There are two new stories I hope to have posted in the New Year. The first involves an original member of 417th NFS. His name is Lyle James Montbriand. His son has located Lyle’s army issued personal diary which tells the story of his time from the creation of the 417th in Kissimmee then on to New York, Scotland, England, North Africa, Corsica, Belgium and back to the US. Here is a photo of Lyle along with a handwritten note listing his “war buddies”. More photos and info to come in the new year.
The 2nd story I am working on is that of my father, Richard Ziebart. After he passed away in 2018 I found a collection of momentos he kept from his time with the 417th. These items have helped me piece together his journey and the timeline associated with it. I hope to complete my research in the fist quarter of 2022, so stay tuned. For now, I will leave you with this photo of my dad taken in Biloxi where he underwent Cadet training:
Until then, I am sending my Christmas and New Years wishes to you all and we will talk again in 2022.
Cheers,
Jackie
Thanks for this, Jackie – and everything else you do to keep this site going and so interesting. It’s a fantastic resource. Can’t wait to read these new items!
–Karen Seeman
grand-niece of R/O Raymond Christensen