Filed under: 36th, 3rd, 45th, 509th, 517th, 551st, Colmar Pocket, Operation Dragoon, Veterans | Tags: 12th Armored Division, 36th Infantry Division, 3rd Infantry Division, 75th Infantry Division, Colmar Pocket, Operation Dragoon, Veterans, WWII
In a big step, we’ve combined the Operation Dragoon and Colmar Pocket Commemorations for 2014 into one event, to be held at the Sheraton Pentagon City, 30 July to 3 August, 2014.
In another big step, it has it’s own website – 6thArmyGroup.com
All scheduling information, contact info and updates will be posted there, with supportive posts here.
Filed under: Marines, Veterans, WWII | Tags: Colmar Pocket, Iwo Jima, James Mattis, Operation Dragoon
Just wanted to get the word out that the 2014 reunion of the Iwo Jima Association of America will be held 13-16 February at the Sheraton Pentagon City, where we hold the Operation Dragoon and Colmar Pocket events. The strong turnout from active duty Marines always makes for a robust event and there were also many WWII veterans in attendance last year (fewer every year, though). I was able to get my photo with GEN James N. Mattis after his luncheon speech and truly enjoyed dancing to our favorite swing band, Radio King Orchestra at the banquet. It’s a marvelous event and I suggest that if nothing else, you spend $15 for the general registration to meet some of the veterans and enjoy the Saturday symposium (lunch is extra, but will include another excellent speaker and the banquet is extra, but includes not just a speaker, but plenty of dancing time as well!) The schedule can be found online and registration via Armed Forces Reunions is also available online. I’ll be present for the whole kit & kaboodle, since touring the Marine Corps Museum and visiting the Memorial with veterans of Iwo Jima is simply priceless.
Filed under: Magazines, Operation Dragoon, WWII | Tags: America in WWII, Commemoration, Operation Dragoon, Seminar
I just received my August copy of America in WWII and our event is listed this time! I had been able to get in contact with them via Facebook and was able to email them the critical info before press time. This bodes well for the Colmar Pocket, Anzio and Iwo Jima events coming up this year.
For details on the Operation Dragoon event, see the schedule.
8-11 August 2013 (Thursday-Sunday)
Sheraton National Hotel, 900 South Orme Street, Arlington, VA 22204
Veterans, families of veterans, historians, friends, and any interested in WWII history are welcome!
Open to the General Public
You can use the form below to submit questions or start the reservation process. The information will not be posted here, but will be emailed to the organizers.
You will still need to contact the hotel for room reservations.
Filed under: 36th, 3rd, 45th, 509th, 517th, 551st, Medal of Honor, Officers, Operation Dragoon, Veterans | Tags: Bill Davis, Darryl Egner, David Grange, Henry Bodson, Lloyd Ramsey, Morton Katz, Operation Dragoon, Richard Seitz, Robert D. Maxwell, Wilburn K. Ross
For information on the 2014 event, see our 6th Army Group website.
For the last few years, the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, Outpost Europe, has hosted an Operation Dragoon commemoration and seminar. It’s always a fantastic event. We are honored that many veterans attend and provide their insights and remembrances. There will be a few veterans I’ve never met as well as others I will be overjoyed to see again. It’s truly an event not to be missed.
THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Operation Dragoon – The “Forgotten D-Day”
The Allied Landings in Southern France and the Southern France Campaign
15 August 1944-14 September 1944
Outpost Europe, Society of the 3rd Infantry Division
The Army Historical Foundation
The Embassy of France to the United States
When: 8-11 August 2013 (Thursday-Sunday)
8 August: 1 to 3 PM – registration; 5 to 8 PM – historical seminar
9 August: 9 AM to 5 PM – historical seminars and veterans’ remembrances
10 August: 8:30 to 1200 AM – ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery; 5 to 9:30 PM – Banquet
11 August: 8:30 to 11 AM – historical seminars
Where: Sheraton National Hotel, 900 South Orme Street, Arlington, VA 22204
Who: Veterans of the 6th Army Group; 7th Army; 6th Corps; 3rd, 36th, and 45th Infantry Divisions; 1st Allied Airborne Task Force – 517th Parachute Infantry Regimental Combat Team (including Anti-Tank Company/442nd Infantry Regiment, 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, 4463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion, 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion, and the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade (UK)); 1st Special Service Force; US Army Air Corps; US Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine; the OSS; and veterans from the participant allied nations of France, Poland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Canada who served in the supporting Air Forces and Navy; and their friends and families, as well as anyone interested in World War II history.
Why: To honor the veterans of the Forgotten D-Day, to preserve history, to educate the public, and to pass on the torch of their proud legacy.
Room Reservations: Price – $95 per night, one day prior to event and one day after. Reservations: 1-888-627-8210
Reservation Group Name: Operation Dragoon
Cut off date for reservations: Friday, 21 July 2013
Point of Contact: Monika Stoy, President, Outpost Europe, Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, timmoni15@yahoo.com, RSVP by 30 June 2013
REGISTRATION: Event registration – $30. Banquet – $40. (Free for Dragoon Vets)
Shuttle to/from airport provided by hotel, so no rental car required.
THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Filed under: 36th, 3rd, 45th, 509th, 517th, 551st, Operation Dragoon | Tags: Audie Murphy, Operation Dragoon, WWII
On a foggy August morning, paratroopers dropped literally through the clouds and into France. The liberation of southern France had begun and the rapid back-pedaling of German forces was just days away. With bold and heroic efforts, American and British soldiers teamed up with not only French and colonial soldiers, but also ordinary French men and women to set about the freeing of their country from Fascism.
Operation Dragoon is often derided as some sort of ‘Champagne Campaign’, in which the only threat was of being hung over in the morning. Audie Murphy stormed well-defended beaches and never understood the impression. In some places and at some times, the Germans were in such a hurry to save their own hides that it was more of a chase than a battle, but all too often, the deeply hardened old veterans stood and fought. They knew how to use the terrain and how to make the Allies pay for every inch of ground. The veterans of the 3rd, 36th and 45th Infantry Divisions and among the paratroopers knew to expect nothing less.
It was a hard fight and one for which the French are grateful. Let us pause this morning and give thanks for what they did so long ago.
Filed under: Operation Dragoon, Veterans | Tags: Arlington National Cemetery, Brice Houdet, Darryl Egner, Dick Seitz, Elias Hernandez, Gene Frice, Jim Welsh, Joe Cichinelli, John Carter, John Singlaub, Lloyd Ramsey, Michael Halik, Operation Dragoon, Paul Donlon, Robert Jackson, Robert Ware Foster, Roger Donlon, Sam Magee, Stanley Siemrzuch, Veterans, William Ryan
U.S. Army World War II veterans of Operation Dragoon and Members of the Military District of Washington’s Sgt. Audie L. Murphy Club, the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, and the military attaché to the French Embassy pose following a remembrance ceremony honoring the success of Operation Dragoon held Arlington, Va., July 21, 2012. DOD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
The 68th Anniversary of Operation Dragoon Commemoration was covered by the American Forces Press Service this time. Due to the expectations of severe weather at the time for the ceremony in the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, the Legion of Honor ceremony was instead held in the 16th floor ballroom of the Sheraton Pentagon City. John Singlaub, Paul Donlon, Darryl Egner, Elias Hernandez, Michael Halik and the son of Stanley Siemrzuch were all presented with the esteemed French medal by COL Brice Houdet, the French military attaché. The ballroom was filled with conference attendees, family members, staff from the French embassy and a number of active duty members of the Military District of Washington’s Sgt. Audie L. Murphy Club.
As always, the event was tremendously educational, allowing historians and veterans the opportunity to educate each other and the audience on this less well-known operation.
Filed under: 36th, Operation Dragoon, Understanding Battles | Tags: Books, HDMI cable, iPad, maps, Netflix, Nook, Operation Dragoon, tablet, Technology, WWII, Xoom
As I prepared for my talk on the 36th Infantry Division at our Operation Dragoon seminar, I’ve had an opportunity to use my new tablet (a Motorola Xoom) to the utmost. It really is a “killer app” for a historian.
My friend, Eric Wittenberg, first wrote about his tentative use of his Nook early last year, then replaced it with an iPad in December. Despite being a software developer in my paid work, I was apprehensive. I love books and maps. The look and feel of each has always been special, and I felt no computer would be able replace them for me.
I tried Kindle, first as a PC app, then on my smartphone. Not the same as a ‘real’ book, but quick and easy. With a library of a few hundred books, I never ventured to read history via Kindle. I had too big of a physical book backlog to consider it.
Then, I needed more detail on the 36th in less than a week. So, I used Google books to buy “First to the Rhine”. I kept flipping pages to review maps, then realized that I could use Google maps on my tablet. Zoom, twist, slide zoom out, add the terrain overlay. I’m sold. I just hope I can figure out how to Bluetooth or connect to the projector with my tablet because it makes understanding the fight at Montelimar so much easier. Maybe this or maybe at the Colmar Pocket seminar in December. It is an amazing tool.
Update: I’ve got a 15-foot mini-HDMI to HDMI cable on order from Amazon so that I can hook to the projector we use at these conferences and to my TV at home for Netflix.
Filed under: Gliders, Operation Dragoon, Paratroopers, Veterans | Tags: 1944, 551st, Dreams, Gliders, Jim Welsh, Operation Dragoon
At night, sometimes Jim Welsh dreams. One would think that when the dreams of a paratrooper turn to World War II, he would dream of parachuting, of his comrades or of narrow escapes they made during the war. Jim tells me that more often, he finds himself dreaming of the glider men.
At Fort Benning, when the paratroopers would run past the glider men, they’d mock them. After the paratroopers completed their five jumps, they would blouse their pants and show off their jump wings, while deriding the “leg” infantry men in the glider battalions. The paratroopers had each volunteered for hazardous duty and considered themselves among the elite troops in the Army. The glider men had been assigned to an infantry unit that had the additional duty of arriving in combat via glider. They didn’t choose their assignment, received no “jump pay” or other bonus and were not privileged to blouse their pants like paratroopers.
Jim Welsh remembers that morning in southern France in August of 1944 and he shudders. The dreams he has of the glider men are not pleasant, but based on what he saw them endure that morning. Surrounded by fellow veterans and historians, Jim starts his recollection with, “To me, it was an awakening….”
After the horror of the glider assaults in Normandy and the south of France, paratroopers had seen what the glider men went through and there was no more mocking. The glider troops started getting “jump pay” and a good measure of respect from their airborne brethren.
Filed under: 3rd, 509th, 517th, 551st, Operation Dragoon, Veterans | Tags: 551st, Arlington National Cemetery, Jim Welsh, John Carter, John Keller, Operation Dragoon, Richard Seitz, Roy Brumfield
Once again, the Operation Dragoon Commemoration & Seminar has come and gone. It was a marvelous event. There were about a dozen veterans in attendance (I heard 13, but I wasn’t counting heads), including the 4 who were awarded the French Legion of Honor at Arlington Cemetery (Dick Seitz, John Carter, Roy Brumfield and John Keller).
It was an entire weekend of “highlights” for me, so I am thrilled that I got so much of it filmed. Interestingly, both last year’s event and this year’s provided me with about 32GB of raw footage. I expect to post Jim Welsh’s account of being in the drop zone/landing zone with the 551st while the gliders were landing in the next few days. I already posted a picture of Robert Maxwell and I to Facebook, but have a short piece about him in progress as well.
Everyone in attendance was so interested and involved in sharing the history that you couldn’t help but feel closer to everyone by the end of the weekend. While it made parting sorrowful, it also provided an incentive for everyone to return in 2012. Keep August 2-5, 2012 open for the 68th Anniversary.
Filed under: 509th, 517th, 551st, Operation Dragoon, Paratroopers, Veterans | Tags: Arlington National Cemetery, Commemoration, Jim Welsh, John Carter, Legion of Honor, Operation Dragoon, Richard Seitz, Roy Brumfield, Salon-en-Provence, Veterans, Wreath-laying
I have some more details on the Operation Dragoon Commemoration and Seminar being held next weekend (4-7 August 2011). While I do not yet have the list of speakers, I can reveal the schedule. Most of the seminars will be held on the 4th and 5th, with the wreath-laying and banquet on the 6th.
The banquet has always been pretty special, as veterans who’ve had a chance to get reacquianted have an opportunity and enough comfort with the audience to provide very interesting recollections of the war, such as John Carter’s Thanksgiving 1944 story.
At the wreath-laying, the French Legion of Honor will be presented to Lieutenant General (ret.) Seitz (517th ABN), Mr. John Keller (3rd ID), Mr. John Carter (1st Allied Airborne Task Force), and Mr. Roy Brumfield (3rd ID). LTG Seitz was the battalion commander of 2/517 PIR during the war and I read an interesting story about the interview process for new soldiers joining 2/517 as they formed that I detailed in a post this past winter.
LTG Seitz at the 517th reunion in 2005
There is ample time on Friday and Saturday for some oral interviews and I’ll be trying to sit with both Mr. Carter and LTG Seitz. Of course, I haven’t had a chance to really talk to any 509th veterans at length yet and Jim Welsh of the 551st PIB would be a great interview as well. So, all kinds of opportunities. If you’re interested in conducting some interviews, you’re more than welcome to come.
4 August (Thursday) – Check-in to the Sheraton National Hotel, 900 South Orme St. Arlington, VA 22204
1500-1700 Registration
1700-1830 Dinner (no host)
1830-2030 Opening Remarks and initial historical seminar
5 August (Friday)
0830-1200 Historical Seminar Session 2
1200-1330 Lunch (no host)
1330-1700 Historical Seminar Session 3
1700-1830 Dinner (no host)
1830-2030 Operation Dragoon historical/documentary films
6 August (Saturday)
0900-1000 Commemorative Ceremony Memorial Amphitheater (Mil: ASU, Civ: Business Attire)
1015-1100 Wreath laying ceremonies – Tomb of the Unknowns, 3rd Infantry Division Monument, Audie Murphy gravesite
1130-1730 Lunch (no host) and free time
1730-2000 Banquet (Mil: Dress, Civ: Business Attire)
7 August (Sunday)
0900-1100 Concluding historical seminar/closing remarks
Special Honored Guests: Mr. Robert D. Maxwell, 3rd Infantry Division Medal of Honor Recipient in WWII and Operation Dragoon veteran and Mayor Michel Tonon, Mayor of Salon-de-Provence, France. More about T5 Maxwell and his Medal of Honor next week.
You can also email CPT Monika Stoy for further information.
We're not lost, Sergeant, We're in ... France 