To: Company 'A' reunion (1995)
Attn: Bill Bopp

To all of the (still) young men of A-7, sorry I can't be with you. For some foolish reason I just tend to work before pleasure. Believe me, I would much rather be there.

The attached 6 pages of memories were given life when my 12 year old grandson had to do a history paper on one of the battles in World War II, complete with battlefield drawings and historical narrative. I am confident that I am not the only one to remember Dorsten.

The last (7th) page, 'Postscript to Dorsten", records another memorable moment. Perhaps many of you have taken the opportunity to return, not only to Dorsten but to Wyjlre, Sittard, Unna, St. Andreasberg, and numerous farming communities in between, and not to forget our last combat day in the Hartz mountains. Do any of you remember the large rock cliff with the German machine gun nest on top? I wish I could tell you my story as Bob Johnson and I worked over that one.

Ten years ago my wife and I joined our son in Madrid, Spain where he had just completed a two year ecclesiastic mission for our church. Remember, I am that 'Mormon'.

We had a two week Europass and toured Spain, touched Switzerland and Austria, returned to St. Andreasberg then left for Holland. My wife's parents came from Holland during World War I. We made a special trip to the cemetery in Holland (Margraten). Only Ken Streitenberger is buried there.

As I stood by the graves of *Hammerschmidt (Martin M.) and *Fortner (Robert F.) the memories that had never left, returned with a clarity that is hard to describe. And, yes, I cried. * Buried at Hamm Cemetery (Buried at Margraten Cemetery, 2006. See list. OET)

Again, I wish I were with you. If I were, I trust that Bopp made the name tags large enough so that each of us could read the others name without having to lean forward or lift our glasses to better read the name and match it to the face and to the memory.

Have a wonderful time and may God bless all of you and your loved ones.

S/Don Pickett