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incoming and departing personnel. One of the items also recorded was the arrival of a new battery commander, so we now have the names and rank of many of the battery commanders of C-47. The morning report always showed the destination and/or new unit of any departing enlisted man, but never showed that for any officer leaving the unit.
The unit strength on various dates was as follows:
1 Jan 1960 - officers-2 warrant-4 enlisted-97 12 Oct 1960 - officers-5 warrant-3 enlisted-82. 25 Aug 1961 - officers-2 warrant-4 enlisted-70 25 Jun 1964 - officers-4 warrant-4 enlisted-92 21 Oct 1965 - officers-3 warrant-3 enlisted-140* *This is the highest manpower I saw on any of the reports.
The morning reports indirectly confirmed that C-47 was deactivated 31 March 1971. Unit strength on 15 Jan 1971 was 86 men, on 1 Feb 1971 84 men, on 2 Apr 1971 71 men, 11 Apr 1971 68 men, 13 May 1971 29 men, 12 Jun 1971 1 man and the last morning report dated 15 Jun 1971 showed strength at 0 men. The last couple of morning reports seem to have been signed by the battalion adjutant at Battalion Headquarters, Gary. The last battery commander of C-47 was Capt. Donald E. Blanton. It was sad to read these last morning reports and see the death of C-47 and Battery A. The men were sent to many different units, usually other Nike units in the U.S. and oversees.
I was able to find, for NPG group member and former C-47 battery commander Jon Nitkowski, a copy of the first and last morning report of his command plus a roster from the time he was battery commander there.
If you would like information on starting a record search at the National Record Center feel free to contact me. I may be able to save you time and get you headed in the right direction.
You can contact Tom via e-mail at: phoneman@alice.adsnet.com or write him at: Tom Vaughn, 2016 Village Road, LaPorte, IN 46350
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