From: Ben517
Sent: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 3:38:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Subject: MAIL CALL NO. 993 517TH PRCT- OCTOBER 13, 2005

 
70 Pleasant St. Cohasset, MA.02025 *781 383 0215 * Mail Call : Ben Barrett  Ben517@aol.com
 
Hello,
 
Glad to hear from our Belgian and French friends.
 
Ben
Website                                   www.517prct.org  
Mail Call                                  517th Mail Call
Mail Call Archives                    www.517prct.org/archives
Roster                                     www.517prct.org/roster.pdf
Recent website additions:
The Schmidt Bergstein Attack by Myrle Travers, F Co.
January 22-25, 2006
Bradenton, FL
 Copies of Paratroopers' Odyssey can be purchased for $22.50 from Bob Christie.  390 301 Blvd. W. Unit 10C, Bradenton, Fl. 34205
Arnold and Irma  Targnion
 
Hello Ben, hello to our dear friends of AMERICA?
Excuse us if we did not write from a while. In Belgium like everywhere, the retired persons are very busy ! In september, we had the peasure to welcome a 75th Div. veteran, 291° Infantry who fought in Grand_halleux, his name is Stanley Cruff. He was a bit disappointed because he could not recognize the fields, the woods, the farms and a certain bridge. The bridge was distroyed durring the battel and rebuilt later. Of course, the things change after 61 years. Eddy Monfort spent the afternoon with Stanley and his wife. With Maria, we also attend a ceremony in Lierneux as a monument was dedicated in the forest to pay homage to a young pilote, 23 years old, who was killed on 16 september 1944; his name was Charles Page, belgian veterans with flags, belgian soldiers attented the ceremony and we were very happy to meet Major Titi Soo from the Office of Defense Cooperation in Belgium - USAF- who came from Brussels to represente the USA; a very nice and kind young Lady. She promised to attend our ceremonies in January 2006; By now, we are preparing the ceremonies of november. THe sacred way on november 8th as we pay homage at all the belgian and american monuments in this area. On november 11, the Armistice day with a Mass of souvenir and ceremonies at the monuments with Anthems and flowers. We often think of you and of this very special days we spent in Savannah and of your kindness to us. Our Love to all of you. Amitiés à nos amis français qui auront bientôt des nouvelles d'Ardenne. We have been so sad for all those poor people of MIssissipi and Louisina. The belgian and french TV showed the disaster of the hurricane. We could watch the news about that every day. dreadful .Life is so hard sometimes. We do hope you are well and we send our best wishes from Ardenne. Arnold and Irma TARGNION
PATRICK CHRISTMAN (Grandson of Bob Cooper )
 
Ben,
     I need you to change  my e-mail address to Cakes2112@fuse.net. My AOL address is no longer any good! Thanks!
 
Patrick Christman
Never Forget
Dec. 7 1941
Sept. 11 2001
Mike Kane
 
Hi Ben.  I just read the email from Lance Anderson and thought I recognized the name Eric Anderson from my dad's Co. D photos that you have posted on the website.  Jim McWilliams id'd Eric at the top/right of the group marked "collage 1".  Here's the link to all the photos:
 
 
I wanted to pass that info along to Eric and Lance if they hadn't already seen it. 
 
Best regards,
 
Mike Kane 
Patricia and Roland Orengo
 
Hello Ben,
 included some pictures of the area of Sospel took last saturday for your website !
 
we have seen the mail call of Lance Anderson and we are interested to have this audio CD of the General's speech.
Lance Anderson has to tell us which is the amount we have to transfer to his bank account to "buy" it.
thanks to let him know our request.
 
Best wishes to all of you
Patricia and Roland Orengo
Sospel, France
Lance Anderson
I will send you both the DVD and the audio CD.  The DVD has a movie about the 517th and a video of the General's speech.
 Lance
Bruce Fisher
My name is Bruce Fischer, My grandfather John Mounce F. Co. would like to hear from you. He can be contacted through my email  fischer@onecliq.net
Joe Miller
 
Some typists are not as competent as others!!  Alice Goodman will visit in Astoria Oct 16, not Oct 9th as previously written--Joe Miller
Nila Gott
 
Hi Ben,
 
I so enjoyed the reunion and I am looking forward to Portland.  It is okay with me to put the article in mail call.  I will forward this to BB.
 
Nila
Howard Hensleigh
 
Dear Ben:
The story is tough on McElroy who is the goat. He went to the hospital in S. France and did not come back to the unit. One rumor was that he became a courier for State Department. Harger is sure he saw and talked with him briefly while Harger attended Michigan State. He says McElroy was driving a Coca Cola delivery truck. He tried to maintain contact, but McElroy disappeared. In a recent Mail Call, Harger gave McElroy credit for shooting a sniper who killed a couple of G Co. men in an attack on a S. France town.
Years ago we were more delicate when we wrote things about men in the outfit. I have gotten so I say it like it was. Most of my quotes in recent books have come from Mail Call where they were first published. If Nila has a big problem with the story appearing in Mail Call, I will go along, but have no problems with it myself.
Keep up the good work. Howard H.
Howard Hensleigh
Here it is:
Some wag in the transportation department of the Army must have gotten a kick out of boarding the 2,000 troopers of the 517th PIR with 200 WACs for a romantic cruise across the Atlantic. The troopship was the luxury Grace liner, the Santa Rosa. The other units of the Combat Team were not so fortunate. The 460th and 596th made the trip to on the relatively sterile Cristobal.
Back to the Santa Rosa. The Paratroopers' Odyssey on page 21 contains a paragraph that does not do justice to the romantic escapade of a group of G or former G Company lieutenants. Lt. McElroy, was enamored with the thought of a shipboard romance. The brain trust of the sting operation was Russ Johnson who later became regimental S-1. He observed McElroy preening himself on deck and started writing him love notes with his left hand. The fictitious young lady admired the lieutenant's military bearing. In one of her notes, she asked if he would wear something white around his neck so she could more easily pick him out on deck. Mac could not borrow a white scarf from one of the Air Corps replacements aboard so did the best he could. He wore a white towel. This really stirred the young lady's heart strings. It also stirred the imagination of the lieutenants planning the skullduggery. When the love notes had fanned the flames in the young man's heart to a crescendo, the young lady suggested meeting one afternoon in the Lt's. "stateroom". (These staterooms which housed two people before the War had bunks from floor to ceiling for 14 lieutenants.) Since everyone was out on deck, McElroy gladly accepted.
The next step took some ingenuity on the part of the plotters, as well as some cooperation of several members of the WAC contingent. Don't get the wrong idea.. The virtue of none of the WACs was in danger. Lt. Dick Spencer was selected as the lovelorn WAC. He needed a WAC uniform, some undercover equipment such as a bra and a couple of grapefruit to go with it. Although Dick was a graduate of Iowa U and had a couple of years in the Army, he could have passed for an eighteen year old. In his WAC's cap made up with rouge and lipstick, he looked the part. All was set for the entrance of McElroy. He appeared right on time and was embraced with an steamy kiss.
Just then the stateroom door opened. Lt. "Boom-Boom"Alicki, the 517th's MP on board who had scared the daylights out of the recruits arriving at Toccoa, boomed, "Lt McElroy, you have a WAC in your room. You will stand trial before the ship's captain." He took the lovesick Lt. by the arm and led him away toward the bridge. In route he met Mel Zais who asked what he was doing with one of his officers. Boom-Boom replied that he was on his way to stand trial before the ship's captain for having a WAC in his room. In a feigned effort to save his officer from destruction, Mel persuaded Boom-Boom to investigate the matter further, back in the room. When the door opened, Lt. McElroy's thirteen roommates greeted him with one word.
"SUCKER!!!"