Introducing #FLASHBACKFRIDAY! Read John Bailey's (Bailey Coach) Story!

05/21/2021

Dear Members,

Happy Friday!

We are interested in sharing your story with the rest of the PBA community of members. To get the ball rolling, we are introducing #FlashbackFriday!

Do you have a story and picture(s) from the past? This can be about your business, family, an interest or hobby, or just a past fun event.

Your story will be shared with our members and posted to our social media each Friday. We will use the hashtag #FlashbackFriday, along with your company's social media handles.

We need submissions to make this happen, so if you are interested in being featured, click the button below.

Share Your Story!

#FLASHBACKFRIDAY

Our first story comes from John Bailey, Bailey Coach...

"When my father, U.S. Army Captain Fred J. Bailey, passed away in 2005, I was going through documents in his briefcase and found his U.S. Army orders from WWII. After reading through the orders and the 5 countries he had been in during the war, my brother and I planned a trip to follow our father’s footsteps during WWII. We did this in the summer of 2014.

When General Patton was killed in an auto accident he was transported via train to Luxembourg and buried in the American cemetery, and buried among his men.

My father assisted in this funeral and transport via train to the cemetery. Tens of thousands of people came to visit the grave of General Patton (graves around the General's grave were being desecrated due to the number of people visiting the grave). The decision was made to move the General to where he is today.

General Patton is the only U.S. soldier in the world that is not buried with his men. My father, Captain Bailey. was in charge of removing the body, re-preparing the body, and placing it to its final resting place in the cemetery. I asked Dad if he buried him with his pearl-handled pistols on him and he quietly answered yes.

You might ask what did my father do during WWII? He was the graves and registration officer for the 1st and 9th Armies during WWII. Below is a link to a book that was written about the founding of the American Cemetery in Margraten Holland. My father is mentioned in the book several times “Crosses in the Wind”.

I never gave the trip much thought in the past years, but this picture came up in my memories on my smartphone this past week, and noticed I had my PBA t-shirt on for the picture, for some reason I was proudly wearing my PBA t-shirt that day!!"

Luxembourg Cemetery information
Link to a book written about the American Cemetery in Margraten Holland, my father gave the order to begin the construction of this cemetery.

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Thank you!

Patricia Cowley

Executive Director

Telephone: 717-236-9042

Email: director@pabus.org

Website: www.pabus.org