O-bird identity

Last evening, I was paging through my son's September issue of Air Classics and noted the picture submitted by Robert Marx on page 58. The insignia on the NAA O-47 is of the 33rd Infantry Division, Illinois National Guard. The patch bears a yellow cross on a circular field of black. I would gather from the markings on the plane that the picture dates from the 1939/1940 period. Following WWII, both the 33rd Infantry and 44th Infantry were divisions of the Illinois National Guard. Basically, the 33rd comprised localities in northern Illinois, while the 44th units were largely down state.

I was mustered into Company A, 228th Infantry, 33rd Division, when our company was activated in Downers Grove, Illinois, on Armistice Day (now Veterans Day) on 11 November 1947. In those halcyon days of patriotic fervor following WWII, a number of Downers Grove High School students enlisted in Company A at the time of unit activation. One of my friends even had to fudge his birthday to make the 17-year-- old qualification. During his subsequent active service, it took him several months to get the record straight.

Richard L. Absher

Col. USA (Ret.)

rla944@prodigy.net

Copyright Challenge Publications Inc. Oct 2001
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