GREAT news! Glad to hear it

I was beginning to hope I wouldn't have to offer my services... you'd have to get a translator, lol!! I hate to hear my voice, I'm like UGH Who is that HICK?!

Funny you mention that, because I've never liked my voice! Just recently have gotten used to it and MAY have become comfortable with myself. Ain't that a hoot?!

Well had no choice but to fire two people this morning. I gotta do, what I gotta do, to keep this project moving forward.

I sent over all the scripts (to-date) to the University, this morning. Am so excited. They are also going to take over the parts from the two guys I scrapped. At least now I can count on them, and not have to BEG anymore. It gets old after a while, plus I hate doing it, "Hey it's me again. It's been a month. Hate to bug you but..."

Just spoke to Steve Erickson last night, and I am so glad to have them on board for the documentary.

One of the voice-overs is this wireless broadcast by Ernie Pyle. They are going to record it "old-style", meaning making it sound like an old wireless. Ain't that cool! Can't wait to hear how it turns out.

This is the script:

Oran, Algeria (by wireless) – Ernie Pyle – Chapter Two – Slides 50-52

“Men who bring our convoys from America, some of whom have just recently arrived, tell me the people at home don't have a correct impression of things over here.

Merchant Marine officers who have been here a couple of days are astonished by the difference between what they thought the situation was and what it actually is. They say people at home think the North African campaign is a walk away and will be over quickly; that losses have been practically nil; that the French here love us to death, and that all German influence has been cleaned out.

If you think that, it is because we newspapermen here have failed at getting the finer points to you...

...In Tunisia, for instance, we seem to be stalemated for the moment. The reasons are two. Our army is a green army, and most of our Tunisian troops are in actual combat for the first time against seasoned troops and commanders. It will take us months of fighting to gain the experience our enemies start with.

In the second place, nobody knew exactly how much resistance the French would put up here, so we had to be set for full resistance. That meant, when the French capitulated in three days, we had to move eastward at once, or leave the Germans unhampered to build a big force in Tunisia.

So we moved several hundred miles and, with the British, began fighting. But we simply didn't have enough stuff on hand to knock the Germans instantly. Nobody is to blame for this. I think our Army is doing wonderfully – both in fighting with what we have and in getting more here – but we are fighting an army as tough in spirit as ours, vastly more experienced, and more easily supplied.

So you must expect to wait a while before Tunisia is cleared and Rommel jumps into the sea...

...There are an astonishing number of Axis sympathizers among the French in North Africa. Not a majority, of course, but more than you would imagine. This in itself is a great puzzle to me. I can't fathom the thought processes of a Frenchman who prefers German victory and perpetual domination rather than a temporary occupation resulting in eventual French freedom.

But there are such people, and they are hindering us, and we over here think you folks at home should know about three things:

That the going will be tough and probably long before we have cleaned up North Africa and are ready to move to bigger fronts. That the French are fundamentally behind us, but that a strange, illogical stratum is against us. And that our fundamental policy is one of soft-gloving snakes in our midst.”

Talking about Tunisia and green troops. Wonder if he

is refering to the 34th Inf. Divn. Hmmmm---

Well the Americans were ALL GREEN! That wasn't a fault, but merely a true reflection. Hell, we hadn't been at war since 1918! It was a learning experience for all; from many of the generals, right down to the privates.

Even General Truscott admits that he had no REAL WAR EXPERIENCE. He was book smart and savvy, but learned with the rest. He took what he learned and applied it to the real world.

Ernie wasn't saying we couldn't do the job, it's just that we had a long way to go. But what he and others HAVE said was, we picked up, did what we had to do, and learned quickly. It was a true reflection of American spirit and what we could do, when put to task.

Once again, thanks for responding here. It sometimes feels pretty lonely at this end. You and merely a handful of members, ever leave comments regarding the documentary. It often feels like a forgotten topic...

Yep we sure were all green BUT WITH DETERMINATION, that's what made

the difference. krauts found out PDQ.

That's OK that some don't make a comment on your effort to

make this HUGE JOB that you are doing. But always remember

THIS OLD DOGFACE IS ROOTIN' FOR YA

Just received a BUNCH of the voice-overs from the University. This is the first installment of many. Am getting ready to listen to them this morning. Thanks SVSU! You guys rock!

My friend Jay stopped by Sunday night and did a voice-over for Ernest Wayne Warner. Turned out great and I already incorporated it into the documentary.

So pleased to finally see this coming together.

Thanks to all involved for their assistance with photos, voice-overs, and other provided materials. Also many thanks to those who post here and give me much-needed moral support. Big, big thanks to Rocky, who always stands behind me, no matter what.

Just received a BUNCH of the voice-overs from the University. This is the first installment of many. Am getting ready to listen to them this morning. Thanks SVSU! You guys rock!

 

My friend Jay stopped by Sunday night and did a voice-over for Ernest Wayne Warner. Turned out great and I already incorporated it into the documentary.

 

So pleased to finally see this coming together.

 

Thanks to all involved for their assistance with photos, voice-overs, and other provided materials. Also many thanks to those who post here and give me much-needed moral support. Big, big thanks to Rocky, who always stands behind me, no matter what.

 

LOVE THE BEAR HUG !!!!!!!!!!!!! ME

Ah, just crossed off another LARGE item on my to-do list. I just finished filling out the form, writing a letter and attaching various documents and a copy of the first chapter of the documentary, to Universal Music Enterprises. This is in order to gain permission to use a segment from the master recording of White Christmas, as sung by Bing Crosby. Wish me luck.

I gave them my sob (but oh so true story), about my very limited budget, and hope they will have pity on me and grant me use of the tune, for very little of no money.

Here is what I wrote:

===========================

Universal Music Enterprises

2220 Colorado Ave.- 3rd Floor

Santa Monica, CA 90404

October 19, 2009

Dear Universal:

Attached please find copies of:

1)Clearance Request Form

2)Copy – Slide 44 – voice-over – Dick Fietz – from documentary

3)Copy – Permission letter Nancy DiTuro, Williamson Music – publishing company

4)Copy of documentary segment – DVD

I am writing to gain permission to use a segment from the master recording, White Christmas, as sung by Bing Crosby. The selection would be used within the first chapter of the several-hour documentary series I am writing and producing myself. The production, No Bridge Too Far, is dedicated to my father and his fellow World War II combat engineers, and is basically a labor of love.

The song in question, holds a special place in the heart of one the veterans, for it brings back precious memories of the first time he heard White Christmas, while desperately trying to get through to his folks on Christmas 1942, from Camp Tyson.

My hope is for some lenience in regards to cost, for the entire series is being produced from my home office, with very limited budgeting. At present, I rely on the kind contributions sent my way by the WWII veterans, their families and private donations received, via my website. I will be applying for grants over the next several months, and am also trying to procure corporate sponsorship, but there are no guarantees.

Nancy DiTuro from Williamson Music (see attachment), would license White Christmas, for $100.00 for up to 1,000 DVD unit sales. However, I asked if she would be willing to wait, until I received word from you, for I didn't want to pay for licensing in advance, only to be turned down by Universal. But in the interim, she said I could provide a copy of our correspondence, for your perusal.

The vast majority of musical selections within the documentary, are either tunes

with expired copyrights or

royalty-free

Many royalty-free compositions were made available to me for free from such sites as Incompetch.com, or purchased from Neo Sounds, Muse Open, Free Play, etc., for very reasonable rates, helping me keep costs down.

I was pleased and delighted to read the following (quoted from your website), and sincerely hope you will take my above words into consideration. It's wonderful to see in this day and age, companies are still willing to work with low-budget filmmakers.

PSAs, Gratis & Charity Requests

Contrary to the policies of many large music companies, Universal will consider gratis or reduced-fee requests from students, low-budget filmmakers, reputable charities and producers of Public Service Announcements. If for some reason your request is denied, we will not be able to provide a detailed explanation as to why. If we need additional information from you in order to process your request, we will get in touch with you.

To also keep costs in check, voice-overs (other than my narration) are being provided by family members, friends, and students from Saginaw Valley State University, generously donating their time and efforts.

Thank you in advance for reviewing my application, reading my letter and the accompanying documentation. I look forward to hearing from you.

With kind regards,

Marion J Chard

Proud Daughter, LLC

Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek

540th Combat Engineer WWII

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com

Time to move on again, but I am all right with it. What's going on, you ask?

Well, seems I will have to find another university to assist me, for this isn't working out. It's the TIME thing. To put in succinctly; it just ain't getting done.

As stated before, they asked me to come down and lend some assistance and guidance, so I wrote back to them eight days ago, and guess what; no one ever got back to me, and so there goes another week, blown! Next week is out of the question, for I will be in Texas and...

I cannot afford to wait around, not knowing when I will get answers, or when my emails will be returned. Frustrating! I have deadlines to meet, and it's holding up everything, including the application for my grant. Plus I wanted to have another chapter completed before I went to Fort Hood, for I am showing my documentary to the troops. They knew all about this too.

So, it's time to move on, and I already started a set of inquiries to other universities. I am confident something will come my way, and know in the end, this happened for a reason. Bigger and better things must be ahead. That is how I must look at things. So onward engineers, essayons!

Now a silly question. Perhaps I missed a bit of this but can we see the documetary too. Sometimes I don't understand it that well. I think I understand it and then it takes a complete other turn for me.

Frank

Hi Frank. Nice to hear from you. What can I help you with? In other words, what seems to be the point of confusion?

As stated within this segment, you can view snippets of the documentary at any time. It's located on the main site's home page, or visit this direct link:

https://ww2combatengineers.comNoBridgeTooFar.htm

I haven't updated the videos in a while, so maybe I will do that tonight. I've changed quite a few things, so....

Hope you enjoy it!

That's what I meant but for now it takes too much time to open it. My computer isn't up to date now so it's processing slowly.

Thanks Marion!!!

Frank

Re: my post dated several days ago. Already received a response from Universal. Man that was fast. And yes, I do have permission to use Bing's White Christmas. I am SO THRILLED. And the best part is; they are letting me do it for $100.00. This pertains to 1000 unit (DVD) advances, world-wide.

So when I get back from Fort Hood, I send them a check and sign an agreement.

Talk about being a happy camper!!!!!

Zippity-do-dah Zippity-eh! My oh my what a wonderful day!