[homefront41]

Welcome aboard! I hope you've found these forums because you are a history enthusiast. There are a lot of us here. Honoring Bill Guarnere and WW2 veterans is the central theme of this website and we work at staying on topic here. Please bear that in mind when you introduce new topics.

We are honored and proud that several WW2 veterans have chosen to post here. Their contributions enrich our knowledge, encourage and nourish our enthusiasm for the subject. They earned our respect and admiration over 60 years ago and continue to do so here. You'll find their threads Pinned at the top of the Forum page: http://forums.wildbi...hp?showforum=46 Let me introduce you to them in order of their appearance on our boards:

LongJohn - LTC John A. Smith, USAF (Ret) - Radioman & Flexible Gunner on Spec Ops B-24s out of Brendisi, Italy. HQ, SHEAF, US Mil Gov't in Germany '45-'48. Fighter Pilot ('51- '73) Korea and Vietnam, with a few stops in amongst those postings. Col. Smith is the brother of a Toccoa man of Easy Company, Robert Burr Smith, about whom much has been written on these boards. The Colonel's main thread can be found here: http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=2798

Sapper - Brian Guy, 246 Field Company, Royal Engineers, Eighth Brigade, Third British Infantry Division, Sword Beach to Bremen. Brian’s war ended in Holland on the road from Venraij. You can find his fascinating story here: http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=2355

Frederick Glover , A Coy, 9th Battalion, 6th Paras, Merville Battery through Germany http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=7330

Leonard J Smith RASC , Normandy to Egypt -- Len landed on Juno beach driving DUKW vehicles, then to Belgium, Holland and was involved in Market-Garden and the Crossing of the Rhine into Germany. Len is also the youngest of 10 brothers of which nine served during WW2. http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=7927

And our latest to visit here --

PegasusEddie -- Denis Edwards, D Coy, 2d BN Oxforshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airlanding Infantry Brigade, Pegasus Bridge (D-Day) to the Baltic 1943-45, author of The Devil's Own Luck
http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=8788 and http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=8886

These boards are much deeper than people realize at first glance, so you may want to take your time and click on major categories to see what's behind each title you find there.

Here are a couple of essential navigational tips that will make your experience here easier as you begin to look over the boards. In general, anywhere on this site, look over the entire page you're on and you'll figure out how things work. Always check the bottom of the page for the button which advances your choices.

Each time you visit the Forums, if you click on View New Posts or My Assistant at the top of the page, you will see all the threads that have new posts since you logged in last. That way you won't miss posts that are not on the front page showing Last Posts only.

Where do I post?
http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=5250
A road map to the Forums and the Topics covered in each. This will show you all the topics behind all the Gateways you see on the front page.

How does rank work?
http://forums.wildbi...hp?showtopic=35
An explanation of the ranking system. Spamming for rank is not tolerated.

How to SEARCH a Topic
http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=3389
An easy-to-follow tutorial about the great Search Engine here.

A NOTE ON TITLES: How you compose your thread titles is very important. Be clear and direct in naming your threads. Place your subject first and modifiers second -- that way it will show up on the front page. Readers will know what it's about and the Search Engine can pick out the topic later on. For example:

Wrong - unclear
Title: A Quick Question … no real info. Search Engine will never find it.
Subtitle: did Speirs really do that?

Right - precise
Title: Speirs' Run at Foy … will serve both the readers and the Search Engine.
Subtitle: did he really do that?

Finding Archives - ESSENTIAL TOOL
http://forums.wildbi...?showtopic=2396
How to reach the threads older than 30 days. Chances are something you're interested in had a thread opened in the last two years.

QUOTES Just a word about quotes. To keep the boards as uncluttered as possible, quote only the portion of a message you are addressing. To do that, below the message click on Quote, then Reply, and just highlight and delete any irrelevant parts from the dialog box that comes up. If you are responding to a message close above yours, you needn't quote it at all.

I'm sure you'll find your way around in no time. These forums listed will answer most of your questions about what's here and where and how you find it. Save it and keep it handy. And of course, if you have any questions, the members will be happy to point you in the right direction.

Enjoy the boards! Looking forward to your contributions.

BK

This post has been edited by homefront41: 17 July 2006 - 11:29 AM

[DCheely]

I'm a big admirer of Bill Guarnere and the whole WWII generation. They literally saved the world for all of us! I like everything about them, and I wish people were still like that. I myself am the son of a WWII/Korea MARINE Corps veteran (Third Division). I'm a lawyer with nine kids, all but of whom are pretty well grown up another old now.. However, my two youngest boys are in high school, still at home, and both big fans of B of B. The family's favorite characters are Wild Bill and Major Winters. That's natural for us, since we're part Italian. My favorite series writer is McKenna, and I'm excited about the new series on the Pacific, understandably. Any news on him or the series? All the best to the Guarnere family, both the biological one, and his extended family in spirit.--Dan

[Bert]

From the Netherlands Hi everybody,my name is bert Kliebisch from Eindhoven the Netherlands,this city is liberated on september 18th 1944 by 506th P.I.R of the 101st Airborne Division.
Among those soldiers was Bill Guarnere with his Easy Co.

I'm proud to make my entrance on this site and I hope also to get in contact with Bill himself!

God Bless and Airborne All The Way

Bert :D

[bierman9]

Bert, on Aug 5 2009, 06:37 AM, said:

From the Netherlands Hi everybody,my name is bert Kliebisch from Eindhoven the Netherlands,this city is liberated on september 18th 1944 by 506th P.I.R of the 101st Airborne Division.
Among those soldiers was Bill Guarnere with his Easy Co.

I'm proud to make my entrance on this site and I hope also to get in contact with Bill himself!

God Bless and Airborne All The Way

Bert :D

Welcome Bert! This is a great place, and Wild Bill is a great person.

Say, any reason why your avatar is the 17th Airborne and not the 101st? ;-)

David

[AQuaker]

Welkom aboard!

[Bert]

bierman9, on Aug 5 2009, 02:44 PM, said:

Welcome Bert! This is a great place, and Wild Bill is a great person.

Say, any reason why your avatar is the 17th Airborne and not the 101st? ;-)

David

Is this better David??,I'll guess it is!!!

Bert :D

[Dekker]

First of all I want to thank all of my fellow veterans, Wild Bill and the 101st for their contribution to shape the world. I am a newbee here and I am not sure if I can add any helpful information about the 101st. I do have some things to share. I live in the Buckeye State. Had two great grandfathers serving in the Civil War. A grandfather in WW1. My father in WW2. My fatherinlaw a torpedoman in the Pacific. I had served 3 years in the army. It is always a pleasure to talk with the WW2 veterans. So here I am. Bill

[Dekker]

Dekker, on 03 January 2011 - 10:43 PM, said:

First of all I want to thank all of my fellow veterans, Wild Bill and the 101st for their contribution to shape the world. I am a newbee here and I am not sure if I can add any helpful information about the 101st. I do have some things to share. I live in the Buckeye State. Had two great grandfathers serving in the Civil War. A grandfather in WW1. My father in WW2. My fatherinlaw a torpedoman in the Pacific. I had served 3 years in the army. It is always a pleasure to talk with the WW2 veterans. So here I am. Bill

Now that I have been a member of this great forum I would like to read all of the stories of our heroes. At the same time I would like to share some WW2 pictures I had aquired possible pictures of the 506th at the Campina Woods, Boxtel. Some are taken in Aldbourne. This infromation was provided by Gerrie van geffen. If there is a place for this study, please advise me. Bill

[appell8]

Bill, welcome!

[Old USAF Sarge]

I recently retired as an E-7 after 26 years of service in the USAF and am living in the Ramstein, Germany area while doing my post-retirement job hunting. I've been a lifelong military history buff, and have been lucky enough to visit many sites around the globe. While I knew of the exploits of the 101st and the 506th, like many others "Band of Brothers" really made an impact on me. Since arriving here in Germany, I've been fortunate to participate in the annual Bastogne Historical Perimeter Marches in 2008, 2009 & 2010. That very first one in '08 really made me appreciate guys like Wild Bill; the weather was in the 20's, wind chills in the single digits, heavy snow, everywhere you walked was ice or frozen mud. I hiked the 20k or whatever it was, all bundled up with my winter gear ... and I was miserable. Of course all along the walk there were the re-enactors (who did a beautiful job that year), and seeing those guys digging foxholes, mounting weapons, trying to stay warm ... it was all very well done.

After the '08 walk five of us camped out in the Bois Jacques just off teh Foy Bizory Road, just a few hundred meters from the Easy Company Memorial, the Tom Hanks one, in the woods to the left of the rail line and the Halt station. My buddy Billy's plan was to sleep in the original holes with nothing but a tarp (him and his 10 year old son), and he packed accordingly. Lucky for him he's the idea guy while I'm the details guy (and I've also been to Arctic Survival school, which helped). I brought a cold-wx tent, extra sleeping bags, extra food, fuel for a fire (knowing everything would be wet and frozen), etc. I had no intention of sleeping in a hole! As it turned out we got there very late, got stuck in the snow, and of course there was no way we were finding a fox hole in the dark. I did hike in and find us a location that protected us from the wind (which made it completely bearable), and we setup camp. Of course, we dug no holes and left no damage to the site ... all we moved was snow and some wood to build a small ring fire.

That night was spectacular. It snowed at first, and we just sat around and ate, drank and talked about how it must have been. All of us being military, we've seen our own actions in different places and times, but we know nothing really compares. Around midnight I got up and went outside. The sky had cleared, there was a completely full moon, and there was the utter quiet that can only get when the woods are buried in snow. I decided to hike the perimeter of our section of woods, and tried to do it quietly, as they would have done. Hard, very hard ... every crunch of my boots was to me as loud as a shout. The woods are still surrounded by berms, and lying atop one looking across the fields to next set of woods it was not hard at all to imagine what it must have been like. I could see lights from houses in the distance (probably Foy). I just sat there and thought about it; after a long and miserable day of marching and freezing (even with all my good gear) and now retiring to my tent and sleeping bag and fire and food, I was tired and sore. This was just one day and night for me, with all the creature comforts ... the next morning it was back in the car and driving home. What must it have been like to do this for a month, with no support, constantly under fire ... I cannot imagine.

The 2009 march (65th anniversary) was immense (the most participants ever, I understand) but to me didn't match up to '08 because of the weather; it was just too nice. I co-ordianted with Ed Lapotsky performing a re-enlistment ceremony in McAuliffe square in front of the tank for one of my Staff Sergeants, which was a fantastic experience. Myself, the SSgt and my Lieutenant all changed into our Service Dress after the march and went up to the square for the wreath laying ceremonies. We got quite a few looks and comments; no other Air Force in Service Dress there that day (and damn cold wearing those corfram shoes and light black socks, let me tell you). While we were hoping to have the re-enlistment performed by a Bastogne vet (Ed had mentioned that Colonel Ed Shames might have been able to do it), unfortunately that fell through. Instead, we were fortunate to meet Retired Air Force Major General Charles Wilson, a WWII Army Air Corps (Pacific Theater) and Korea vet who, when we asked, was more than gracious to fill in. What a moment! We brought our own flag, the Lt and I held it open while standing in front of the tank, and the re-enlistment was performed in with tank and flag as a backdrop. As we did it just minutes after the wreath-laying was complete, we even had our own large crowd particpating, taking photos, and providing quite the round of applause. What a memory! I told my guy that it's unlikely any other re-enlistment he has will ever equal that; he was overwhelmed.

The 2010 march was okay, but there weren't nearly as many re-enactors (likely because it wasn't the 65th), I didn't find the route as interesting as years prior, and of course no re-enlistment. Boring! One bonus for me was that I got to visit McAuliffe's Cave and the accompanying facilities, which I'd missed on previous visits. They had special beer prices in the mess hall, so I sat with my buddies and drank 90 cent Juniper, whcih was I must say quite excellent. Intersting, they have several display cases there in the corner of the hall, with uniforms and other articles, and one of them is a display of German items. These included photos, medals, books, and a striking collection of glassware which to my surprise was emblazoned with the swastika (illegal in Germany). Afterwards we made our way to the cneter of town, where I finally got to particpate in the nuts ceremony ... even caught a bag!

It was guys like Wild Bill and the 506th that it possible for guys like me to serve 60 years later; I couldn't be more grateful.

[appell8]

Sarge, that's a terrific account! Thank you for your service, and for your devotion to military history. Please pull up a chair and check out our archives. Welcome, Doug

[gilliesisle]

Sarge, I echo Doug's welcome and thanks for your service. There is definitely alot of history in this site. You may be interested in Colonel LongJohn's posts. He recently passed but left a treasure-trove of info.

Lisa

[Steve1979]

Welcome to the forums !

It´s great to have another vet on these boards - I´m looking forward to read more of your serice and your input in existing and new topics :)

[AQuaker]

Welcome and hope you enjoy retirement. I have yet to meet anyone who didn't.

Shelia B

[FJBoccia]

Welcome aboard, Sarge.

FJB