I was pleasantly pleased to recieve the September issue and inside was a very nice piece by some Marion Chard???? Who ever that is. She seemed very informed about the540th Combat Engineer Regiment.

All kidding aside , Marion did a very good job of putting the story of these great men into the public's consciousness.

Hats off to you kid!!! I hope the book is not far behind!

Jiggersfromsphilly

Missing in action since the last computer emltdown and replacement!

Jiggs, wow and wow. You are the first to see the article. I haven't even seen it yet! Really, I haven't!

It was a THRILL to read this post. I ran out into the family room with drink in hand and said to my stepson and my husband, "Hey, Jiggs got to read my article first!" So we had a great toast.

Now I can't wait to see it Hey where's my copy and damn it, where's my check?

Thanks for the compliments. Missed ya and glad you are back. Hope we can link up in PA this fall. Let's try again!

I was exited to get my copy in the mail today..Good Job!!

Jim

Well I'm glad you got a kick out of my post.

We will give it a try this fall of course!

I hope Marion can spell "Combat" better than Jiggs.

But WHY is the September issue already out?? I didn't expect it for another 3 or 5 weeks.

Steve

Well folks it out, but I haven't seen it yet! Jiggs from Philly told me about it last night. Yipeee!

Marion,

I will be the first in line to buy the book. Good luck to you!!!

Well just got my copy and was thrilled to see my name and article in print.

However, I was FOREWARNED by all my author friends, that it would be chopped and changed. IT WAS! They said, don't be too disappointed when it comes out.

Don't get me wrong, they did a good job, but it's always disappointing to see. One of my WWII vets said when he saw the article he wrote, it looked so different that he didn't even recognize it.

Well we'll see what happens with my article in Army Engineer Mag at the end of the year. I betcha that one will be a lot closer to the original.

Funny they said they wanted it to be personalized with references to the men. They kept a couple that related to KIA's etc., but took out the reference at Anzio to my DAD and the one regarding Bill Vander Wall, landing on the shores of North Africa with the flag that he still has in his possession today.

That is why I am going to self-publish my book. I've already heard enough horror stories from Don Burgett!

Hubby just read it and agreed with my assessment. Said they made it sound very clinical and took out the personalization that they asked for.

I told him, gee I should be more estatic today, but I guess I have to get over my "pissiness". He understood how I felt.

Where can I get my hands on a issue??

Thanks,

Brooke

You can find it at most major newstands such as Borders, etc. Let me know if you have any problems attaining one.

Here is their site too. They still have the July/August issue listed, not Septembers yet.

http://www.historynet.com/wwii/

Hey guys, hope you don't mind, but I'm moved some of these posts to merge with another Hey and if you did mind, tough.

Okay, had to talk with a REAL author so I bugged my dear friend Don Burgett. Well after I read his letter and laughed my arse off, I felt much better.

He told me about a writer friend of his and his constant rejections. One day his friend calls him up and says, "Don, I feel like a real writer and author now." I said "Congratulations, you made it." He replied, "No, I just received my first rejection."

Then he proceeded to tell me about a conversation with an editor. After I read this I told him that if I didn't know him, I would have thought he made it up. It is so absurd, you'll see...

He was discussing the move from Noville (it's in his book) with her, explaining, "...two Shermans at the head of our column were knocked out by German tanks and two of our tank destroyers raced forward from the rear on the right side of our column, the enemy was on the left of our column, to give aid with their hefty 90 mm. guns"

He went on to say she was appalled and with all seriousness and authority replied, "It's against the law in New York to pass on the right."

I told her, "Towns, cities, and countries have been destroyed, millions of people have been killed, murdered and enslaved, and you are worried about a New York law against passing on the right?"

See what writers have to contend with? I told you it was absurd. After reading that I was laughing so hard and took the editing job with a much lighter heart.

He went on to write more and I thanked him for giving me some perspective. He ended his letter to me like this, "Don't feel bad Marion, at least you're published, and it will get worse. Warm regards, Don Burgett"

Okay, see what I have to look forward to?

Good artical Marion...I picked up my copy at the grocery store, yesterday.

Here's one for all your hard work

chris

Thanks Chris. Ah my adoring fan club. But seriously, thanks for picking up a copy and sharing your thoughts. It's still hard to believe that my name is there next to Herman Goering's.