Garlin Murl Conner

Garlin Murl Conner (June 2, 1919 – November 5, 1998) was a United States Army technical sergeant and first lieutenant in the Second World War.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, four Silver Stars, and the French Croix de guerre for his heroic actions in Italy and France during the war.

During his campaigns, he was wounded three times.

An attempt to upgrade Conner's Distinguished Service Cross to the Medal of Honor, the United States military's highest decoration for valor, took 22 years.

Conner was born on 2 June 1919 in Aaron, Kentucky.

He was the third child of eleven brothers and sisters.

He and four of his brothers served during World War II.

He stood at 5 ft.

Conner, who was generally known by his middle name, which he originally spelled "Merle," was a selectee for the military and entered the U.S. Army on 1 March 1941 in Louisville, Kentucky.

He completed his basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington where he became a member of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.

After training with his division at Fort Lewis, he was sent with the 3rd Infantry Division to Camp Ord, California and Fort Pickett, Virginia for further combat training.

On 23 October 1942, Conner and his division departed the United States from Norfolk, Virginia, to fight in the European-African-Middle Eastern theater of operations arriving on 8 November for the invasion of French North Africa.

He participated in four amphibious assault landings and eight campaigns including the Anzio Campaign in Italy during which he earned his second Silver Star (Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster).

He was promoted to technical sergeant on 13 January 1944.

He was discharged on 27 June 1944, and commissioned a second lieutenant on 28 June 1944.

On 29 December 1944, he was promoted to first lieutenant.

Conner was awarded four Silver Stars for gallantry in action: in October 1943, 30 January 1944, 11 September 1944, and 3 February 1945.

He was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal, and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action on 6 March 1944, in August, and in September 1944.

He was presented the Distinguished Service Cross from Lieutenant General Alexander Patch, the Commander of the Seventh Army, for extraordinary heroism during a German counterattack with six tanks and 600 infantrymen on 24 January 1945, near Houssen, France.

Recently returned to his unit from the hospital, intelligence staff officer Lt. Conner volunteered to go forward to direct artillery fire against the German counterattack.

The enemy got so close that Lt. Conner had to call artillery fire directly on his own position, leading to the death of more than 50 Germans and stopping the assault.

In March 1945, Conner was sent back to the U.S. and was honorably discharged on 22 June 1945.

He was honored in an event in Albany, Kentucky in May 1945, at which Alvin C. York of nearby Pall Mall, Tennessee, the most noted Medal of Honor winner of World War I, was a speaker.

Conner married Lyda Pauline Wells on 9 July 1945.

After the war, the Conners lived on Indian Creek several miles north of Albany, near the Cumberland River, in a home with no electricity or running water, on a farm worked with mules and horses.

Place and date: Near Houssen, France, 24 January 1945

G.O. No.: 47, 10 February 1945

In 1950 the U.S. government bought their property for the impoundment of Lake Cumberland and they moved to the Rolan community in southeastern Clinton County, Kentucky.

They had one son, Paul, one grandson, and three granddaughters.

Conner continued farming and was president of the Clinton County Farm Bureau for 17 years.

He was active in various veterans organizations including the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Disabled American Veterans, and traveled to many nearby counties to assist veterans and their dependents with claims for benefits due them as a result of military service.

He was handicapped from his war wounds, heart disease and Parkinson's Disease.

Conner died in 1998, and was buried in Memorial Hills in Albany.

In 2012, the U.S. Army honored him by designating a portion of a new maintenance facility at Fort Benning, Georgia as Conner Hall.

Conner's military decorations and awards:

Conner's Distinguished Service Cross reads:

Name: First Lieutenant Garlin M. Conner

Unit: Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division

On 29 March 2018, the White House announced President Trump would award the Medal of Honor to Garlin Murl Conner in a ceremony at the White House.

On 26 June 2018, the president presented the medal to Pauline Conner, his widow, in a ceremony in the East Room.