CPL Donald E. McAllister
CPL Donald E. McAllister
Today we honor and remember CPL Donald E. McAllister of the 101st Airborne Division.
Corporal (CPL) Donald Edward McAllister of Fox Battery, 81st Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion (AAA), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Struthers, Mahoning County, Ohio, to James and Anna (McMurtry) McAllister on August 18, 1912. Donald was their youngest child. He had three brothers, Thomas J., John R., and Alexander, and one sister, Jane McAllister.
Alexander passed away in 1917, at age 14. Donald’s sister Jane passed away in 1931, at age 20. His mother passed away in 1938 (born: 1870) and his father in 1945 (born: 1863). His oldest brother Thomas (born: 1899) served as a Private First Class with the 492nd Bomber Group AAF during WWII.
Donald attended Struthers High School in the late 1920s. He registered for the draft in his hometown on October 19, 1940. At the time, he was employed by McKelvey’s, one of two well-known department stores in downtown Youngstown, Ohio. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Camp Perry, Ottawa County, Ohio, on March 23, 1942, and was assigned to the 81st AAA.
After undergoing basic training at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, he moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in September 1942, where the men of the 81st AAA underwent weapons and glider transport training. Additionally, the 81st AAA took part in all the stateside divisional maneuvers with the 101st Airborne at the Southern Pines, North Carolina (March 1943), the Camden Maneuvers, South Carolina (May 1943), followed by the Tennessee Maneuvers (June-July 1943).
After finishing his stateside training with the 81st AAA, Donald moved to Camp Shanks, New York, with his outfit. He left the United States when the H.M.S. Samaria pulled away from a New York Harbor pier at 10:15 am on Sunday, September 5, 1943. The ship arrived in Liverpool, England, on September 15th. The men of the 81st AAA were housed at Basildon Park, near Reading, Berkshire.
The 81st AAA would continue its training on the British Island until it was sent across the English Channel to participate in the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
While Able Battery and Baker Battery would be part of the airborne operation, the main force of the 81st landed at Utah Beach with the seaborne elements, along with HQ Battery and the Medical Detachment landing at Omaha Beach.
CPL Donald McAllister’s Fox Battery went ashore on Utah Beach at around 06.30 hrs on D-Day morning. There are two different statements concerning the circumstances of his death. One account states that after he had landed on Utah Beach, “he jumped in a shell hole in the sand for cover, and he never came out.” The other statement describes him drowning off the beach. Up to now, the exact circumstances of his death remain unknown.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
CPL Donald McAllister was first buried at the temporary military cemetery #2 of Sainte-Mère-Église (Block E, Row 6, Grave 112) and was reburied at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy (Plot A, Row 17, Grave 7). May he rest in peace.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Donald.
Lest we forget! 🇺🇸
Sources:
Family Search
Story Behind the Stars (Courtesy of Bryan Fusfield)
George Koskimaki files of the 81st AAA
A Rendezvous with Destiny (By Rapport & Norwood)