First I want to thank Marion for putting up this forum and for the many hours of work she spend on it .

Ever since I was a 5 year old nuisance my grandpa told me stories about his actions during ww2 ! As a kid I got fascinated by them and my curiosity grew over the years. Even more , it became a passion .

I'm 32 years young and live in Belgium , an 80 min drive from Bastogne !

Studied ancient history and Germanistic languages .

Became a part time pro musician instead ....

506th PIR is my heart and soul and nowadays I only work on ww2 projects to keep the remembrance alive for our kids and their kids ....etc....

"They gave their lives for our freedom , they fought the unknown enemy , they are a piece of modern history . " Because of their action and courage I still speak Dutch in my own beautiful country ."

So I do all I can to keep them remembered and all for 1 reason !

To say THANK YOU !

60 years ago, on this day of May 4 '45 at about 4 P.M. the lead company (L Co. 3rd

Bn. 7th Reg. 3rd Inf Div. under Lt. Sherm Pratt as C.O.) entered Berchtesgaden. About

the top prize capture in Germany by the U.S.. Almost no shots fired, after all the propaganda about it being the "redoubt area" and many S.S. troops for defence of it.

The town was captured and cleared this day. We realized this was probably the end of

WW2. in ETO. Next day May 5 the 101 A.B. Div came in. We were "requested" to leave on May 6 '45 .

I remember seeing a cartoon from Willy Willy Deuce that was called Private Snafu. He would always be getting himself in some sort of trouble with the Axis and showing what goofing off could do. Anybody remember him? I recall a German who blew smoke rings that were shaped like swastikas.

I am posting this info from another forum:

DID YOU SERVE WITH MY GRANDFATHER, EDUARDO S. VILLARREAL IN THIS

COMPANY? IF SO, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

THIS IS WHAT I KNOW:

Eduardo "Guale" VILLARREAL was born on Jan 20 1922. He died on Nov 4

1997 in Falfurrias, Brooks County, TX, USA. Died in his sleep from an

apparent heart attack. Eduardo Villarreal joined the United States Army

on January 29, 1943 and served until his honoralble discharge on

December 11, 1945. He was a member of Company A, 146th Engineers and served in Normandy, Northern France, the Ardennes, the Rhineland, and Central

Europe. He returned home on December 12, 1945.

I AM HIS GRAND DAUGHTER AND WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! POST HERE OR EMAIL ME AT: mommyofdakota@yahoo.com

Well I finally did it and I must thank Bill Carr for giving me the specifics so I would know exactly what to do. So I visited this page and emailed the facility at College Park, Maryland.

http://www.archives.gov/global_pages/conta...tact_us.html#em

If you are looking for info on a specific unit, then you scroll down the page until you see the section:

I have a question about research and records at NARA

Then you simply fill in your request being specific as you can. When you are finished, then you fill in the Contact Info located at the bottom of the page. That's it.

They say it usually takes several weeks, depending on the information that you are seeking. Please note that this is not a FREE service. Bill wound up spending approximately $260.00 to get his father's unit records.

NARA will contact you and let you know what they have found and how much it will cost.

I will keep you posted on the results. I am very excited about this leg of my journey. This was something I had wanted to do for months. Wish me luck!