LAATSTE NIEUWS 2010
LATEST NEWS 2010
LAATSTE NIEUWS 2010
*** February 24, 2010 ***
A nice delegation
of the Screaming Eagles of WWII Foundation attented the 101st
Airborne Division Association's Snowbird reunion
in Orlando Florida from 18-20 February.
A photo impression of the meeting with friends:
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left: A view of the Wyndham grounds right: Meeting up with Past President Joseph M. Bossi (l)and Vice President Harold (A.J.) Murdock (r) below from left to right: |
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left: (f.l.t.r.) Vinnie Vicari, Charlie Gant and secretary Leoni Wenstedt right: Still a Band of Brothers below from left to right: |
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left: SEAWORLD right: Going home, surrounded
by NUTS |
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*** February 9, 2010 ***
Still available:
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and
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Battle of the Bulge
challenge coin
65th anniversary sold in protective case 5 euro's each (excl. shipping) contact Patrick Brion |
Airborne Demonstration
Team
WWII Airborne Legends Calendar 2010 Europe : 10 Euro + 4 Euro S&H = 14 Euro US : 13 USD + 8.5 USD S&H = 21.5 USD (Shipped from Europe ) contact Reg Jans |
*** January 26, 2010 ***
April 30 and May 1
Re-enactment group 40-45 organises an event called OPERATION
LUCKY STRIKE in Waldadrift - Bedum (Northern part of The Netherlands).
More information through the contact page on their website.
Full size poster here.
*** January 24, 2010 ***
February 20 La Gleize museum, Belgium
Memorial walk: "In
the footsteps of the 82nd Airborne Division", this year featuring 504
PIR.
*** January 16, 2010*** - 2 entries
1.
(For background information, see January 9th)
The planning for Monday evening January 11th was a little upset due to the late
arrival of the students of Bethel University.
Around 20.00 hours they arrived at the Young
Dutch Veteran's house in Eindhoven, where numerous Dutch citizens of the
WWII
generation awaited them to share different war experiences.
Thanks to the
warm hospitality of the volunteers of the veteran's house, the efforts of the
WWII generation, the contributions of
translating friends (one of them, Paul, in WWII paratrooper uniform), and our
secretary Leoni, everyone looked back on a great
evening with traditional Dutch "gezelligheid". THANK YOU everyone!
For a report on the evening by the student's, please visit their blog.
On Tuesday, our
secretary Leoni, took the student's on a general bus tour of Operation Market
Garden, from Best to Arnhem.
Great job, Leoni - we are proud of you!
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2.
On Thursday January 14th, an exciting newsflash came in:
****NEWSFLASH****
"Because of lots of internal and external political pressure and negotiations,
Belgian Minister of Defense Pieter De Crem made some
significant changes in his plan to close down the HEINTZ BARRACKS in BASTOGNE.
The Artillery Unit 1A will no longer exist and 200 people
will have to go and work in other camps BUT 100 soldiers will remain at the
barracks to maintain the ‘new’ Historical Depot of the
Belgian Military Museum . Reasons are :
-Deployment
-Historical Reasons
-AND the BARRACKS , the former WWII 101st ABN Div HQ, a Historical Marker"
Great news - great job - THANKS to everyone who wrote, visited, or otherwise put on the pressure.
***January 10, 2010***
Our friend Reg
Jans sent an update on the "Nuts" Cellar in Bastogne, Belgium:
" On 11-12-13 Dec 2009 , more than 1500 people visited the “Nuts” Cellar
in Bastogne.
We are very grateful and proud for having so much support to keep this historical
marker from destruction . THANK YOU !!!!!
The high number
of visitors ‘proves’ that many people are interested to visit the HQ where Brig
Anthony C. McAuliffe, CO of the 101st ABN ,
replied “NUTS!” to the German demand to surrender on 22 Dec 1944 . Also a Belgian
minister visited to Cellar and told us that he started up the procedure to make
it a protected building : GREAT ! Minister Pieter De Crem stated in his speech
that the Cellar will not be touched
and will remain as a historical place : GREAT ! BUT: -So far these are only
words . Nothing on paper yet !!!!! I surely hope they will keep their promises
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What’s going to happen with the building ? Who’s going to take care of it ? Will the men who take care of the Cellar today still be able to continue their great job ? Will it be open for the public , etc….. There are still many many questions to be answered …….too many ..! - The present Army Unit WILL disappear and so will the other buildings . Or will there still be military presence in Bastogne in the future ? - Too many questions and no answers yet but the Mayor is discussing all the possible options with the government ! Time will tell us !!!!! Fingers crossed and again , Thank you all for your support ! Every single one of you had a significant role in this cause . You all made it possible to save this historical building . Reg"
***January 9, 2010***
An
exciting new activity hosted by our Foundation:
Monday, January 11th our Foundation will be welcoming students from Bethel
University (Minnesota). Our secretary, Leoni Wenstedt,
has put together a programme for J-term students, which concentrates on the
main theme of the student's trip: leadership.
The students are
tracing the footsteps of E-Co., 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101 Airborne
Division in WWII. They have been on
the road now for 6 days and are currently in Normandy, France. You can follow
the student's trip on a special blog.
In order to meet
Bethel University's request, Leoni organised a special evening for the students
on Monday next.
The evening will be held at the Young Dutch Veteran's meeting place and hosted
by the Veteran's
Foundation - THANK YOU, GUYS!
Object of the evening will be for the students to meet with a number of Dutch
citizens who lived, or fought, in WWII. With the help
of the Veteran's Foundation, Leoni was able to contact people from different
backgrounds who lived in different parts of The Netherlands
during WWII. They were eager to share their stories with the students. Other
friends have offered to interpret this evening (THANK YOU).
And the veterans offered to prepare an Indonesian meal for this evening...ANOTHER
BIG THANK YOU.
On Tuesday, Leoni
will take the students from Best to Arnhem, showing them the general areas of
Operation Market Garden.
Our good friends Ronald, Roby and Reg will take over from Leoni, guiding the
students at Margraten cemetary and Bastogne.
THANK YOU TOO, GUYS!
We will follow up with a report on Leoni's efforts.
***January 3, 2010***
Another
healthy New Year's resolution: a smile, laugh or chuckle a day.
Taken from 502 Company I Poopsheet, June-July 2007 issue:
"Man driving
down road.
Woman driving up same road.
They pass each other.
The woman yells out the window: "PIG"!
Man yells out the window: B***H!
Man rounds next curve. Crashes into a HUGE PIG in middle of road and dies.
Moral: If only men would listen."
***January 2, 2010***
Happy New Year to all - may it be filled with good health and lots of Airborne surprises!
A new color for
easier reading and a New Year's resolution to gradually get a Dutch translation
for the site online.
Please bear with us as a complete new design will give the site a more professional
look during 2010.
And in case your
2010 agenda is still completely empty:
*The 
101st Airborne Division Association holds it's famous SNOWBIRD
REUNION from February 18-20th in Orlando, FL (USA).
Information and registration through the Association's website.
Look under the caption "reunions".
* 
Our dear friends, Living History Group The Screaming Ducks are celebrating the
65th national anniversary of our liberation with
a large event in Wijk bij Duurstede, The Netherlands. The event is called OPERATION
LIBERTY FORCE.
Dates are April 30-May 2 and May 5th. Information and registration through the
Screaming Ducks website.
*Celebrating the
65th anniversary of the end of WWII (May 8th, 1945 VE-Day), an event is organised
in LANGENORLA, Germany.
Dates are May 7-9th, 2010. Re-enactor groups are invited to join. Information
through a pdf-file in English and German.
