407th AAA Gun Bn members

I have finished locating any remaining members of the 407th AAA Gun Battalion from WWII. There are 6-7 and all are in the state of CT. There was a list of 75 members & located all but 3. Have verified 6 out of the 7 remaining. These brave men are living history and most regard each other as a brother. Most of these souls are in thier 80's minimully and wish to see them again. This 407th is in a book titled "The Buzz Bombers" by Katz and fought in Berges. These men are planning on getting together soon so if the mere possibility that this reaches one of the remaining 3 members- EXCELLENT!!!

 

We had a reuinon party in Hamden. It was so great to see everyone and share stories.

 

Does anyone have information on the Red Ball express survivors. I would like to give them recognition for their work.

 

My Father-in Law. Ewald Hessinger was in C batterry 407th AAA Gun BN (SM) was he one of the former members you were able to find???

 

Hello everybody, my Grandfather Harry Velardi was in the 407th, and sadly he passed away in April 2010. I wish they had a New Haven reunion a few years earlier as he would have loved to attend. I've got all of his pictures, patches, and paperwork from the war.

In his last years I took care of him, and he told me a lot of stories about the war, and on a cold day he would say how the Bulge was much colder. He talked about feeling bad for the German POW's (he spoke some German), and about what he saw when they landed in Normandy. He was proud about all the buzz bombs they shot down. Grandpa was sharp as a tack until a few weeks before his death.

He had a lot of good times in the Army along with some bad memories. My Great Uncle Fred (they married Sisters) was also in the unit, but he didn't make it overseas as he had flat feet (he's still alive, but is currently in the hospital following a stroke).

Anyway, I was looking for info about his unit and doing a search on geneology and came upon this forum. I figured I would post, and can possibly scan some pictures if there is anybody still alive from his unit or their family that would like to see them. He talked about a book on the unit, but I have not been able to find it.

Cheers,
Cookie75

 

I checked the Unit Citation and Campaign Credit register (circa 1960) and found the 407th AAA (it is listed as Automatic Weapons but the campaign credits match)

They earned two Belgian Fourragere so I looked up the GO and found a good write-up with the 407th AAA Gun Bn listed.

 

I did a quick search and found a digital copy of the book The Buzz Bomb Kings: A History of the 407th AAA Gun Bn online. The catch is that you cannot download it unless you (or someone you know) have a "partner login". The partners this refers to are primarily colleges and universities. However, even if you can't download it, you can view it at the link above.

Cookie, I found your grandfather in the photo for D Battery on page 24. He's kneeling on the far right. Here's a screen capture of the photo:

View attachment 20717

And on page 61, he is listed as a PFC and an Observation Station Operator.

 

Excellent find Tommy. IMO one of the best AAA battalion histories for completeness and narration.


I also love it when there are intersections with other memoirs. There is a passage about B Battery in Brittany when they were attached to the 561st FA 155-mm Guns (page 33 - 34). As with most military units, outsiders get no sympathy. Major Gordon from the Long Tom's noted:

Other useful 407th AAA Bn threads at ww2f.com:

http://www.ww2f.com/topic/23318-407th-aaa-bn/

http://www.ww2f.com/topic/12670-hq-battery-407th-aaa-gun-bn/

 

From another thread:

You've probably already read this, E., but here's what TBBK book says about December 1944:

I think this shows that you pretty much nailed it. They clearly were affected by the BOTB and would have used it not as a claim to having fought in the battle, but as a kind of shorthand way of referring to a particular time and related events. Also, as the above excerpt suggests, at that time they believed that they could end up in ground combat with German forces. For them, the BOTB was a real experience even if they weren't directly involved in the combat.

 

My father Alfred "Mac" DellaValle about from New Haven was in that division. The passed away in 1992. I'm trying to find more info as to where they were specifically as I would like to go to France - Belgium, etc