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News
From The
508
APRIL 2009 |
AIRBORNE
AWARDS WEEK A HUGE SUCCESS – While memories of DON LASSEN were in
everyone’s mind, his longstanding traditional week of airborne
ceremonies and celebrations apparently went off without a hitch.
LAWRENCE
JEFFRIES (HQ 3rd) received the 508th Man Of The Year award while his
wife and daughter beamed on the sidelines. Also attending were 508ers
ROCK MERRITT; NORB STUDELSKA; and BOB SPEERS whose daughter PAM SPEERS
accompanied him. JAN SILVER (widow of WALT, Co C) was there as well.
Family and Friends members ELLEN PETERS, LTC ELIZABETH COBLE and MIKE
FEEKO also attended.
After
the awards banquet, ROCK presented LARRY with a inlaid wooden memento
box made by 508th veteran TOM NORTHROP whose handicraft is always
appreciated.
CONDOLENCES
– AARON LAMSON, 34-year-old grandson of ERNIE LAMSON (Co A), went
missing recently while surfing at a location known as “Crack 14” in
Anahola, Hawaii. Aaron was reported as having lost his surfboard at 1:14
pm on March 13, 2009 and has not been seen since. A massive three-day
shoreline search mounted by firefighters and rescue specialists as well
as aerial searches by Coast Guard C-130 aircraft and helicopters was
unable to locate Mr. Lamson. Heartfelt sympathies go out to Ernie and
his family. Condolences may be sent to Ernest and Charlene Lamson, 1600
Arundel St., #205, St. Paul, MN 55117.
ACCIDENTAL
DEATH CORRECTION – PVT JAMES DEATON has long been listed on our website
as having died on December 9, 1943 at Camp Mackall, presumably due to a
chute failure during a practice jump.
“JAMES
DEATON and I were close friends and in the 2nd
Platoon, Company I,” reports BOB CHISOLM (Lt. Col. Ret). “He lived in
Arkansas and I was from Texas. Whenever we had a furlough or pass that
would allow us to go home, we travelled by train together and he would
get off in Little Rock and I would go on to Dallas.
I know
for fact that he was not killed in an aircraft or jump accident. He was
killed when an explosive charge that he was setting for a training
exercise exploded prematurely at our training area in Camp Mackall. He
and I were both graduates of the Demolition School and I never fully
understood exactly what happened. Actually, at the time the accident was
pretty hush-hush and I was never aware of the exact circumstances.”
Thanks
to BOB for clarifying the circumstances of JAMES’ untimely death which
preceded the regiment’s departure for the ETO by less than three weeks.
JAMES
now rests in the Oakland Cemetery in his hometown of Little Rock,
Arkansas.
SEARCHING
– KRISTEN (MONT) DAMES recently wrote that she had “stumbled across
[our] newsletter in researching a football game in Frankfurt that took
place between the 508 PIR and the 7th Army/3rd Infantry team coached and
quarterbacked by my grandfather, TOMMY MONT (alive and living in
Phoenix.)
KRISTEN would appreciate receiving any information that members of the
508 team or soldiers who were at the game may have.
“My
grandfather,” she states, “has greatly enjoyed remembering his time in
Europe playing on the intra-army teams … and smiled at the ‘Ike won’t
like this…’ memory featured in your newsletter.”
Send
any information you may have to KRISTEN (MONT) DAMES at Dames@mac.com or
call her at 314 776 4899. Alternatively, her postal address is 2519
South 12 St, Saint Louis, MO 63104.
MORNING
REPORT FUND DRIVE A SUCCESS – A recent plea for donations to support the
acquisition of 17 months (January 1944 through May 1945) of 508th
Morning Reports has been very successful. Almost all of the nearly $1300
initially fronted by DICK O’DONNELL has been recovered. Any money
received that may exceed this amount will be placed in the treasury
reserve fund supporting the 508th web site.
The
original reports were received from the National Archives as microfilm
images that were then converted to digital form as PDF files. The
resulting files contain more than 6200 pages of reports for the twelve
companies and sometimes include the band as a separately reported
entity.
Transcribing
the pertinent data will be a huge task but will generate the best
possible record available of personnel transfers into and out of the
regiment as well as wounds, injuries and deaths that occurred during the
period.
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SEND NEWS FOR THE COLUMN
TO:
Dick O’Donnell
760 Conestee Drive
Melbourne, FL 32904
PH: (321) 759-6174
e-mail:
Jumpmaster@508PIR.org
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