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June 25, 1958

Mr. J. L. Desjardins
25 First Street
Leominster
Mass.

Dear Mr. Desjardins:

Thank you very much for your letter and for your willingness to help us with
Cornelius Ryan’s book about D-Day. I hope you will forgive the delay in
replying to your kind offer of assistance; we are gratified, but somewhat
overwhelmed, by the wonderful response which we are getting as a result of
our requests for information.

During the next few months, both in this country and in Europe, Mr. Ryan
will be interviewing many of the D-Day participants who agree to contribute
to the book. Very probably, he will wish to talk with you during that period.
In the meantime, since we are dealing with so many people, we have found it
necessary to develop an individual file on each person who agrees to help us.
Therefore, we hope you will complete the enclosed record and return it to
me at your earliest convenience. We truly believe that these questions will
serve you, as well as us, if they can help to crystallize some hazy memories
and to indicate the sort of information which we are seeking.

I should be most grateful to know as soon as possible when and if you will be
available for interview. We want very much to tell the story of your unit,
and in order to do that we need the personal accounts of the men who were
there. We particularly look forward to your reply.

Sincerely yours,

Frances Ward
Research Department

FW:LL
Enclosure