Interesting world - New friend in Belgium

[Walt's Daughter]

I love the Internet. I do, I do, I do!

 

Just recently, we had discussed the passing of Danny Marino, a very good friend of John McAuliffe. Danny is featured prominently on John's page here on our site.

 

Anyway, John and I were discussing Danny's Memorial Guestbook and he talked about a certain person name Stevenot, Gilbert who had signed the book. John said that Steve was a friend from Belgium and that he served as an interpreter during the war for General Bradley. Well I was intrigued.

 

You see I am currently reading A Soldier's Story by General Omar Bradley, so I was quite excited about talking to Steve. Later that same day I sat down and composed a letter and waited for a response. Well it didn't take long and not only did he respond, but sent me this wonderful photo that I have attached below.

 

Here are some excerpts from his letters:

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Hello ! Marion,

 

Glad to meet you on the web and it was a good idea of our common

friend John to give you my address. I met John for the first time in

Bastogne, but I knew him since a few years through the Golden acorn issue.

He is a nice and loyal friend and we often exchange messages.

At once congratulations for being the official historian of your

dad’s unit and you can be proud of your father who fought in my country

during that bitter campaign of the battle of the Bulge. With my old friend

Mitchell Kaidy, from Rochester we have been the promoters of a monument and

the four plaques dedicated, 9 years ago, to the great 87th infantry

division.

You are reading General Bradley’s book, and by a strange coincidence

I have it on my desk and indeed his story is very interesting. I am writing

a book and I have translated it fully from page 251 to 554.and mentioning

friends who played an important role on the way....

 

I was at the 6000 Hqs Special Troops as a billeting officer. The

same job I was doing for the Krauts during the war. That’s the price I pay

at the time because of the knowledge of four languages.

On September 9 1944, in my native village, south of the Province of

Luxembourg, I heard the sounds of an American entering the village and went

out to meet the Liberators and tell them the road had been mined during the

night by the Germans. They slowed down, but despite my warning the first

Sherman suffered some damage when a mine exploded. They removed two other

mines and the column could go on again.

As you know in life we never really know where our roads are leading

us- so it was with me. I was a good interpreter for the German, for I had to

do the dirty job, billeting, requisitions, in short to run with the hare and

hunt with the hounds. But in the American that was quite different...

 

With my warmest regards. Steve.

 

Attached : If it works you will have one of the very few pictures of the

incident with the first tank entering in my village. Sept 9 1944.

 

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I then received another email from him this morning:

 

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Dear Marion,

 

I hope you have received my message and its attachement. I had time to read

part of good pages written in memory of your father, and wiil come again on

it.. i just finished the translation of A Soldier's life. Part of it remained

in pen and ink since more than 15 years and now I have to complete the work

with more others stories of friends involved in the BOB and my own

experience.

Till soon. Wamest regards.

 

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Isn't this great? You know how excited I get regarding things like this. It is just so much fun and oh so very interesting to piece all of this history together especially when one has the chance to talk to those who were there and played intergral parts in the war. Here's the photo. It's a keeper!

[Walt's Daughter]

Got another letter from Steve this morning and he is truly a fascinating individual. Can't wait to find out more as our friendship develops.

 

I sat and wrote him a long letter back and gave him a brief idea of where the 540th were during the Ardennes/Alsace campaign. My letter is included below too.

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Dear Marion,

 

What a big surprise for me to discover those good pages on your webside

Thanks for being so kindful, I really appreciate and I think we are going to

forge a solid friendship. If you want to have an idea of the book i am

working on.It starts with the building of the US army,the planes, the ships,

the tanks-300 in 41 and 87.000 end 1945; just an exemple, the training in

the desert, and in cold countries, the shipment from Boston to England, the

training again in England, and why they the best soldiers in the world.The

forecast of good weather, the big Market garden, D Day the breaking from

Normandy to Bavaria, the role played by some good friends of mine, Boggess

first to brake the encirclement of Bastogne, the meteorologist Lloyd

Vanderman who predicted good weather Dec 23 44. A friend during almost 60

years? We were billeted in the same hotel in Wiesbaden Germany an d have

been hes guest many times in the States as he was mine in Belgium. The othe

rman the CO olf Eth Tan k Battaillon, the real Van guard of Patton 3d Army,

who was in touch with Mc Auliffe in Bastogne before the encirclement, anf

who wrote that new book Gasoline to Patton. A different war Also the high

wheels I met at the time, and after, tanks leaders...;.You tell what is of

high interest to you.So with my verbiage you already have a global. idea .

Now I would like to know, where was your father during the Battle of the

Bulge, if he came back in Europe after the war, the date of his

death...Perhaps some informations are mentionned on your website, but until

now i did not have time to read it fully.

And a igr surprise for you, they are no more coiins of the 6Oth anniversary

presented by our King at the Mardasson Memorial. But I can offer one to you

in memory of your father.

I am in the City hall of my town and have no time to be more lltterate.Not

corrected.

With my warmest regards and true frienship.

 

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Good morning Steve:

 

Nice to hear from you and am very glad that you are enjoying the pages on my site. Since it's inception a year ago yesterday (our first anniversary), I have amassed so much information that it is often difficult for me to keep up and stay ahead of the game. I often receive dozens and dozens and dozens of email and letters per week, and find myself trying to keep up with all my correspondence. I would have never dreamed it in a million years.

 

This October I am attending a 36th Combat Engineers' reunion and the gentleman, John Fallon, who co-runs it, has kindly invited the men and families of my dad's unit, the 540th, to share in the festivities. You see the 36th and the 540th were both part of VI Corps and pretty much shared the same history. My dad's group had their last reunion in 2002 or 2003, so I thought they'd like to get together with the members of the 36th. I hope at least a few of them will be able to attend. I am looking forward to my trip to Pennsylvania in October and can't wait to meet many of these men in person. Oh, you can find John's story on my site too. He was one of my very first contact's and the first person to really get me going. In actuality, he was the one who inspired me to come up with the VI Corps website. Until then, I just had a single page with a few facts on my dad and was yearning and begging for more info.

 

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/johnfallon.htm

 

I will give you a bit of background on my dad. I know there's a lot of info on the site and you probably have not had the time to read or digest it all yet. You asked where my dad's unit was during the BOB. My dad's unit was south of Bastogne during the Ardennes campaign. Well as far as I can ascertain from the records I currently hold, I will list some of the areas. I am waiting to obtain the morning reports, after-action reports, etc. and hope to have them in my hands by the fall of this year.

 

Here are some of the villages, cities, etc. I am trying to obtain a good map of the area they were in. If you know how I can get one, I would appreciate any help that you could offer. This time frame is from December 19th through January.

 

-constructed the Hirschland Bridge

-Niederbronn

-Merkwiller

-Langer Sturback

-constructed the Berthelming Bridge

-Woerth

-constructed bridges in Baerenthal, Mouterhouse, Zinswiller, Matstall, Zigelbourg, Bannstein and Schmalenthal

-clearing mines, operation of foundry in Reichoffen

-comprehensive survey including the Maginot Line and French Field Army fortifications in the area

-constructed a secondary MLR extending from the vicinity of Lembourg to Drachenbronn

-on Dec 31st a German planed strafed in a raid in the vicinity of Langensoultzbach and strafed the vehicle in which two members of the 540th were in, killing both

-on Jan 1st the entire 1st Bn was surrounded by enemy patrols and tanks

-from Jan 02 through Jan 14th were in the area that covered these towns: Baerenthal, Obersoultzbach, north of Phillipsbourg. They relieved the 125th Armored Engineer Bn, was in support of the 62nd Armored Inf Bn, etc.

-on Jan 14th at 2200 hours reg hq and H&S Co (my dad's) moved from Woerth to Raon L'Etape

-HQ's established in the following towns: Obersoultzbach, Bouxwiller, La Petite Pierre, Petersbach, Weiterswiller

-during January they too were in direct support of the 45th Inf Div - elements of the regiment were again employed as infantry units: Wimmeneau and Wingen

-on Jan 24th final reconnaissance's of the Vosges sector was complete and work begun in defenses. They also setup the Hagenau defenses. These defenses included miles of barbed and concertina wire, anti-tank mines, machine gun emplacements, etc.

 

Hope that gives you a pretty good idea. Sorry if it is kind of sketchy, but I wanted to give you a feel for the area. I have probably left out some things, but maybe from this, you can show me exactly where the 540th were during the Ardennes Campaign.

 

I really need to get back into the writing of my book, but as I stated, I am still waiting for tons of documents and for more info from the men themselves. I have a set of interview questions for the men that can be found on my site. One gentleman has already filled out the questioneer and it is a real treasure. I am planning on meeting him in person this summer. Can't wait. He still has the flag that he had in his hands when they landed on the beachhead of North Africa in 1942.

 

My dad was able to come home after the war and died when I was 12 years old in 1967. A very sad affair indeed. You can read more about dad's history on this page and view the photos he brought home too:

 

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/mydad.htm

 

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/photos.htm

 

More of their history (I still have a long way to go on the site) can be found here: Scroll down to the 540th section of the page

 

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/history.htm

 

I know you will probably not the time to read all of it right now because like myself, you have many projects going and not much time for reading! :-) But can be something you read in short spurts from time to time.

 

I hope I will be able to obtain a copy of your book when you complete it. My gosh it sounds so fascinating with what you have shared with me in your email. So many people whose lives touched one another and so many "bigwigs" or higher-ups that you and your friends got to meet. When I complete my book someday, I will gladly send you an autographed copy. I would love to have one of yours too.

 

Yes, I do believe we will forge a strong friendship across the water and when I get the chance to visit Europe, I will make a point to meet you in person someday. My dream is to cover the area that my dad was in from Sicily to Italy, to the coast of southern France, travel north in France up to the Vosges area, etc., cross the Rhine and end up in Germany. I hope God will bless us and allow us to complete this journey someday in the near future.

 

Well must run. Have to get ready for work and open up our country store at 9:00 AM. Till later my new friend.

 

Hugs from America,

Marion

[John McAuliffe]

Dear Marion I have been readng the exchange of letters between you and your new found friend Gilbert Stevenot....perhaps found through letters we exchanged ...I was able to read the history of your Dad through the links and also Steve's history using the links...You both have lots to tell...but, CONGRATULATIONS ! on your anniversary ...You've accomplished much in just one year...and i'm gratedful for enabling me to tell my story....Happy Anniversary and Keep up the Great Work.

Mac

[Walt's Daughter]

Hi Mac:

 

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a few lines. They mean a lot to me. And thanks for your heartfelt congrats on the anniversary of our site. It is a proud moment for me, not only because of the physical date, a date is a date, but because of the accomplishments and the friends I have made. That is really what it's all about.

 

Our circle has now expanded this morning because Steve has now hooked me up with another new friend from Belgium, Stan Bellens. Here is our exchange this weekend.

 

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Hello, Marion

My first name is Stan, I'am also a old friend from John Mac Auliffe, I knew him in 1984 and drove him in many places in Belgium at several times, Gilbert Stevenot wrote to me Two weeks ago, because he has knew "Mac" in 1996 He had

received some pictures from John, I have a lot of photos from John , taken in Belgium at every come back, he is a good fellow, and honest man. I don't know you, but Gilbert said I must write some words to you.

Best Regards Have Fun Stan Liège/Belgium

 

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Good evening Stan:

 

It is very late here, so I won't be writing too much this evening. Trust me I will write an longer letter later and I'm usually not at a loss for words. ha-ha!

 

It was so nice to get a letter from you and I'm delighted that Gilbert passed along my name and email address to you. John McAuliffe is a dear friend and though I have not had the pleasure of meeting him in person, we share many wonderful emails each month. It is an honor to know both men and I now also look forward to hearing from you.

 

Mac will be delighted that you wrote to me and now all of us can correspond. I'm sure we will have much to share, so feel free to write whenever you like. I hope you will take the time to read about my dad's history and the great histories behind the other men featured on my site. If you are so inclined, you can even join our forum/message board and chat with a lot of wonderful people who share a common love and interest of WWII.

 

Take care and thanks again for writing to me.

 

Warm regards,

 

Marion J Chard

Proud daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek

540th Combat Engineer WWII

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/

 

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Hello ! Marion !!!

 

What a wonderful mail, you have a real sense of humor, it was delightful. Many thanks !! I have been vey surprised to read that you don't know our good friend "Mac" , only by E-mails I have met him during a trip organized by VBOB, in 1984, at this era I was a member of the CRIBA (Centre de recherche et d'information sur la Bataille des Ardennes ) I will try to translate it in English - Center for Research and Information for Battle of the Ardennes !!!!!!!!!

John came back to Belgium several times . It was always a pleasure to pick up him at the Brussels Airport, drive him to his hotel and make plans to discover the differents places of combat accross the Ardennes My wife Denise has invited John several time for a meal with us, he was already my closer american friend

On September 7, 1944 the day of our liberation by the US Army , I was 12 and so happy and proud to se these young smiling soldiers I have put all of them in my heart for the rest of my life, it was the 3rd Armored Division with a company of the "Big Red One "

We were lodged in a Castle, because our famly house had been wrecked by american bombs, without killed or wounded, it was on May 11, 1944

Dear Marion, I apologized for my bad English , but I hope you will understand what I 'm trying to tell you This day is one my most beautiful days of my live, with my wedding and the birth of our daugther In 1978, the newspaper "La Meuse" had on its front page, the letter of an American Veteran from the 1st I.D - Big Red One who asked to the inhabitants of the town of Liège (Belgium ) write and send to him postcards or letters, I wrote to him a long letter to thanks him and all the American soldiers for the liberation of our town on September 8th, 1944, three weeks later I received a letter from him saying : Dear Stan, I received hundreds of postcards and letters from Liège, but all are in french, except yours, I shall be very happy if you accept to be my penpal, I reply Yes Ok, and our orrespondance has been finished in 1992 with the death of John F. Mickey, 1st US Infantry Division - 26th Rgt - B Company, he was living in Las Vegas.

He was a charming gentleman, we never speak about WW2, After he passed away, his son Dennis sent to me several sheets of papers with all his souvenirs from the landing in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and he Battle of the Hürtgen Forest where he had been wounded.

I have a lot of souvenirs from these years, they will be never forgotten.

Join at this mail some pictures of John, and I Have fun Good Sunday Best Regards Stan Bellens/Belgium

 

PS: I have not yet read the story of your beloved father, the link was not good !!!!!

 

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Dear Marion

 

Some pictures of John , My wife at 45, me at 55, John and Dennis Hastert, John and me '( blue shirt) in june 1996

Dedication of plaque in th evillages in which John has been involved in his first combats Moircy, Tillet, Pironpré

Bonnerue and so on Bye !!!!!

[Walt's Daughter]

John McAuliffe

[Walt's Daughter]

Attending a gravesite

[Walt's Daughter]

Congressman Hastert and John McAuliffe

[Walt's Daughter]

John in front of 87th Division sign

[Walt's Daughter]

Stan and flag

[Walt's Daughter]

Stan's wife