Hal T. Hackney
First Lieutenant Hal Thomas Hackney was born 11 July 1921, at Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky. He joined the Kentucky National Guard’s 103rd Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft), at Lexington, on 27 January 1941. He was inducted into federal service on 24 February 1941. He was killed in action 29 February 1944, at Cassino, Italy. He is buried in the Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Kentucky, 7 March 1949.
Hackney was one of 43 US enlisted men who were the first ever to graduate from an officer candidate school held outside of the United States. Two other Kentuckians in the class were James N. Stevens, Owensboro, Air Force and Theodore I. Hillard, Louisville, Field Artillery. See Stars and Stripes 10 Dec 1942.
He was a member of Battery B of the 103rd Separate Battalion, Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) when he went on federal active duty in February 1941.
Lexington Herald, 22 March 1944
LT. HAL T. HACKNEY, who was killed in action at Cassino, Italy, Feb. 29, 1944, was returned home for funeral services and burial March 7. Lieutenant Hackney was a native of Lexington, a graduate of Picadome High School and completed his sophomore year at the University of Kentucky before enlisting in the Army in January, 1941. He landed in England with the U. S. troops as a sergeant, and was among the first American men to be graduated from the officers’ candidate school in London. He served overseas for nearly two years, seeing combat duty with a Coast Artillery anti-aircraft unit in both Africa and Italy.
Besides his parents, he is survived by two sisters and his maternal grandmother. Funeral services and burial were held at the grave in the Lexington cemetery, with the Rev. Orvan Morgan, pastor of Broadway Christian Church, officiating.
Photo from the 1940 yearbook as a freshman. He was listed as a pledge to Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and a member of the Men’s Glee Club. His military records show two years of ROTC service while he was at UK.
