Interesting world - New friend in Belgium

[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