thedrifter
10-25-08, 06:24 AM
Glory days: Harland 'Hop' Conner sees to it that the flag waves over the Warriors
By HUEY FREEMAN - H&R Staff Writer
TUSCOLA - Harland "Hop" Conner had just moved to Tuscola with his new bride in 1949, a few years after returning home from serving in the Pacific during World War II.
"I was in the VFW at the time," said Conner, 87. "The veterans raised the flag.
I was one of the guys who raised the flag, and I just never quit."
In 60 seasons as a flag raiser for the Tuscola Warriors, Conner has only missed two home games, including a recent game against Central A&M while he recovered from a procedure for prostate cancer.
A Marine for three years during the war, and a National Guardsman for three years afterward, Conner was born on Flag Day, June 14, 1921, in the nearby tiny town of Hindsboro.
On the last Friday of the regular high school football season, it is unlikely Conner will attend Tuscola's matchup at Argenta, although he would love to attend all the Warrior games.
"Last year, he had a family to take him to all the away games," said his wife, Nancy. "But their son graduated. This year, he hasn't made all the away games."
James Conner, the oldest of his three sons, helped him raise the flag at Warrior home games for several years.
"I didn't realize he was doing it that many years until I started helping him when I got out of the military," said James Conner, who served 12 years in the Army and 10 more in the National Guard. "I helped him three or four years until I moved down here (to Florida). I was thinking of taking over for him when he quit, but I moved down here."
When James Conner was a member of the Warriors football team during the 1965 season, he noticed his father was at every game, raising the flag. "Hop" Conner (Hop is short for his middle name, Hopkins) normally worked alongside fellow VFW member Pat Cummings, who died in the late 1970s.
"He always liked doing something over and over again," James Conner said about his father. "Raising the flag and helping people; he always has done things repetitively."
Among other repetitive actions mentioned by family members were "Hop" Conner's membership of nearly six decades to First Baptist Church in Tuscola and his many ways of serving the community.
"He was always doing something for the children," son Ernie Conner said.
"Hop" Conner, who helped construct some of the town's first baseball diamonds, was willing to stand up for what he believed, against popular sentiment.
"He was the first one to accept a girl on a Little League team," Ernie Conner said. "He allowed two to play for him."
Ernie Conner, who served in the Army from 1980-90, said it wasn't until he put on a uniform that he had patriotic feelings about his father raising the flag.
That feeling was especially intensified when Ernie Conner marched with his father, brother and another veteran in the Arcola Broomcorn parade, shortly after the first Gulf War in 1991.
"We marched with the VFW, four of us," Ernie Conner said. "Dad carried a rifle, Jim carried a rifle, I carried a rifle. You talk about a feeling. You walk down the streets, and people are clapping. Tears come to your eyes. You just suck it up and try not to bawl."
Ernie Conner recalled the story of how his father became a Marine. When "Hop" Conner arrived, with three of his brothers, at the military induction center in 1943 - the Tuscola practice football field - they were all lined up. An official pointed at them, one by one, saying "Army, Navy, Air Corps, Marines."
Although "Hop," just 5-foot-3-inches tall, had hoped to become a tail gunner in a bomber, his wife and sons later were thankful he served in the Marine Corps.
"We're glad, because the life expectancy of a tail gunner was low," Ernie Conner said.
While the Marine Corps also suffered heavy casualties, "Hop" Conner, who worked as a carpenter on Pacific islands, never saw combat.
At the end of World War II, "Hop" Conner was stationed on Okinawa, preparing for the imminent invasion of Japan.
"He was supposed to be in the first echelon of the invasion of the main island," Ernie Conner said.
That invasion never occurred, because Japan surrendered after the U.S. military unleashed its second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, a city about 350 miles north of Okinawa.
"Hop" Conner recalled that he felt shock waves that emanated from the second atomic bomb.
Ernie Conner believes his father, who keeps the U.S. flag and Illinois flag at his home, especially raises the flag in honor of those who served in America's wars.
"He never did it because he had to," Ernie Conner said. "He wanted to go there and raise it. When the game's over, he'll still drop the flag, pick it up and bring it home."
hfreeman@herald-review.com|421-6985
Ellie
By HUEY FREEMAN - H&R Staff Writer
TUSCOLA - Harland "Hop" Conner had just moved to Tuscola with his new bride in 1949, a few years after returning home from serving in the Pacific during World War II.
"I was in the VFW at the time," said Conner, 87. "The veterans raised the flag.
I was one of the guys who raised the flag, and I just never quit."
In 60 seasons as a flag raiser for the Tuscola Warriors, Conner has only missed two home games, including a recent game against Central A&M while he recovered from a procedure for prostate cancer.
A Marine for three years during the war, and a National Guardsman for three years afterward, Conner was born on Flag Day, June 14, 1921, in the nearby tiny town of Hindsboro.
On the last Friday of the regular high school football season, it is unlikely Conner will attend Tuscola's matchup at Argenta, although he would love to attend all the Warrior games.
"Last year, he had a family to take him to all the away games," said his wife, Nancy. "But their son graduated. This year, he hasn't made all the away games."
James Conner, the oldest of his three sons, helped him raise the flag at Warrior home games for several years.
"I didn't realize he was doing it that many years until I started helping him when I got out of the military," said James Conner, who served 12 years in the Army and 10 more in the National Guard. "I helped him three or four years until I moved down here (to Florida). I was thinking of taking over for him when he quit, but I moved down here."
When James Conner was a member of the Warriors football team during the 1965 season, he noticed his father was at every game, raising the flag. "Hop" Conner (Hop is short for his middle name, Hopkins) normally worked alongside fellow VFW member Pat Cummings, who died in the late 1970s.
"He always liked doing something over and over again," James Conner said about his father. "Raising the flag and helping people; he always has done things repetitively."
Among other repetitive actions mentioned by family members were "Hop" Conner's membership of nearly six decades to First Baptist Church in Tuscola and his many ways of serving the community.
"He was always doing something for the children," son Ernie Conner said.
"Hop" Conner, who helped construct some of the town's first baseball diamonds, was willing to stand up for what he believed, against popular sentiment.
"He was the first one to accept a girl on a Little League team," Ernie Conner said. "He allowed two to play for him."
Ernie Conner, who served in the Army from 1980-90, said it wasn't until he put on a uniform that he had patriotic feelings about his father raising the flag.
That feeling was especially intensified when Ernie Conner marched with his father, brother and another veteran in the Arcola Broomcorn parade, shortly after the first Gulf War in 1991.
"We marched with the VFW, four of us," Ernie Conner said. "Dad carried a rifle, Jim carried a rifle, I carried a rifle. You talk about a feeling. You walk down the streets, and people are clapping. Tears come to your eyes. You just suck it up and try not to bawl."
Ernie Conner recalled the story of how his father became a Marine. When "Hop" Conner arrived, with three of his brothers, at the military induction center in 1943 - the Tuscola practice football field - they were all lined up. An official pointed at them, one by one, saying "Army, Navy, Air Corps, Marines."
Although "Hop," just 5-foot-3-inches tall, had hoped to become a tail gunner in a bomber, his wife and sons later were thankful he served in the Marine Corps.
"We're glad, because the life expectancy of a tail gunner was low," Ernie Conner said.
While the Marine Corps also suffered heavy casualties, "Hop" Conner, who worked as a carpenter on Pacific islands, never saw combat.
At the end of World War II, "Hop" Conner was stationed on Okinawa, preparing for the imminent invasion of Japan.
"He was supposed to be in the first echelon of the invasion of the main island," Ernie Conner said.
That invasion never occurred, because Japan surrendered after the U.S. military unleashed its second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, a city about 350 miles north of Okinawa.
"Hop" Conner recalled that he felt shock waves that emanated from the second atomic bomb.
Ernie Conner believes his father, who keeps the U.S. flag and Illinois flag at his home, especially raises the flag in honor of those who served in America's wars.
"He never did it because he had to," Ernie Conner said. "He wanted to go there and raise it. When the game's over, he'll still drop the flag, pick it up and bring it home."
hfreeman@herald-review.com|421-6985
Ellie