursues the idea of obtaining a 'jump certification', but it is just not
as important to me as the experience.
Airborne! Walt. W Smith
Hq 1st
Merle McMorrow
Ben:
The 460th was issued small diplomas with wording essentially the same as
contained in your e-mail. It was signed by
James Anderson, Lt. Col., Field Artillery Commanding. My book
contains a copy of one.
See you in Savannah.
Merle
Ray Estrella
Hi Ben, am again asking for a big favor . Am trying to make contact with my
old Special Forces CO--Col Gene Frice. I don't know if he is on travel. So if
you hear from could you please ask him to contact me Thank You -- J.R. "Ray"
Estrella (Also Son-in-Law of Bert Duran "A" Company-517th P.I.R.)
Juliana Stonis
Hi Ben,
I too (like Chris) would be very interested to get my dad's
(John A.
Stonis) jump certificate. I hope there is a way to do
this.
Thanks,
Juliana Stonis
Gene Frice
Ben,
A note to all troopers who did not receive
their jump certificate upon completing their "relaxing" several weeks
vacationing in the Georgia sun. That shortcoming was likely due to one of those
Administrative errors (like friendly fire).
I will
endeavor to see if that administrative error can be corrected. If they can do it
for a former LT, and a former PFC, after some 20 years (1943 to approx 1963),
why worry about 62 years? After all Kerry got his Silver Stars and Purple
Heart.
If one (or kin) of a departed member desires)
to become part of the "Certificate Battle Team" please email or write me
(address in roster) and I will prepare a collective list. If everyone bugs them,
on an individual basis, we will get nowhere.
All we
can do is try.
Gene Frice
Claire Giblin
Hi, Ben -
What is Eric's email address? He has now written
twice, and it's nice to hear from him.
I understand totally that
they can't come, but I'd like to get a copy of the
program that they are
presenting so that the troopers here can get the idea of what they do over
there. Between that and the pictures, I think it'll be a nice part of the
reception that Howard wants Dad to do for our foreign guests.
Claire
*************
Perhaps Merle has Eric's email address.--Ben