Friendship

[John Sabato]

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."
- C. S. Lewis

My dear "Friends"

â?¦ hardly an adequate description for how I feel about some of you folks on this forum, and you know who you are. I have been privileged to be a moderator here for 10 years.

I would like to relate a wonderful experience that I had in Orlando Florida this last week, through the generous friendship and courtesy of member Jamese (a.k.a. - James Egbers).

Some of you may know from previous postings that I annually attend the reunion of my late fatherâ??s WW2 Army unitâ?¦ the 9th Infantry Division Association (http://www.octofoil.org)

My late father, 2LT John Sabato, was a forward observer for the mortar platoon of E-Company, 39th Infantry Regiment.

I have been attending these reunions for almost the last 16 years. I go to honor the memory of my Dad by helping his association with all the hands-on labor and when necessary, the guidance to put on a reunion like this. This allows the WW2 heroes and their wives the opportunity to see their wartime brothers, and their families, without worrying about having to deal with the logistics of a reunion.

I can remember as a child back in the late 50â??s and early 60's that there were literally thousands of people at these reunions... Filling up the largest hotels in the major metropolitan cities in the nation in those early years after the war.

This year was their 63rd Annual Reunion, and there were only 138 people presentâ?¦ 34 of them were some of the surviving veterans of the 9th Infantry, and the remainder consisted of their families which stretched 3 additional generations in some cases.

A typical Reunion Schedule (this year as an example):

Day One: Arrival, Registration and in the evening, a Beer and Pizza Social to be reunited with old and new friends. This year included the attendance of a NEW member of the 9th Infantry Division Association and some of his family. He had never known about the organization, and never attended a reunion in 63 years! Imagine his surprise to find one member of his unit still alive to share old memories with.

Day Two: The morning is reserved for the annual Memorial Service to honor those who made the supreme sacrifice in defense of freedom, and those who have gone before those still surviving heroes.

In the evening, there is typically a bus trip to a nice Dinner and a Show... This year it was the Medeval Times Dinner theater.

Day Three, Morning free for visiting and sightseeing in the host town. And in the evening, the Grand Banquet to close the festivities...

On the morning of Day Four, is the farewell breakfast where all say goodbye to old friends and pray that they will return next year for the next reunion.

A sad statistic is that our nation is losing almost 1800 WW2 veterans a dayâ?¦

About 10 years ago, one other â??childâ?� of this, the greatest generation, Mary Cooper, and I, recognized the inevitable need to help out, and founded the Sons and Daughters Auxiliary of the 9th Infantry Division Association. We started with only a few of us that first year who had come along with our parents to assist them with the travel, and today we are over 120 strong, though not all get to attend each reunion due to changing work and family commitments. We grow with each passing year, as our war heroes diminish in numbers.

Besides the surviving vets, and their wives, ...almost half of the attendees this year were Sons and Daughters, Grandchildren, and even Great-Grandchildren of these heroes.

3 years ago, at their 60th reunion in Washington DC, the Sons and Daughters were graced by the addition of a new member. His name was William Sauers, and he had never attended a reunion before. He came to the 60th Reunion in search of historical information about his late father.

His father, SSGT William Sauers, was Killed-In-Action during the very late days of the European war near the Remagen bridgehead.

Willam and I have become very close friends in these past three years. He is now, like myself, a national officer of the Sons and Daughters organization and he comes to every reunion to help out, and has also volunteered and has taken on the monumental job as Editor of the Official Newsletter of the 9th Infantry Division Association - The Octofoil. A job which takes almost 1000 hours of his time each year.

Two years ago, while he and I were visiting the WW2 Museum in Branson, Missouri, I was describing for him some of history of the weapons that were displayed. When we came to a glass display case that held Luger and P-38 pistols, he remarked that he had read one of the last letters his father sent home in which his father had told of a P-38 he had captured, and carried with him at all times, and that he was anxious to bring it home as a souvenier. Sadly, neither his Dad, nor the pistol ever came home, and William grew up without knowing either.

I was immediately inspired with the idea that at the very next reunion I would somehow figure out how to provide William with the opportunity to shoot a P-38, a Luger, and also an M-1 rifle like his father had carried into combat.

Knowing that one of our long term Lugerforum members (Jamese) , was a Sergeant on the Stuart Florida Police Department a couple of hours outside of Orlando, I enlisted his assistance to help me locate a suitable firing range where this event could take place without breaking any laws and in complete safety.

Although it was my original intention to drive to Orlando this year and bring my own weapons and equipment, ...as the year between the reunions shrank to just a couple of months, and for reasons beyond my control, it became necessary for me to fly into Orlando.

When this became a reality, I contacted Jim, who told me he was pretty sure that he could source the necessary guns from local collector friends for the occasion, and Jim came through with flying colors!

Jim not only provided the guns, but took off time to meet with William and I in Orlando, take us to the range, and even provided the ammunition. In spite of horrendous rain from Tropical Storm Fayâ?¦22 inches of rain in 4 days, William was thrilled to not only finally handle the guns that served his late father, but actually shoot them himself. In addition to the WW2 guns I had requested, Jim even brought a modern M-4 Carbine version of the AR-15 rifle just like icing on the cake.

It was really great to finally have the opportunity to meet Jim Egbers in person after knowing and communicating with him for almost a decade through this forumâ?¦ His dedication to this hobby is what this forum is all about. I have been blessed to have met more than a dozen of the forum members in the last few years.

The original idea for this excursion may have been mine, but Jim Egbers and his friend Brian, an investigator for the State of Florida, are the heroes of this story...they made it come true.

They both took the time out of their busy schedules to be instrumental in making this gift to William in honor of his father. I will be forever grateful for both their assistance.

My hatâ??s off to you Jim Egbers, your friendship is very much appreciated, and I owe you one. If you are ever in the Washington DC area, just let me know you are coming.

I will post a photo of Jim Egbers, William Sauers and myself taken at the range as soon as William sends a copy on to meâ?¦the photo was taken on his camera. In the meantime, here is a photo of my new â??brotherâ?� William and I, at the 9th Infantry Division Reunion banquet last weekend. William is the tall one!



My dear Friends, Thanks for taking the time to read this and sharing this experience with me!

[the gunman]

A very nice moving story John what a nice thing to do. I have had dealings with Jim and you sure are right he is a true gentleman. And fellow collector we are very lucky to have people like him and yourself on this forum. This forum and the people on it are one of the high points of my day. We are blessed with a great bunch of guys.

[wlyon]

Way to go John. You definately are an "extra-miler." Bill

[lugerholsterrepair]

John, Ya better update your avatar with the better looking fellow! Good on you man...It's all about Friendship.

Jerry Burney

[Edward Tinker]

Very nice John, sounds like a grand thing to participate in and help the vets.


Ed

[policeluger]

I think John brings out the best in folks.....

[A.Mifsin]

Thank You John for sharing this wounderful experiance.

Alf

[Steinar]

From a country once under siege, I'm sending a big 'thank you' to all those who's effort contributed to our liberation

[jamese]

John,
We were headed to the gun show anyway and it's never a big deal to spend a little time with a friend, and make someone's dream come true.
I'm glad that I could be a part of that and wish we could have spend more time chating over a couple of beers.....maybe next time.

I agree with the comments this is what the forum is all about, helping fellow collectors and spending a little time meeting them when the opportunities present them selves.

Thank you John for the kind words, (I'm a little red faced) in my line of work most people avoid me.

(you must have cut me out of the photo)


Jim

[John Sabato]

Jim,

I haven't got the photo taken at the range yet. Maybe next week. That was William's camera... I will post it as soon as I get it. You may notice that we are not dressed like we were at the range