To all recipients:

Les "Ches" White passed away either Monday night or Tuesday morning. No
details at this time. More will follow.
Ches was PNC and Past Chapter Commander and served in the 39th Signal
Company in WW II and the 102nd FA National Guard after the war. He was a
SGM Major.

Peter B

The Yankee Division Veterans Association just opened their official website at http://www.ydva.org/

The ceremony is to take place in Minuteman National Park, in Concord, in the vicinity of the Old North Bridge. The plans call for the troops to be bussed to the lower parking lot on Great Meadows Road, arriving at 1000 hours, march over the Bridge, and assemble for the ceremony in the vicinity of the Visitors Center, on Liberty Street.

The ceremony is scheduled for 1100 hours. The YDVA will participate, in uniform (blue tie), and possibly march over the bridge with the troops. Those who have trouble walking should plan on meeting the participants at the visitor center, rather than the lower parking lot.

These men are the newest members of the YD family. Be there, show your support for the troops and their families!

Directions to Concord site: Take route 2 (west) off of route 95 (128). This is Cambridge Turnpike. Go straight, make no turns, go as far as you can. At end, the Colonial Inn is in front of you. Go right (Monument Street). The lower parking lot is up on the right. If you are going to the visitor's center, continue past the lower parking lot, go over the bridge, take you first left (Liberty St.). The visitor's center will be on your left.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.

Don McCuish - National Secretary, YDVA

WWII ARMY COMBAT VETS TO BE RE-UNITED WITH CONCENTRATION CAMP SURVIVORS

On June 15th, in Boston, World War II veterans of eleven U.S. Army Holocaust Liberator divisions will be honored in a unique event. Never before have such a large group of the men who broke into the Nazi Concentration camps been so feted. Never before have so many been reunited with survivors of Buchenwald, Dachau, Mauthausen, Nordhausen and other notorious Nazi death camps.

The event is the annual benefit tribute dinner of the Holocaust Center Boston North, an educational foundation that works to teach about and document all genocides, including the Nazi Holocaust.

Though half of the World War II combat divisions that liberated the camps have since been inactivated, serving soldiers of seven of those units will join their elders at the event.

All of the vets and soldiers have been 'adopted' by patriotic corporations, individuals and veterans posts. These benefactors pay for their adopted soldiers' and vets' dinners, host them at the dinner table, and co-present their awards.

Greeting speaker for the event will be Mrs. Joanne Holbrook-Patton, past president of the Army Emergency Relief Fund, and daughter-in-law and widow, respectively, of two Patton generals. Her father, World War II Brigadier General Willard Holbrook, led the 11th Armored and 26th Infantry Division combat teams that liberated Mauthausen and Gusen concentration camps in May 1945.

The 26th Infantry Brigade and the YDVA will attend this event. Prospective benefactors and attendees should contact me at BGMangone@aol.com or 978-531-1771.

Albert Mangone ( Message forwarded by Peter E. Bogdan, YDVA )

The U.S. Army has announced the conversion of all active and Guard combat brigades, including those organic to divisions, to modular brigade combat teams. The 'new' brigade combat teams will be attachable to any active or Guard combat division. Consequently, the 26th Yankee Infantry Brigade, Massachusetts Army National Guard, will sever its relationship with the 29th (Blue & Grey) Infantry Division, discard the 'Ying Yang' 29th ID patch, and don that of the 26th Yankee Infantry Division - Yes, the same YD patch all of you once wore!

Eventually, about 3,000 Army National Guard soldiers in Massachusetts and New Mexico will don the YD patch. That total will include a brigade headquarters company, two infantry battalions, cavalry squadron, field artillery battalion, support battalion, and a special troops battalion inclusive of intelligence, signal and engineer companies.

YDVA members will pin the YD patch on soldiers of the Brigade headquarters and headquarters company and the infantry battalion commanders at a noon, 10 December ceremony at building #623, Devens (Formerly Fort Devens) Massachusetts.

All YDVAers and Auxiliary members are invited to attend. Approximately 55 uniformed YDVAers will form ranks alongside the active soldiers and, on command, pin the YD patch on the active soldiers' left shoulders. The Adjutant General of Massachusetts, other YDVAers and Auxiliary members, and former Yankee Division commanding generals and command sergeants major will observe the ceremony.

Good News; The YD Shoulder patch is back.

The Department of the Army has authorized the soldiers of the 26th (Yankee) Brigade Combat Team (BCT) to wear the shoulder patch of the YD. The same patch that was worn by the 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division in World Wars I and II. The 26th (Yankee) BCT is a unit of the Massachusetts Army National Guard stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

A ceremony will be held at Fort Devens on Saturday, December 10th where members of the Yankee Division Veterans Association (YDVA) will present YD patches to the soldiers of the 26th BCT.

Regards to all,
Don McCuish
National Secretary, YDVA

Dear Comrades,
The Yankee Division Veterans Association (YDVA) is looking for new members. Anyone who served in any unit of the 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division at any time is eligible for membership. Assocate memberships are available to friends or relatives of former YD members.

For Information contact
Donald McCuish
National Secretary YDVA
14 Scott St., Woburn MA 01801 or e-mail YDVA@aol.com

Yours in Comradeship
Don McCuish
National Secretary, YDVA

The reprint of the 50th Anniversary YD History Book is done. The book is 260 pages with 7 maps of the battle lines and over 175 pictures of people and places the division operated in Europe. The cost is $25.00 postpaid. Make check payable "YDVA NATIONAL" and mail it with your NAME and ADDRESS to:

EDITOR, YANKEE DOINGS
23 WHITNEY STREET
SAUGUS, MA 01906-4327

Help keep the YD Alive
Don McCuish
National Secretary, YDVA