Mark Your Calendars!

The dates and location for the 2010 Reunion have been established. 13-16 May 2010 at the Embassy Suites in Brunswick, GA. See the Reunion Page for the latest information.

I have received the latest update from Monika Stoy on the Operation Dragoon 65th Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony on 4 Aug 2009. The schedule is as follows:

I would like to invite your organization members to join us at a memorial ceremony my outpost will be conducting on 5 August at 0900 at the Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery honoring the veterans of the United States Armed Forces who participated in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, in August 1944.

We all watched the Normandy 65th Anniversary activities on the news this June. As always the ceremonies were first class and our veterans were well treated and appropriately feted. Sadly, so very few Americans know of the 15 August 1944 landings in Southern France in which the 7th Army (3ID, 36th ID, 45th ID), with the 1st Allied Airborne Task Force (1st AATF), and the 1st Special Service Force, played major roles, with the superb support of the US Army Air Corps and the US Navy.

We are conducting our commemorative ceremony and further events that day to gain national media recognition for the veterans of this Forgotten D-Day. The ceremony will be followed by a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns, another wreath laying at the 3ID monument and a short remembrance at the grave of Audie Murphy, and the day will conclude with a luncheon and historical discussion panels at the Fort Myer Officers Club.

We are working hard to have as many veterans who landed and fought in Southern France in August 1944 in attendance as we can find. We also want as many of their families and friends to join us as possible. These great veterans have gone unrecognized for 64 years and we really want to correct that in this 65th anniversary year.

At this time I already have received commitments from LTG (ret.) Grange and LTG (ret.) Seitz as 1st ABTF veterans to participate on 5 May. From the 3ID Infantry Division I have MG (ret) Lloyd B. Ramsey, who landed at Cavalaire as a Battalion Commander in the 7th Infantry Regiment, MG (ret) Daniel Raymond who landed as B/10th Engineers Commander, as well as other 3ID and airborne veterans of the fighting in Southern France. We have invited veterans of all the commands who participated in Dragoon. We also have three distinguished historians for our panel: Gerard Devlin, author of Paratrooper!, Dr. John McManus, author of numerous well received military history books, and Kevin Hymel, historian for Army Freedom Team Salute.
Editors Note: Dr. John McManus is the Historian for the 7th Infantry Regiment.

I can be reached at telephone number (703) 912 4218, this email address, monikastoy@yahoo.com or at snail mail: Monika Stoy, 6531 Milva Lane, Springfield, VA 22150. As time is short, email or phone are the preferred method of communications. Thanks, I look forward to hearing from you and your WWII veteran members, soon!

Rock of the Marne!

Monika Stoy
President,
Outpost Europe
Society of the 3rd Infantry Division

Dear 3rd Infantry Division team mates, I am contacting you because your outposts may have members who participated in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, in August 1944.

We all watched the Normandy 65th Anniversary activities on the news this June. As always the ceremonies were first class and our veterans were well treated and feted. This brings me to the sad point that so very few Americans know of the landings in Southern France in which the 7th Army, with the 1st AATF and the 1st Special Service Force, played major roles. In an effort to gain some national recognition in the media for the veterans of Operation Dragoon, I am working with the Army Historical Foundation to host a media event on 5 August at Fort Myer , Virginia with as many veterans who landed in Southern France in August 1944 in attendance as we can find. With hard work and a little luck we hope to arrange for a prominent government official or well-known personality to join us for the event and generate national press attention for our great veterans.

If you or someone you know participated in the landings in Southern France, fought their way up the Rhone Valley or secured the flank of that movement on the border of Italy , and are able to get to Northern Virginia on 5 August, we’d love to hear from you! Let’s make their 65th Anniversary of the second and Forgotten D-Day as memorable as the Normandy celebration.

At this time I already have received a commitment from LTG (ret.) Grange as a 1st AATF veteran to participate on 5 May. From the 3ID side I have MG (ret) Lloyd B. Ramsey, who landed at Cavalaire as a Battalion Commander in the 7th Infantry Regiment.

I can be reached at telephone number (703) 912 4218, this email address, monikastoy@yahoo.com or at snail mail: Monika Stoy, 6531 Milva Lane, Springfield, VA 22150. As time is short, email or phone are the preferred method of communications. Thanks, I look forward to hearing from you and your WWII veteran members, soon!

Rock of the Marne!

Monika Stoy
President,
Outpost Europe
Society of the 3rd Infantry Division

New Life Membership Rates are:

Age 70 and over:

$100

Age 60 to 70:

$175

Below Age 60:

$250

Active Duty - E8-O3:

$200

Active Duty - E7 and Below:

$150

The former mayor/local historian of Ostheim, France convinced the locals to dedicate a tablet to honor fallen Marne soldiers. The dedication ceremony will take a place on 8 May 2009 in Ostheim. I and other members will be there after we attend the annual commemoration ceremony on Obersalzburg. On the tablet, it will have their names, ranks, units, home towns, and their ages.

All were 1st BN, 7th RI
CO A:
PVT ROBERT B COLWELL
PVT RICHARD SOLVER
CO B:
PFC CLIFTON THOMAS
CO C:
CPT BEVERLY HAYS
2LT WILLIAM MOEGELIN
PVT ERIC NELSON
MEDICS:
PFC FRANK FLYNN
PFC GILBERT HEINRICHS

Please, inform your members of these great events in May 2009:
5 May - Berchtesgaden/Obersalzburg, Germany
8 May - Ostheim/ Sigolsheim, France

I'm coordinating with mayors of Salzburg, Austria, Augsburg, and Bad Reichenhall, Germany for dedication ceremonies to honor our Marne soldiers of 1945. If anyone is interested in attending these ceremonies, please, have them contact me via e-mail .

Six New York school districts united to present a holiday concert via the Intranet.

They don't have the celebrity status of Bob Hope or other USO headliners. And, it certainly isn't possible for them to hop a plane to fly overseas. But, that isn't stopping more than 300 locals music students from entertaining the U.S. troops in Iraq this holiday season.

Following the spirited tradition of USO performers who have been brightening the holidays for lonely GIs since the 1940s, the music departments from five local school districts schools are uniting Tuesday, Dec. 18 to perform a special holiday concert for the troops. Unlike the USO, which for safety reasons must perform concerts in designated safe zones, video conferencing technology will enable the schools to bring this concert directly to the soldiers serving on the front lines.

The Songs for Troops concert is being organized by Chester Middle School Principal Ernest Jackson, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served most of his military career in the 3rd Infantry Division. A member of the 7th Infantry Regiment Association Board of Directors, Jackson has been coordinating local participation in the retirement association's Operation Direct Support for the past four years. While he continues to solicit donations for soldier care packages and cards, Songs for Troops is a way of getting a large number of students actively involved in a community service project that will touch an even larger number of soldiers - many of whom are away from their families for the first time.

Below is the list of participating schools:

• Chester Middle School - Chester Union Free School District, Chester, NY
• C. J. Hooker Middle School - Goshen Central School District, Goshen, NY
• Minisink Valley Middle School - Minisink Valley Central School District, Slate Hill, NY
• Anna S. Kuhl Elementary School - Port Jervis City School District, Port Jervis, NY
• Robert J. Kaiser Middle School - Monticello Central School School, Monticello, NY
• Warwick Valley Middle School - Warwick Valley Central School District, Warwick, NY

• 6 Dec 2007
• 6 Dec 2007
• 10 Dec 2007
• 11 Dec 2007
• 14 Dec 2007

Greetings from the outskirts of Baghdad. It's another month or so here and it's certifiably hot now. I guess I have another reason to look forward to football season. I figure about three or four weeks into the season, the highs here will only be in the 90s. Well, maybe five or six weeks into the season.
My team continues to drive on. Our guys have started to take their R&R leave now. Actually on our third on now. That's another sign that time is moving along here.
Our work with the Iraqi Army is beginning to get interesting. We're past the point of "building" a working relationship with them and feel we need to start pushing them to get better. Lots of pushing back though. Looking back, I see why it was so easy to kick their tails before. Maybe it's just that professionalism is standard in our Army or should I say professionalism means something completely different to us.
The work continues to be rewarding. Though working with some of the IA officers is a complete pain in the rear, there are others that make our work enjoyable. I just wish we could get the good ones promoted to positions of influence.
Thanks for all of your continued prayers. We really appreciate them and there are times when I can truly feel the Lord's influence here.
Another article is up for your reading. This one might upset some people.... Here's the link:
http://onlineathens.com/stories/061007/opinion_20070610042.shtml
Until later, y'all stay safe and Go Dawgs!
Chris
MAJ Chris Carter
United States Army