I would like to be able to pass on some information about my grandfather to family members. I don't know much his serial number was 36447913 he was in the 101st. I'm in England for the next year or so and I would like visit some of the place's he was. Please any help would be appreciated. Shawn Allen

Shawn,

You will have to make the contacts with gov't agencies to get the specific information on your grandfather, I'm afraid. There are others here thank point you in the right directions.

As far as general information on the 81st Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion is concerned, any general book on the 101st Airborne will probably give information on it's locations and movements. Try to avoid the biographical type books or books that tend follow a small portion of the division, Such as Band of Brothers, etc as they will be more concentrated on other units within the division. Also, scour the internet on information on the 101st. There is a good probability that they were usally close to the Divisional HQ. If you know where it was, your grandfather was probably there also. Their unit call sign was Kentucky and they wore a triangle shaped white emblem on the right side of their helmet

The 81st participated in the Normandy and Market Garden drops. The men of the 81st were probably not jump qualified (although a few could have been) and made their entries into the fight via gliders. My book shows they landed beyond Utah Beach on 6 June 1944 and landed in Holland as part of Market Garden on 17 Sep 1944. They were besieged at Bastogne in Dec 1944. Best I can tell (I have practically no info on the 81st specificially), they participated in every operation that the 101st was involved, except for the initial airborne assault (it was at night), where they landed a few hours later after it was daylight.

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Not Slipdigit

This is from his enlistment card from the AAD NARA site;

ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 36447913 36447913
NAME HICKEY#DONALD#J######### HICKEY#DONALD#J#########
RESIDENCE: STATE 61 ILLINOIS
RESIDENCE: COUNTY 123 MARSHALL
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 6167 PEORIA ILLINOIS
DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 11 11
DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 02 02
DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 43 43
GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private
GRADE: CODE 8 Private
BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION BI# Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
BRANCH: CODE 00 Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
FIELD USE AS DESIRED # #
TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
LONGEVITY ### ###
SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL # Undefined Code
NATIVITY 61 ILLINOIS
YEAR OF BIRTH 24 24
RACE AND CITIZENSHIP # Undefined Code
EDUCATION 4 4 years of high school
CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 803 Unskilled occupations in production of beverages
MARITAL STATUS 6 Single, without dependents
COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7 Selectees (Enlisted Men)
CARD NUMBER # #
BOX NUMBER 1084 1084
FILM REEL NUMBER 5.146 5.146

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Thanks for the info guy's. I ordered bunch of books and maps. I hope to find a photo. Thanks Again.........

If you will "google" 81st airborne anti-aircraft" You will get pages of articles that refer to your grandfather's unit. The 81st was formed from the 327th glider infantry at Camp Claiborne Louisiana in september 1942. There were 6 batteries of men. Batteries A, B, & C were antitank with 37mm then 55mm cannon. Batteries D, E, & F were anti-aircraft, each with 12 x 50 cal. air-cooled machine guns. Have more info if interested

When the 81st arrived in England, it was based at Basildon Park which is just west of London. It has markers and information which note the unit being stationed there before the D-day invasion. It is a trip well worth taking.