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  family of Lt Walter R Raich - 175th Engineer
Posted by: Walt's Daughter - 08-10-2015, 08:46 AM - Forum: LOOKING FOR... - No Replies


Received this letter this summer. If anyone has any information about Lt Walter R Raich from the 175th, please get in contact with me and I shall pass the info forward to Jo Ann.

 

 

Have record letters found in one of my families old homes, addressed to either my uncle or great grandfather …. They are from Lj Walter R. RAICH. All six letters are titled “Italy”. Information related is everyday trivia re weather, thank you’s, tell everyone hello. Mentions being very busy, very tired and always raining … that he is hoping to find a girlfriend but not having much luck with the ladies ..

The first letter is dated Mar. 21, 1944 and the last is dated Aug. 26, 1944

I cannot find any info on Walter R. RAICH … would like to talk with his family and share these letters. Some old tin-types were also discovered, but from a previous era.

Hope you can help. Thanking you

Jo Ann Merrill

 

 

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  Just a Common Soldier
Posted by: Walt's Daughter - 08-10-2015, 08:32 AM - Forum: TV Shows, Film, Videos - Replies (1)


http://www.justacommonsoldier.com/

 

Words unnecessary. Beautifully done.

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  Vets gets to see film of himself decades after the war
Posted by: Walt's Daughter - 08-10-2015, 07:56 AM - Forum: Famous/not so famous Audio & Video Clips from the War - Replies (2)


This is utterly incredible. Watch this newsclip and subsequent bomber film footage from the war. A veterans gets to see himself decades later.

 

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid34762914001?bctid=672454611001

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  August 2015 - Sorry for my absence/neglect
Posted by: Walt's Daughter - 08-09-2015, 07:25 AM - Forum: MARION'S NEWS n UPDATES n BABBLINGS... - Replies (12)


Okay my chance to babble this morning...

 

I know some of you are probably thinking, oh where has the Grand Poobah been as of late. Well...seems I have a lot on my plate right now. No, no, nothing bad, for no one is sick, etc., I'm just involved a in myriad of projects (what else is new) and simply can't keep up anymore.

 

I look at my Google inbox, I look at my forum and I see so many unanswered or hurried replies to people and I'm just frustrated with myself. I keep thinking of all these wonderful folks coming to me and wanting my help and I have kept them waiting. I feel so bad and needed to sit down this morning and apologize for my absence and thoughtlessness. Trust me, it was not and is not intentional. This website is my lifeline!

 

We all go through periods were everything seems sort of jumbled. You feel overwhelmed and wonder, how the hell am I ever going to get caught up? You get to the point where you simply shove everything aside and think, well tomorrow. Unfortunately that tomorrow becomes another tomorrow and then another week goes by and good lord, an entire month has slipped away. Sigh!

 

So this week, slowly but surely, I am catching up with my email correspondence, doing some research for people and checking out the new posts, here. Oh please, please, please know that each and everyone of you is important to me and I DO love getting your letters and I DO love having new members join our wonderful little (maybe not so little anymore) group. If I haven't replied to you in a timely manner, it's not that I didn't care and I will try and make it up to everyone starting today.

 

I guess I have to sit back and make some changes and make some hard decisions. As I stated above, I am involved in so much; that's just the person I am, but I began weighing the pros and cons on my reality scale this week and said, whoa woman, something has to give and it certainly won't be my WWII website, forum, documentary, visits with my veterans, etc., etc. But Tuesday evening when I meet with my parks and rec board (I am chairperson), I am seriously thinking of stepping down and handing my position to another. While I don't want to waste your time with my droning, I feel it's important for all of you to know what else is going on behind the scenes.

Ah, thanks for bearing with me, but I'm sure others have gotten involved in community work have been members of boards, etc. It's a lot of work and I have gotten a lot of joy from it, but it's also a headache and consumes so much of my time. Let's face it, there are too few volunteers. Too many people offer to help, but when the time comes around, they are nary to be seen, so I wind up doing so much of the work myself and it's consuming me. I got so frustrated and overwhelmed on Tuesday, I had to fight back the tears; I was having a meltdown. So unless something changes for the better and I get more assistance from my board members and the community, I am calling it quits.

 

You have to put your efforts into what gives you the most bang for your buck, and I ain't talkin' the almighty green dollar. I'm talking about putting your heart and soul into something, knowing that it's touching people and making a difference and being appreciated. You can't spread yourself too thin, for sooner or later something else suffers and that's where I am right now. So when Tuesday rolls around, I need to get this off my chest and address my board members. I have a strong feeling that no one will WANT to take over my position and sadly, we will wind up dissolving our non-profit. I don't know, but I know I can't keep going in my current direction. It's taking it's toll on me. I can see and feel it.

 

I'm still running my computer company and taking care of my web clients, repairing Window computers and working with my local community ads, info and event cable channels. I enjoy the work and will keep doing what I'm doing.

 

I got back to writing my children's book, The Story of Q, which was quietly waiting for me to pay attention to it once again. I started dabbling with it a few years back and other then adding a few words every now and then, it also fell by the wayside. However I am writing like a possessed fiend this week, thanks to my buddy Karla, who inspired me with some beautiful watercolor illustrations. She is an artist extraordinaire and her latest venture was into the world of watercolors. She wrote to me a couple of weeks ago after I had commented about her gorgeous displays on Facebook, and said, hey, send me what you have so far and let's see if it works. Well, it did and not only is she the right illustrator for me, our collaboration fueled my imagination and not only did I add chapters, but went back added some depth to what I already had. Yes, I'm a happy camper and if this keeps flowing through my blood the way it has over the last two weeks, then the completed story will come to fruition within the next month.

Of course I have my perennial and vegetable gardening to keep me busy. I did a major overhaul of my English garden earlier this spring, and that took up a large amount of my time in April and May. It was a lot of work, but needed to be done and I'm so glad I put the time and effort into it. By doing a LOT of work right now, it saves me time and effort in the long run. I am providing some pics for you of my August gardens, so you can see the fruits of my labors. Yes, another labor of love. It is therapeutic.

Well, I guess I have rambled on for too long, but trust me, I needed to do this, this morning. I felt I had to address you and keep you in the loop. I do feel better having done so and I thank your for putting up with my absence and today, my running of the mouth.

Love and hugs to all my long time members and to all my new members. Honesty has it rewards.

;):wub:

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  9th Armored Engineer Bn
Posted by: Walt's Daughter - 08-07-2015, 02:20 PM - Forum: WWII ENGINEERS - Replies (1)


Received this email this week.

 

 

WATT, Jack B.
1921
1944
Cpl 9th Armored Eng WWII; Repatriated May 1949
SCWB
My Uncle jack died in the early days of the Battle of the Bulge. Dec 18 or 19th, 1944 I have heard his unit only lost 10 guys. Jack was the swim instructor for the Battalion back in LA before the shipped over on the Queen Mary(?)
Jack was very muscular , a football player, tall over 6'4" and a man of great compassion and character.
He and my dad were orphaned in 1939 when he was 16 yrs old and survived alone in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania until they were "taken in" by a local pastor.
His widow, though she remarried, kept his medals and a scarf he bought for her in Paris; giving them to our family when she passed away. Her son not related to Jack said he felt like Jack was his own father - She loved him that much.
I have asked for his war record to get any more details of his last days.Unfortunately the records may have been in the fire that destroyed the records of so many.
My hope is to visit the site where he could have been KIA. I would very much like to place something of remembrance for my Uncle Jack.
I plan to travel to Bastogne on Friday September 4th 2015 and would like to get as much info about the 9th Armored Engineers between Dec 16 - 20th,1944.

 

 

 

 

So I am doing a bit of research for her, including sending her the link to the STATES Veteran's Admin, so she can contact them for records. Below find related links. Will add to this as I go.

 

 

 

http://www.9tharmored.com/

 

http://www.history.army.mil/documents/eto-ob/9ad-eto.htm

 

http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/eng/0009enbn.htm

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/9th-Engineer-Battalion/122347161121274

 

http://www.globeatwar.com/article/us-9th-armored-division-liberation-western-czechoslovakia-1945

 

http://www.battleofthebulgememories.be/stories26/32-battle-of-the-bulge-us-army/551-ccb-9th-armored-division-battle-of-the-bulge.html

 

http://www.lonesentry.com/gi_stories_booklets/9tharmored/

 

http://www.allworldwars.com/The%20Remagen%20Bridgehead%20March%201945.html

 

Rhine River Crossing - 9th Armored Eng Bn - pdf

 

https://www.flickr.com/people/9thenginnerbattalion/

 

 

 

 

Also recommending that you contact the Army Corps of Engineer's Office of History in Alexandria, VA and NARA in Maryland, for they would have unit records from the war. Also

 

Fort Leonard Wood - Office of Engineer History
Historian, U.S. Army Engineer School
320 MANSCEN Loop, Suite 043
Ft. Leonard Wood, MO 65473
573-563-6365

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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