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July 21, 1958
CWO Malcolm R. Weller Headquarters, 116th Infantry Virginia National Guard Thomas D. Howie Memorial Armory Staunton, Virginia
Dear Chief Weller:
Thank you very much for your long-unanswered letter of April 22 and for your willingness to help us with Cornelius Ryan's book about D-Day. I hope you will forgive me for not having replied long ago. As I have just written to Colonel Sproul, a series of personal mishaps and miscalculations concerning the scope of the project have left me quite far behind with our voluminous correspondence. The delay may, after all, work to our mutual advantage, in that we here are now more clear and coherent about our schedule for the immediate future.
The situation is this: Mr. Ryan is in Europe doing his most intensive work on the book there, and he will return to the United States within the next few weeks. This means that he will be doing his interviewing here during the month of August and early September. I should appreciate your letting me know whether or not you might be available to talk with him in Staunton at that time, and also your stating any preference as to time and place if you have one. I think that what Mr. Ryan will hope to do will be to go to Staunton for several days and interview each of the people to whom you refer in your letter during his stay.
Therefore, it would be of great assistance to us if you could either send me the names and addresses of these men at inform them of our project and our request for their help. I enclose a number of questionnaires for your use and for theirs if they are willing in the hope that these will be completed and returned to me even before Mr. Ryan goes to Staunton. We have adopted this question form as our means of basic record in preparation for interviews. We know that these questions do not do justice to anyone's memories of D-Day, but we have found that they give us a great deal to work with and also indicate to contributors to the book the kind of information which we are seeking.
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CWO Malcolm R. Weller -2- July 21,1958
I hope that you are still willing to help us, despite my long and seemingly ungracious delay in thanking you and accepting your offer of assistance. We will be grateful to follow any suggestions which you have concerning the most efficient and satisfactory means of interviewing the Staunton veterans. Thank you so very such for any help which you can give us.
Sincerely yours,
Frances Ward Research Department
FW:LL Enclosures
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HEADQUARTERS 116TH INFANTRY VIRGINIA NATIONAL GUARD THOMAS D. HOWIE MEMORIAL ARMORY STAUNTON, VIRGINIA
29 July 1958
SUBJECT: History of D-Day, 6 June 1944
TO: Miss Frances Ward Reader's Digest 230 Park Avenue New York 17, N. Y.
[*N.B. Also, Crouch at Bedorm will be away the end of month. Perhaps Va & Wash. (Vandermot) had better be done 1st*]
1. Regarding interviews with participants in D-Day for Mr. Carnelius Ryan at Staunton, Virginia, they can be arranged with about a week notice at any time other than during the period 16-29 August 1958.
2. The 29th Infantry Division, National Guard, will be at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania, 16-29 August 1958 for the annual two weeks field training. There will be with the division many who participated in D-Day, 6 June 1944, from Virginia and Maryland, who are still members of the Division. I am sure that many interviews can be arranged there during that period of time.
3. The questionaires have been distributed to D-Day participants and should be forthcoming in the near future.
4. Colonel Sproul has been in Europe since the middle of July and will return early in August.
MALCOLM R. WELLER CWO, W-4 , 116th Ing VaARNG Assistant Adjutant