Issue Number 18 FEB 2002
All information in this Newsletter is developed by Fred Clinton, Webmaster, 63rd Infantry Division and does not necessarily reflect the
views of other individuals and is in no way an Official Publication of the 63rd Infantry Division or 63rd Infantry Division Association.
views of other individuals and is in no way an Official Publication of the 63rd Infantry Division or 63rd Infantry Division Association.
Greetings again from sunny, balmy Northern
Virginia. Here it is mid-February and I have
seen about 2 inches of snow all winter, the
daffodil bulbs are coming up and except for
a brisk wind today we are having beautifully
sunny weather.
A lot of things are going on with the Web
Site at this time and I also have other news
items that may be of interest, so here we go.
REUNIONS:
Here is a recap of 63rd Infantry Division
reunions that I am aware of:. You can
check out the details by clicking on the
reunion entry:
National Reunion at Branson, MO 13-18
August 2002
Philadelphia Chapter Spring Mini-Reunion
at Annapolis, MD 4-7 Jun 2002
F Company. 253rd Infantry Regiment
Mini-Reunion at Baton Rouge, LA 18-22
Mar 2002
Upper Midwest Chapter 2002 Reunion at
Grand Rapids MN 3-6 June 2002
Got some time on your hands? Plan on
attending at least one of the reunions listed.
All 63rd Infantry Division veterans and
Associate members are invited.
AUTHORS LOOKING FOR
WARTIME STORIES
Mr. William Ripley is looking for stories
from 63rd Infantry Division veterans
detailing their wartime experiences. Check
out the Bulletin Board entry for details
Mr John D Lukacs is looking for wartime
information about the 255th Infantry's role in
the battle for Bitche and the assault on the
Siegfried Line. Check out the Bulletin
Board entry for details.
Mr Michel Knittel of Alsace , France is
looking for testimonies from 63rd Infantry
Division veterans as relates to what they
knew or heard about German "wonder
weapons" such as jet planes, death rays,
etc. Check out the Bulletin Board entry for
details.
63RD INFANTRY DIVISION
ASSOCIATION (RESERVE) ANNUAL
SUNDAY BRUNCH
You can get the details relating to the 63rd
Infantry Division Association (Reserve)
Annual Sunday Brunch to be held on 21
April 2002 at the Four Points Hotel in
Fullerton CA by going to the Bulletin
Board. Click here.
PHOTOS FOR THE WEB SITE
PHOTO SECTIONS
As you recall I have been asking for photos
to add to the three photo sections of the
Web Site. Recently Thomas Glunt of Hq
2d Bn, 254th Infantry Regiment sent a CD
to me with 70 wartime photos. I will, in the
next few days place 59 of them in the photo
sections, with most going into the Combat
Section.
I want to add a special thanks to Thomas
for his generosity in that he had to have each
photo scanned and placed on the CD by a
professional photo shop.
I am still looking for photos to add to our
already large collection. So if you have any
wartime photos of 63rd Infantry troops in
action, training or occupation duty, please
send them to me along with captions.
Another planned project for the Association
Historian includes placing all photos
currently in the hands of the Historian on CD
for historical purposes
ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PEACE
MEETING AT THE CROSS OF THE
JEBSHEIM MILL.
Mr Hugues Peche, President of the
Association La Croix du Moulin de
Jebsheim, has sent a message to me and
advised that the International Peace Meeting
at The Cross of the Jebsheim Mill which is
usually held on the second Sunday of each
year will not be held until 30 June 2002
this year. The reason was that French
National elections are being held on the 2d
Sunday of June this year. So if you are
planning on attending the International Peace
Meeting this year make your plans
accordingly. I refer you to The Cross of
The Jebsheim Mill for information about the
meeting
Virginia. Here it is mid-February and I have
seen about 2 inches of snow all winter, the
daffodil bulbs are coming up and except for
a brisk wind today we are having beautifully
sunny weather.
A lot of things are going on with the Web
Site at this time and I also have other news
items that may be of interest, so here we go.
REUNIONS:
Here is a recap of 63rd Infantry Division
reunions that I am aware of:. You can
check out the details by clicking on the
reunion entry:
National Reunion at Branson, MO 13-18
August 2002
Philadelphia Chapter Spring Mini-Reunion
at Annapolis, MD 4-7 Jun 2002
F Company. 253rd Infantry Regiment
Mini-Reunion at Baton Rouge, LA 18-22
Mar 2002
Upper Midwest Chapter 2002 Reunion at
Grand Rapids MN 3-6 June 2002
Got some time on your hands? Plan on
attending at least one of the reunions listed.
All 63rd Infantry Division veterans and
Associate members are invited.
AUTHORS LOOKING FOR
WARTIME STORIES
Mr. William Ripley is looking for stories
from 63rd Infantry Division veterans
detailing their wartime experiences. Check
out the Bulletin Board entry for details
Mr John D Lukacs is looking for wartime
information about the 255th Infantry's role in
the battle for Bitche and the assault on the
Siegfried Line. Check out the Bulletin
Board entry for details.
Mr Michel Knittel of Alsace , France is
looking for testimonies from 63rd Infantry
Division veterans as relates to what they
knew or heard about German "wonder
weapons" such as jet planes, death rays,
etc. Check out the Bulletin Board entry for
details.
63RD INFANTRY DIVISION
ASSOCIATION (RESERVE) ANNUAL
SUNDAY BRUNCH
You can get the details relating to the 63rd
Infantry Division Association (Reserve)
Annual Sunday Brunch to be held on 21
April 2002 at the Four Points Hotel in
Fullerton CA by going to the Bulletin
Board. Click here.
PHOTOS FOR THE WEB SITE
PHOTO SECTIONS
As you recall I have been asking for photos
to add to the three photo sections of the
Web Site. Recently Thomas Glunt of Hq
2d Bn, 254th Infantry Regiment sent a CD
to me with 70 wartime photos. I will, in the
next few days place 59 of them in the photo
sections, with most going into the Combat
Section.
I want to add a special thanks to Thomas
for his generosity in that he had to have each
photo scanned and placed on the CD by a
professional photo shop.
I am still looking for photos to add to our
already large collection. So if you have any
wartime photos of 63rd Infantry troops in
action, training or occupation duty, please
send them to me along with captions.
Another planned project for the Association
Historian includes placing all photos
currently in the hands of the Historian on CD
for historical purposes
ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PEACE
MEETING AT THE CROSS OF THE
JEBSHEIM MILL.
Mr Hugues Peche, President of the
Association La Croix du Moulin de
Jebsheim, has sent a message to me and
advised that the International Peace Meeting
at The Cross of the Jebsheim Mill which is
usually held on the second Sunday of each
year will not be held until 30 June 2002
this year. The reason was that French
National elections are being held on the 2d
Sunday of June this year. So if you are
planning on attending the International Peace
Meeting this year make your plans
accordingly. I refer you to The Cross of
The Jebsheim Mill for information about the
meeting
DIVISION GENERAL ORDERS AND
AWARDS:
During the past two or three weeks I have
spent some 70-80 hours in the presence of
true heroes. It was my pleasure to be able
to scan and place on a single CD all 674
General Orders issued by Headquarters
63rd Infantry Division during the period
1943-1944 and 1945.
I also included all citations for awards of
The Medal of Honor, The Distinguished
Service Cross, The Presidential Unit
Citations and the French Croix de Guerre
with Palm . I have also included an
alphabetical listing , by name, rank, SN, unit,
type of award, authority, date and area of
event and home town of each individual
listed in the General Orders. We have Bill
Scott, our Historian, to thank for this
comprehensive listing of the awards earned
by men of the 63rd Infantry Division. Truly
a wonderful condensed history of their
heroic accomplishments.
Since the scanning process took several
minutes for each page, I used the time
waiting to read as many of the award
citations as possible. The awards covered
by the General Orders included the Silver
Star, the Bronze Star, the Soldier's Medal
and the Air Medal
I sat at my desk in awe at some of the heroic
accomplishments of our division's soldiers.
One might think that such awards go only to
frontline Infantry troops and for the most
part that is correct, but I found cooks,
drivers, linemen, Engineers, Artillery
crewmen, headquarters personnel and many
other types who unhesitently performed
heroic feats beyond your imagination. I was
particularly impressed and appreciative of
the Medical Aid Men who risked their lives ,
over and over again, under the worse
combat conditions to tend to the wounded.
My hat goes off to them.
Many of the copies of orders that were
scanned were in poor condition, but I think
that I was able to get a legible file for each
order.
There is no plan, that I know of, to sell the
CD, but I am sure that if you wanted a copy
the Historian would make one available for
about $10.
REQUESTING MILITARY RECORDS
I have updated the Bulletin Board entry
relating to the requesting of military records
with some additional information relating to
the millions of records that were destroyed
by fire in July 1973. You can check out that
notice by clicking here.
COMBAT BUSINESS CARDS
While requests for the Combat Business
Cards mentioned in the last Newsletter
haven't been exactly brisk, I have received
$80 in donations which will be divided
between the 63rd Infantry Division
Association Treasury and maintenance of
Division Memorials. For details on the
Business cards click here to see some
samples. I have also made some to order so
if you want a card that is a little different all
you have to do is let me know what you
want.
MEMORABILIA ITEMS FOR SALE
Bill Scott, our Association Historian tells me
that the sale of hat pins and bolo ties is
brisk. Check out what's available by going
to the Memorabilia Page of the web site.
You might find something you need or a gift
for a friend.
NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS
After spending several weeks trying to get
my High Speed Cable operating correctly I
finally have a new e-mail address. It is
joyclint@comcast.net
It seems to be working well for the time
being.
NEW INQUIRIES
Don't forget to check out the new entries for
people looking for information about 63rd
Infantry Division veterans. Go to
Mail Call Consolidated list
Buddy Search Consolidated list
I'LL BE BACK TO YOU IN MARCH
FRED CLINTON , WEBMASTER
AWARDS:
During the past two or three weeks I have
spent some 70-80 hours in the presence of
true heroes. It was my pleasure to be able
to scan and place on a single CD all 674
General Orders issued by Headquarters
63rd Infantry Division during the period
1943-1944 and 1945.
I also included all citations for awards of
The Medal of Honor, The Distinguished
Service Cross, The Presidential Unit
Citations and the French Croix de Guerre
with Palm . I have also included an
alphabetical listing , by name, rank, SN, unit,
type of award, authority, date and area of
event and home town of each individual
listed in the General Orders. We have Bill
Scott, our Historian, to thank for this
comprehensive listing of the awards earned
by men of the 63rd Infantry Division. Truly
a wonderful condensed history of their
heroic accomplishments.
Since the scanning process took several
minutes for each page, I used the time
waiting to read as many of the award
citations as possible. The awards covered
by the General Orders included the Silver
Star, the Bronze Star, the Soldier's Medal
and the Air Medal
I sat at my desk in awe at some of the heroic
accomplishments of our division's soldiers.
One might think that such awards go only to
frontline Infantry troops and for the most
part that is correct, but I found cooks,
drivers, linemen, Engineers, Artillery
crewmen, headquarters personnel and many
other types who unhesitently performed
heroic feats beyond your imagination. I was
particularly impressed and appreciative of
the Medical Aid Men who risked their lives ,
over and over again, under the worse
combat conditions to tend to the wounded.
My hat goes off to them.
Many of the copies of orders that were
scanned were in poor condition, but I think
that I was able to get a legible file for each
order.
There is no plan, that I know of, to sell the
CD, but I am sure that if you wanted a copy
the Historian would make one available for
about $10.
REQUESTING MILITARY RECORDS
I have updated the Bulletin Board entry
relating to the requesting of military records
with some additional information relating to
the millions of records that were destroyed
by fire in July 1973. You can check out that
notice by clicking here.
COMBAT BUSINESS CARDS
While requests for the Combat Business
Cards mentioned in the last Newsletter
haven't been exactly brisk, I have received
$80 in donations which will be divided
between the 63rd Infantry Division
Association Treasury and maintenance of
Division Memorials. For details on the
Business cards click here to see some
samples. I have also made some to order so
if you want a card that is a little different all
you have to do is let me know what you
want.
MEMORABILIA ITEMS FOR SALE
Bill Scott, our Association Historian tells me
that the sale of hat pins and bolo ties is
brisk. Check out what's available by going
to the Memorabilia Page of the web site.
You might find something you need or a gift
for a friend.
NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS
After spending several weeks trying to get
my High Speed Cable operating correctly I
finally have a new e-mail address. It is
joyclint@comcast.net
It seems to be working well for the time
being.
NEW INQUIRIES
Don't forget to check out the new entries for
people looking for information about 63rd
Infantry Division veterans. Go to
Mail Call Consolidated list
Buddy Search Consolidated list
I'LL BE BACK TO YOU IN MARCH
FRED CLINTON , WEBMASTER