Francis "Frank" Xavier James Hickey

November 27, 1914 – March 21, 1966

Frank was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the second of five children of Francis and Anna (Dunigan) Hickey.  In 1922, his father passed away when he was only 8 years old.  His older sister, Marion, died in 1925. At that time, records show that Frank was "Francis X. Hickey, Jr." or "Francis X. J. Hickey". For some unknown reason, Frank dropped the first of his two middle names and all official records list him as "Frank J. Hickey" in High School and thereafter. 

Frank attended James Madison High School. After graduating he began a career as fire fighter. In 1936 he joined the Army National Guard. On August 29, 1940 he married Catherine T. McManus, also of Brooklyn. Prior to World War II, Frank trained at Camp Smith in Cortlandt Manor, New York, every summer while serving with New York State's Company F of the 106th Infantry Regiment. 

On July 21, 1943, Frank enlisted in the Army. He trained at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and was initially assigned to Company M of the 359th Infantry Regiment, but when they shipped off to Iceland, he was temporarily assigned to the US Army Air Corps at Meeks Field near Keflavik. He was stationed for 14 months in Iceland before transferring to England to prepare for the invasion of Normandy. [1]

In France, Frank served in Company M of the 358th Infantry Regiment, which was attached to the 90th Infantry Division. [2] 

Catherine was notified that Frank was a POW in the first week of January, 1945. [3]

Insert battle experiences and capture here:

Stalag 7-A  and Kommando 4055

Frank spent the next few months at Stalag 7-A before volunteering to work at a farming POW camp called "Kommando 4055", in Parsdorf (Kreis Ebersberg). He was one of 17 American POWs at Kommando 4055, whose primary task was potato farming. It was hard work but the extra food and better shelter was an upgrade from Stalag 7-A according to Frank. From October 2, 1944 to November 3, 1944, he worked side by side with local German farming families whose fathers, husbands, and sons were at the front or who had been killed in action. There were about a dozen guards at this small camp but the entire atmosphere was more relaxed and friendly.  Two other American POWs who he was friends with, Armando Uva and Robert Whealon, were part of this farm work detail. Unfortunately, when their work was done in Parsdorf, they were sent back to Stalag 7-A for the coldest winter they had ever experienced. [4]

On Friday, March 16, 1945, he and 19 other American POWs boarded a train for Munich and beyond. They stopped in Brannenberg and were told to get out. Their guards went back to Munich on the train and two local  armed guards called roll and promptly marched them up the road, across the Inn River, and to a little, windowless "lager" (camp) in the bucolic village of Nussdorf. 

Insert Frank's experiences in Nussdorf.

The War Department published a list of 131 liberated soldiers from Brooklyn on June 6, 1945. Frank was among them. [5]

Insert Frank's Post-War Life here

Frank passed away in 1966 at only 51 years old.

[1] Frank J. Hickey NARA: US WW II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 , Box Number: 0594, Service Number: 32988581; New York National Guard Service Cards, 1917-1954: Frank J. Hickey; Brooklyn, NY, Marriage License Indexes, 1940, for Catherine T. McManus;

[2] Gravestone at Long Island National Cemetery: SECTION 2Q, ROW 0, SITE 5439. [Bronze Star Medal & Purple Heart]; http://www.90thdivisionassoc.org/History/Yardlongs/RegTroops/358thCoL.html

[3] "119 Boro, L.I. Soldiers Listed as War Prisoners", Brooklyn Eagle, Sat, Jan. 13, 1945, p. 2.

[4] Arolsen Archive: Signatur: DE ITS 2.1.1.1 BY 033 AME ZM, Anzahl Dokumente: 29; Note: Whealon and Hickey's names are misspelled on the documents, as "Robert Wehalon" and "Frank Hicken". ; https://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/komm.html; 

[5] "131 Local G.I.s Freed", Brooklyn Eagle, June 6, 1945, p. 17.