thedrifter
08-27-07, 07:21 AM
Article published Aug 27, 2007
Veteran's Story: He was colorblind, but U.S. Army didn't mind
Airborne service set Mary Conner's late husband apart
By RON SIMON
News Journal
MANSFIELD -- "I never knew what it was like to have a broken heart until now," Mary Conner said.
Conner lost her husband, Tom, 85, on July 31.
Tom Conner was one of the many World War II veterans who are passing on.
In The News Journal, their obituaries are accompanied by an American flag.
"It's awful to be alone after 50 years with him," Mary said. "He was proud of his service. He always wore a special hat that identified him as a member of the 11th Airborne. Wherever he went, that hat would result in greetings and discussions with people.
"Once in a mall we met (Hall of Fame Indians pitcher) Bob Feller while he was signing things at a memorabilia show. The two of them talked about the war. Not so much about what they did in the war, but about what it was like then. What a nice, down-to-earth gentleman Bob Feller was."
Feller, a Navy veteran, served ab- oard the Battleship Alabama in a number of campaigns.
Tom Conner was a technical sergeant with the 127th Engineer Battalion's medical detachment of the 11th Airborne division.
His brother, David, 80, of Mansfield, said the engineers were not paratroopers but trained for combat aboard gliders. They never did that during their service in the Pacific, he said.
"Tom graduated from Madison High School in 1939 and he worked for a while at Westinghouse," David said. "Right after Pearl Harbor, he and a buddy tried to join the Marines but Tom was colorblind and that kept him out."
But that made no difference to the Army. David said his brother was drafted in the early summer of 1942.
"After basic training, he was assigned to the cadre of a newly formed division, which turned out to be the 11th Airborne," he said.
David, who would not be drafted until he came of age in 1945, remembered his brother's letters from overseas.
"They were heavily censored. We knew he was in New Guinea and then in Leyte and finally in Luzon," David said.
While her husband was willing to talk about the war and read numerous books about that conflict, he was not so willing to talk about what Mary termed "the gory details."
"He did tell me once about a little girl he picked up who had been injured by a bomb or a bullet. He raced with her in his arms to a hospital, but when he got there he realized that she was dead. He said he could never forget that," she said.
Otherwise, she said, there were no combat details he cared to share.
Mary said Tom and his buddies were among the very first Americans to arrive in Japan. She said he remembered worrying about what kind of reception would be waiting as he was being flown into a Japanese airfield by a huge U.S. bomber. He told David he made most of that long trip in the belly gunner's turret.
The longest trip was coming home. "The big thing after the war was making sure G.I.s got home in time for Christmas," David said.
"Tom made it to Galion by train on Christmas Eve of 1945 and took a taxi to Mansfield. The driver took him as far as the square and he walked the last mile and a half to our home on Woodville Road. He got mom and dad up out of bed," David said.
Once home, Tom Conner found a job working at the Air Force Depot in Shelby. That's where he met Mary, a secretary.
"One day he asked me if I would like to learn how to drive," Mary said.
That short drive turned into dinner at the Leland Hotel in Mansfield, a movie at the Madison Theater and a love affair that turned into a 50-year marriage.
The couple had one daughter, Susan Conner.
Tom's real specialty was pharmacy and he found work in that field at the Ohio State Reformatory after the Shelby Depot closed in 1959. He worked there until his retirement.
For the past few years the couple lived at the Crossings condominiums.
"Tom enjoyed good food and coffee," Mary said. "Every morning he would walk over to the McDonald's restaurant for coffee and conversation."
David said his brother was a healthy man until that last year of his life.
"He called that last year a matter of sliding down a slippery slope," Mary said.
She said her husband enjoyed watching C-SPAN and was surprised when one of his last visitors was U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a Mansfield native.
"He had watched Sherrod a lot on C-SPAN and it was a surprise when he showed up at our door," she said.
Brown and Conner talked for some time. When the senator left, Mary said, his last words were to thank Conner for his service.
But now the old soldier is gone.
"I miss him so," Mary said. "I loved him."
Left behind are the memories. There are the medals it took him more than 40 years go get from the government. There are the photos of him as a soldier and, finally, that black hat that identified him as a proud member of the 11th Airborne.
Ellie
Veteran's Story: He was colorblind, but U.S. Army didn't mind
Airborne service set Mary Conner's late husband apart
By RON SIMON
News Journal
MANSFIELD -- "I never knew what it was like to have a broken heart until now," Mary Conner said.
Conner lost her husband, Tom, 85, on July 31.
Tom Conner was one of the many World War II veterans who are passing on.
In The News Journal, their obituaries are accompanied by an American flag.
"It's awful to be alone after 50 years with him," Mary said. "He was proud of his service. He always wore a special hat that identified him as a member of the 11th Airborne. Wherever he went, that hat would result in greetings and discussions with people.
"Once in a mall we met (Hall of Fame Indians pitcher) Bob Feller while he was signing things at a memorabilia show. The two of them talked about the war. Not so much about what they did in the war, but about what it was like then. What a nice, down-to-earth gentleman Bob Feller was."
Feller, a Navy veteran, served ab- oard the Battleship Alabama in a number of campaigns.
Tom Conner was a technical sergeant with the 127th Engineer Battalion's medical detachment of the 11th Airborne division.
His brother, David, 80, of Mansfield, said the engineers were not paratroopers but trained for combat aboard gliders. They never did that during their service in the Pacific, he said.
"Tom graduated from Madison High School in 1939 and he worked for a while at Westinghouse," David said. "Right after Pearl Harbor, he and a buddy tried to join the Marines but Tom was colorblind and that kept him out."
But that made no difference to the Army. David said his brother was drafted in the early summer of 1942.
"After basic training, he was assigned to the cadre of a newly formed division, which turned out to be the 11th Airborne," he said.
David, who would not be drafted until he came of age in 1945, remembered his brother's letters from overseas.
"They were heavily censored. We knew he was in New Guinea and then in Leyte and finally in Luzon," David said.
While her husband was willing to talk about the war and read numerous books about that conflict, he was not so willing to talk about what Mary termed "the gory details."
"He did tell me once about a little girl he picked up who had been injured by a bomb or a bullet. He raced with her in his arms to a hospital, but when he got there he realized that she was dead. He said he could never forget that," she said.
Otherwise, she said, there were no combat details he cared to share.
Mary said Tom and his buddies were among the very first Americans to arrive in Japan. She said he remembered worrying about what kind of reception would be waiting as he was being flown into a Japanese airfield by a huge U.S. bomber. He told David he made most of that long trip in the belly gunner's turret.
The longest trip was coming home. "The big thing after the war was making sure G.I.s got home in time for Christmas," David said.
"Tom made it to Galion by train on Christmas Eve of 1945 and took a taxi to Mansfield. The driver took him as far as the square and he walked the last mile and a half to our home on Woodville Road. He got mom and dad up out of bed," David said.
Once home, Tom Conner found a job working at the Air Force Depot in Shelby. That's where he met Mary, a secretary.
"One day he asked me if I would like to learn how to drive," Mary said.
That short drive turned into dinner at the Leland Hotel in Mansfield, a movie at the Madison Theater and a love affair that turned into a 50-year marriage.
The couple had one daughter, Susan Conner.
Tom's real specialty was pharmacy and he found work in that field at the Ohio State Reformatory after the Shelby Depot closed in 1959. He worked there until his retirement.
For the past few years the couple lived at the Crossings condominiums.
"Tom enjoyed good food and coffee," Mary said. "Every morning he would walk over to the McDonald's restaurant for coffee and conversation."
David said his brother was a healthy man until that last year of his life.
"He called that last year a matter of sliding down a slippery slope," Mary said.
She said her husband enjoyed watching C-SPAN and was surprised when one of his last visitors was U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a Mansfield native.
"He had watched Sherrod a lot on C-SPAN and it was a surprise when he showed up at our door," she said.
Brown and Conner talked for some time. When the senator left, Mary said, his last words were to thank Conner for his service.
But now the old soldier is gone.
"I miss him so," Mary said. "I loved him."
Left behind are the memories. There are the medals it took him more than 40 years go get from the government. There are the photos of him as a soldier and, finally, that black hat that identified him as a proud member of the 11th Airborne.
Ellie