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557th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion (Mobile)
This well-written and thorough history of the
557th AAA AW Bn was written in the 1950s by Clyde D. Boden, Jr.
Reproduced here is one of fifty copies of a first draft submitted to
battalion veterans for review in 1959. It is not known if
subsequent revisions were made. Mr. Boden's intention was to
distribute this history free of charge to all members of the 557th.
By preserving Mr. Boden's efforts here, it is hoped that the story
of the 557th will be readily available to the families of the unit's
veterans. The title of the history, Clear Skies, is
taken from the battalion motto.
Attached to the
84th Infantry Division "Railsplitters" from December 1944 through
the end of hostilities in Europe, the 557th provided effective
support for the infantry as it crossed the Roer and Rhine Rivers.
Battery C, while attached to the 9th Infantry Division, was cited in
the Belgian Army Order of the Day for assisting in the
liberation of Belgian territory during September 1944. In the
performance of its primary mission, the 557th was awarded over 24
Category I claims for the confirmed destruction of enemy aircraft.
This copy of Clear Skies was provided by the daughter of
a battalion veteran who desired to see the unit's history archived and
made available to all who are interested.
Note: In keeping with the
mission of this website, only the section of the history covering
World War II is presented. The table of contents references
other postwar material dating to the 1950s.
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