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TAPS:
HARRY HUDEC, HQ HQ Company, died March 28 2007, just five days after his
85th birthday. HARRY HUDEC was Mr Airborne. He did not miss many
airborne reunions or tours. He stood out in size, with his powerful
voice and with his commanding ways. Wherever paratroopers meet in the
United States, England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, HARRY is
well known.
HARRY
loved the Airborne with a passion. Before HARRY was discharged from
the 508th, he gathered the civilian address of all his friends and
keep up with them. He organized the Regimental Headquarters Company
for yearly reunions. He kept all the names and addresses and phone
numbers current and wrote newsletters to all of us. HARRY would add
a personnel note in longhand to express his love to each of us and
to our wives. HARRY kissed all the women and the men. He was a real
macho man who did not hesitate to show loving affection to males and
females.
As
HARRY'S activities were curtailed because of, Alzheimer's disease,
it was hard for HARRY to cope. He was not the same jovial happy
HARRY. However, on the day of HARRY'S death, Mrs ELVIRA (BABE) JUSEK,
widow of JIMMY JUSEK, and her son BOB, who was a paratrooper in
Vietnam, visited HARRY for two hours and reported: "HARRY was his
old self, laughing and joking and, as they left, he called out his
favorite farewell "Airborne!" An hour later BABE received word that
HARRY had died.
HARRY'S
ashes were buried with his beloved wife DOROTHY 1 (DORT) in Memorial
Park Cemetery, Sedalia, Mo, on April 6.
Condolences
may be sent to HARRY'S daughter and son-' in-law: SUSAN and DALE
BIRKO, 11676 Kile Road, Chardon, OH 44042. Memorials may be sent to:
Solon VFW Post 1836, 7040 Pettibone Rd, Chagrin Falls, OH 44063.
(Reported
by Mrs JIMMY JUSEK and JAMES W. PIPER.)
SlCK
CALL: Mrs LAURA PALMER, widow of LARRY PALMER, HQ 1st has had a
heart attack. The family is encouraged by her recovery progress.
(From TROY PALMER, relayed by GEORGE STOECKERT.) BILL CLARK, A Co
has been in the Carl Vinso VA Center, Dublin, GA. BILL said by phone
that he is getting excellent care and hopes to return home soon.
MARCEL BOLLAG, Hq Hq is at home recovering from a stroke. (I learned
about BOLLAG and CLARK through BRIAN SIDDALL, a friend of the
508th).
June
6, 1944, D-Day for the Allied Invasion of Normandy: I have learned
that some of you are planning to tour the battlefields of Normandy
and celebrate the historic events of Airborne History this June. I
know you will be full of stories and I want to hear them.
Book Review: The
Devil Within, by ALLAN H. STEIN with CYNTHIA STEIN, Publish America,
Baltimore, 2004. ALLAN STEIN served with the 508th, F Company in
Holland and in the Battle of the Bulge. According to a description
on the back of the book, STEIN earned a Bronze Star and 2 Purple
Hearts; the last Purple Heart was the result of an explosion which
left him permanently disabled. The book is fiction, however there
are some things that our Red Devils will recognize, such as "Wolton
Park" and "General Slim Jim", and "over the wall to Beaston" to find
a Pub to drink warm beer and to sing and to dazzle the British
ladies. The hero of the novel is EUGENE STONE, a big muscular Jew
from New York City, with a natural talent for fighting as a boxer,
as a bar room brawler and as a combat paratrooper. For the rest of
the story, it is up to you to find out by reading the book. I read
it in one afternoon without stopping. To obtain a copy, contact
ALLAN H. STEIN, 11 Briarpatch Place, Newport News, VA 23606-3731.
Essay by
ANGELINA SPEARA FULLER, with technical assistance from NORMA GARDINI
HICKMAN: ANGELINA SPERA FULLER has been writing for years about her
two families, the SPERAS and the FULLERS and about the history of
Madera, California and its farms and vineyards, and most recently
about her brother, Paratrooper LOUIS SPERA, I Company, 508th
Parachute Infantry Regiment and 551st Parachute Battalion. ANGELINA
contacted LOUIS' many friends from the Airborne Community and these
new friends are now a part of her beloved Airborne Family.
ANGIE's
friend NORMA HICKMAN, with the use of her computer has put together
195 pages of ANGIE's essay, including many interesting photographs.
The book has been published primarily for the immediate SPERA/FULLER
family. However, if members of her Airborne Family would like
a copy, you may contact ANGELINA FULLER, 413 Willis Ave, Madera, CA
93637-4372. Phone (559) 674-4345.
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