I have been writing to a young Belgian man, Jan Jasper, who lives in Essen, Belgium, up near the coast of Antwerp. He is interested in hearing from veterans of the Bulge. He is an aficionado of the Bulge veterans—very sincere!

He is married with 2 young boys ages 2 and 5. He drove from Antwerp all the way to Liege, Belgium to meet me at the “Remember Museum” 2 years ago.

He would like to hear from veterans who served in the Bulge—He does NOT sell your stories—He is very sincere!

His address is:
Jan Jasper
Hofstraat 7
2910 Essen
Belgium

Many Thanks,
John McAuliffe
87 INFD
Central Mass. Chapter VBOB

My name is Brittany Polson and I am a Wish Coordinator at Wish of a Lifetime. We are a 501 c3 nonprofit that is dedicated to enriching the lives of deserving senior citizens by granting them their wish of a lifetime. I am currently working on a wish for Robert A. Smith, whom fought in the Battle of the Bulge with the 11^th Armored Division, Battery B, 492^nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion. Robert has requested that since his fellow comrades are not able to travel and hold a reunion in person, that he would like to commemorate his division and the Battle of the Bulge.

I have arranged for there to be a ceremony held at the Indianapolis War Memorial on December 16, 2013 at 1:00 PM- which will mark the date of when the battle began. Spread the word about this commemoration so we can honor all of the brave men and women who served in this battle.

Best Wishes,

Brittany Polson
Wish Coordinator, Wish of a Lifetime
1821 Blake Street, 200
Denver, CO 80202
[office] 303.954.9144 x14
[fax] 303.648.5626
brittany@seniorwish.org

Luxembourg, 14^th of November 2013

Dear Mr. Santagata,

♦

I hope you are doing well and that everything is well over there. I will introduce myself, my name is Patrick from Luxembourg, I am 28 years old and I am very interested in WWII since I was a young boy. My grandfather was also in WWII, he was forced by the Germans into war but he died very early and I had never the chance to hear his war stories, so I started collecting stories of the still living Veterans before it is too late. I have also a small collection of WWII items of US and German soldiers, that I started since I was a young boy. I found an article of you on Internet and I wanted to know more about you, so I decided to write you a letter.

The last few years I had the chance to be in contact with a few Veterans of WWII and I have many stories collected through email or snail mail. I am very interested in your WWII experiences and hope that you will share your story with me. I wanted to know with which Company and Regiment you fought with? I wanted to know where exactly you fought (France, Luxembourg, Bulge, Germany?), what missions did you had, which medals that you earned and what your “job” was during WWII? I am very curious if you have fought here in the Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg. Did you took part in the crossing of the “Sauer River” in Diekirch in January 1945? I know that it is not easy to speak or write about WWII experiences because there are surely more bad memories than good ones, war is always cruel and I hope that a war like that will not repeat itself again that is why your experiences are so important for the generation like mine and the younger people. We have to preserve the freedom and liberty that you gave us back almost 70 years ago.

I also started since 2 years to collect recent pictures and WWII pictures with a signature of the Veterans in front of them who I met in Normandy, Luxembourg and Bastogne and I would be happy if you could also be a part of my “memory wall” at home. I wanted to know if you could send me some WWII and some recent photos of you through email, I wanted to know if I could print them out with your permission and send them with another letter to you for getting signed in front of them by you with your rank first then name and Unit in order to frame them. Do you think we could manage that, it would mean a lot To me? I will frame the photos and put WWII photos at left and recent photos at right, in the middle I will print the Red Diamond patch with your name and underneath a summary of your WWII story so you will get a place of honor in my home and I would be honored if you could be a part of it. In my next letter I will also include a coupon that you can give to the post office so you haven’t to pay for the shipping costs for sending the photos signed back! I didn’t put one in this letter now because I am not sure if the letter reaches the right person.

Unfortunately I never had the chance to meet you in Europe, have you been back since the end of the war? Do you plan perhaps to come over again in the future? I am also in good contact with Frank Forcinella and Don Hemphill of the 5^th Division perhaps you know one of him? Is there any annual Reunion of the 5^th Division in the USA?

If you have perhaps written your experiences down somewhere, I would be very interested in them. If you have some other stuff to add, please feel free to do it. If you know other buddies of yours of WWII who want to share their story to with me you can give them my email address and mailing address, I would be happy to get in contact with more Veterans before it is too late to collect their stories. I am looking forward to your returning letter Sir.

♦

Thank you very much your service, your help and time.

Best wishes from Luxembourg

Patrick Dax
11, rue Jules Wilhelm
L-2728 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Email: golf2_power@yahoo.fr

Click here to read the ceremony program

(Left to Right)

TECHNICAL SERGEANT EARL R. LISTON- U.S. ARMY
CORPORAL GEORGE W. MCGEE. – U.S. ARMY
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS MARSHALL W. BAIRD, U.S. ARMY
PRIVA TE FIRST CLASS HARPER COLEMAN, U.S. ARMY
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ROBERT KIRBY, U.S. ARMY
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ROBERT WALLING, U.S. ARMY
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS MAXWELL WARNER, U.S. ARMY

Dear VBOB

I tell my kids that WWII veterans saved the world. Your Nov 2013 newsletter shows a new member Robert Pidcoe from the 1^st infantry division.  Would you publish and/or please forward him this correspondence.

My grandfather was PFC George Tammara 1^st division, 26^th regimental combat team.  He wore the Big Red One.  He was a replacement rifleman and went through rifleman training in Florida from July 1944—Oct 1944.

I have done significant research on George Tammara and his unit, The Blue Spaders in WWII.  George Tammara was killed in March of 1945 after fighting in the Northern Shoulder of the Battle of the Bulge and crossing at the Remagen bridgehead.  I worked hard to get all of his medals awarded posthumously and have compiled much information regarding his WWII service.

I am looking to find anyone who knew George Tammara during WWII.   I would very much like to speak with and/or meet anyone who knew my grandfather. More information on George is found at www.WWIIHERO.COM

Thank you to all the WWII veterans for saving the world.

Randolph George Tammara
215 880 8536

The Military Order of the World Wars conducted its annual ceremony at the grave site of General of the Armies John J. Pershing in Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, 2013. Members of VBOB were present.
Photos submitted by Robert Rhodes, Associate

Attached are pictures from the National Veterans Day Parade in Birmingham, AL.  Vern Miller, president of the George S Patton, Jr Chapter of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge had the honor of riding in the parade in a WWII Jeep restored by Ronnie Guin, a VBOB member, and of being represented in the parade by WO4 Mike Hipwell, Fort Rucker, AL a helicopter pilot and a WWII Re-enactor. who returned a month ago from his tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Vern was honored to have Mike wear his 8th Armored Division shoulder patch and didn’t mind the ribbing he took because neither he nor Mike could come up with a set of T-3 stripes — so he was demoted to buck private.

L to R Max Herrington, 5th Inf Div; Vern Miller, 8th Armrd Div; & Jack Mullins, 752nd FA Bn, pose before mounting their parade vehicles.

 

 

 

WA State Chapter Spring luncheon
Greetings all! Please save the date, May 3rd 2014 for the WWII Veterans of the Battle Of the Bulge Spring Luncheon. I know it’s not even winter yet (although it is beginning to feel like it) however Spring is coming. We hope you will all be able to attend! Please feel free to share this news and invite your friends. Your assistance in getting the word out about this awesome opportunity would be welcomed.

We’ll have a terrific program and you’ll be able to meet some men who’ve made WWII history by participating in the Battle of the Bulge and also view interesting WWII displays and real restored military vehicles.

Location: La Quinta Inn, Tacoma
Date: Saturday, May 3, 2014
Time: 10:30AM (doors open)
Official Welcome @ 11am
Directions: La Quinta Inn (253) 383-0146
1425 East 27th Street
Tacoma, WA 98421-2200

Thank you!
With God’s love,
Beth (and Jim) Pennock
WA State VBOB Chapter Leaders
3006 NW 61st Street, Seattle, WA 98107
telephone (206) 783-0212
or gotweekenders@aol.com

During the Battle of the Bulge the Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded to the 17 individuals listed below. Click on their name to read the citation that describes their heroic actions.

Beyer, Arthur
Biddle, Melvin
Bolden, Paul
Cowan, Richard
Currey, Francis
Gammon, Archer
Hendrix, James
Jackman, Isadore
Kimbro, Truman
Lopez, Jose
McGarity, Vernon
Shoup, Curtis
Soderman, William
Thorne, Horace
Turner, Day
Warner, Henry
Wiedorfer, Paul

My name is Roy Hiller and I am interested in contacting anyone who may have served with my father, Nathan Joseph Hiller, from late 1942 to October 1944 in the 802^nd Field Artillery, Battery B, or at XII Corps Artillery HQ from then until the end of the war. In particular, I would like to connect with anyone who would have witnessed the events of mid-June 1943 at Fort Benning, GA when there was a muzzle blast that killed 2 and injured several others. My father was a prolific letter writer and I have read and scanned over 360 letters written during his time in the Army. I also have several pictures of him and others in his unit in a number of places.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

My home address is 521 Cold Stream Place, Nashville, TN 37221
My email is royh1983@comcast.net

To My Fellow VBOBS:

On December 16, 1999, the city of Orlando, Florida dedicated a memorial to the veterans of the Battle of the Bulge. This memorial was the result of a lot of hard work by many VBOBs in the area, especially a retired swim coach and high school teacher, the late Harry Miesel. Harry was a VBOB and the prime mover in getting this memorial complete. We thank Harry and his wife, Jeanette, for their efforts.

The memorial is a statue of a G.I. in combat gear. Around the base of the stature are the logos for all the divisions and other units that were at The Bulge. On the ground around the statue are bricks with names of some of the people who were there in December 1944 to January 1945.

Every year in December, the city of Orlando has a memorial service in honor of all veterans and many attend. At this exceptional ceremony speeches are given, high school bands play, and refreshments are served. I have annually attended these memorial services and unfortunately each year the crowd gets smaller as so many are not with us any longer.

This letter is to inform you that the next time you or your family come to visit “Mickey Mouse”, “Shamu”, and/or “Harry Potter,” please take some time and visit this memorial. The memorial is at the Northeast comer of Lake Eola, an Orlando downtown park. Lake Eola is considered Orlando’s “Central Park”.

This will also give you an opportunity to “get off the beaten path” and possibly meet some of Orlando’s residents not directly connected to our tourism industry. I m sure you will find them very courteous and generous.

Sincerely,
Arnold Cascarano
75th Inf Division
291st Inf Regiment
3^rd Battalion