This blog has been created for the reader to learn more about the history of the 440th Signal Battalion. It is my hope that the curious and the interested will read a while and perhaps make comments. If the reader was in the 440th, please make contact and tell me a little about yourself: when and where you served, what company you were with, what your duties were, etc. If you are an historian, by all means contact me: lets compare notes. Any information I have found to date is available to everyone: ex-440th persons, historian's or the curious.. Simply make contact and let me know what it is you are interested in. I will reply as soon as possible and offer what I have..
My plan is to first present a short history of the unit. Then, from time to time, I will present the history in much greater detail. This is where the reader may play a part: if I state a name, an area of service, a year, etc., and you feel the statement is in error, let me know. The history I am writing is continuously being updated and corrected. I have been challenged and corrected many times by the men and women who know better: the ones who were there!
I was drafted into the US Army In September 1952. After basic training and MOS training (1238 - Pole Lineman), I was assigned to the 440th in March of 1953. I was rotated back to the States in January 1954 and after serving 21 months, was discharged in June of that year.
Several years ago, I thought it would be interesting to try contacting some of my old Army friends. I came into contact with a group of ex-440th men, who held a reunion each year somewhere in the 48 States. After attending my first reunion, I realized that we were all sitting around a table, recalling old times and friends, but no one was recording the memories. This project was born at that moment.
During the past half dozen years, I have collected hundreds of stories, memories and bits of information from men and women who were in the battalion at different times, staring as early as 1942 and extending into 2007. Along the way, it became clear that it would be necessary to learn and write more about the 'hard' history of the 440th: when and where it served, which campaigns it had taken part, exact dates, times, places, the names of the commanding officers, etc. There are many holes in this history still to be filled but every day it becomes a little more detailed. But thanks to the many contributors found along the way, the history of the 440th Signal Battalion is taking shape, and, it is hoped that one day it will offer a clear and sharp picture of the unit over the many decades it has served our country.
I quickly found there there is only so much history about the battalion available on line or in printed form. Nearly all of the history found to date has been passed on by the men and women who were in the 440th. They will continue to be the principle source of facts and information about the 440th. That is why it is so important to hear from everyone who has every been in the unit: you are the history book. Open up and let everyone hear from you.
Thank you for your interest in the 440th Signal Battalion.
James L Hendricks
B Company, 440th Signal Aviation Construction Battalion
Korea 1953-1954
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