WORLD WAR II VETERANS TO BE HONORED DURING CURRAHEE MILITARY WEEKEND

WORLD WAR II VETERANS TO BE HONORED DURING CURRAHEE MILITARY WEEKEND

The ninth annual Currahee Military Weekend is only three weeks away—Friday through Sunday, September 30-October 2. The event is sponsored by the Stephens County Historical Society, Main Street Toccoa, and the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce.

Other community organizations involved in the weekend include the Civil Air Patrol, Marine Corps League, American Legion, VFW, Stephens County High School Junior ROTC, the Pilot Club of Toccoa, Toccoa Lions Club, Rotary Club of Toccoa, Toccoa Falls College Brass Ensemble, and the Stephens County High School and Toccoa Elementary Choruses.

Several World War II veterans who trained at Camp Toccoa in the four parachute infantry regiments (PIR) will be attending the weekend festivities. As of today, the following men have registered to attend: Carl Beck, Robert Meyers, and Robert Wright (501 PIR), Ed Pepping, Ed Shames, and Al Mampre (506 PIR—Easy Company), Robert Parks, Ken Johnson, Ira Moorehart, Fred Bahlau, Pee Wee (Jim) Martin, Mario Patruno, Malcolm Martin, and Jake McNiece (506 PIR). At least five children of Camp Toccoa men will also be in attendance.

These gentlemen will be arriving in Toccoa Thursday, September 29, and Friday, September 30. They will be speaking to students in the Stephens County School System Friday morning; autographing books, pictures, and other memorabilia from 1-4 p.m. Friday afternoon in the Mitchell Allen Memorial Hall at the Currahee Military Museum; participating in the parade Saturday morning at 11 a.m.; attending the banquet Saturday evening; and attending the memorial service at Currahee Mountain Sunday morning. You might even see some of them at the hangar dance to be held in the LeTourneau hangar at the airport Friday night at 7 p.m.

Living historians (re-enactors) from Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee will be present for the weekend and will set up their camps on the Stephens County Courthouse lawn and other areas near the museum.

The Currahee Challenge Run/Walk, sponsored by the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce, will begin Saturday at 7:45 a.m. for the 3M run and at 8:30 a.m. for the 6M run. The run, of course, is held at Currahee Mountain.

Participants in the parade will include the Stephens County High School Indian Band, Camp Toccoa veterans, re-enactors driving military vehicles, Stephens County High School JROTC, and Shriners. Grand Marshal for the parade will be James Madio, the actor who portrayed Frank Perconte in the HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers.” Madio appears in nine of the “Band of Brothers” episodes. This is the first time that one of the actors has participated in Currahee Military Weekend, and he will be here to honor the veterans and celebrate the tenth anniversary of the mini-series release. The parade will begin after a parachute jump by the Special Forces Association Parachute Team.

Activities at the airport will begin Friday night with the hangar dance and will continue Saturday with plane and helicopter rides, vintage planes on display, and army recruiter displays (including a climbing wall).

Opening ceremonies will be held at the depot following the parade. The Blue Ridge Rifles from North Georgia College will perform; and Rev. David Ritcey, pastor of First Baptist Church will sing the national anthem following the presentation of colors by the Stephens County High School JROTC.

Julie Beyrle Schugars, daughter of Joe Beyrle, will speak at the opening ceremonies. Beyrle trained at Camp Toccoa and jumped into Normandy on D-Day. He was captured by the Germans, and after several attempts he escaped. Unable to locate Americans, he joined the Russians and fought with them against the Germans, their common enemy. . The Joe Beyrle exhibit, “A Hero of Two Nations,” will continue to be displayed through October 2 in the museum.

Visitors to Toccoa/Stephens County are encouraged to visit the Camp Toccoa property recently donated to the Stephens County Historical Society by Pacolet-Milliken, Inc. and the memorials that are nearby.

The Currahee Military Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day during the weekend, and local citizens are encouraged to visit the museum and become a part of the excitement of this event. Admission prices are $8 for adults and $3 for students under 18.

Currahee Military Weekend gives the community and Northeast Georgia an opportunity to honor the veterans who trained here, the thousands of veterans who have served our country on many other battlefields, and the active military men and women who are currently serving the United States on several battlegrounds and on military posts around the world. There will undoubtedly be active military men and women in attendance during the weekend. Show your appreciation to the active military, as well as to the veterans, when you visit Toccoa during Currahee Military Weekend.