Valor Tales

Garlin Murl Conner, known generally by his middle name, was not unlike many of his generation, the appropriately named “Greatest Generation.” He was part of a big family, the third of eleven children. Also like many his age, he was born and died in the same county. In this case, Clinton County, Kentucky, which has a population that’s hovered around 10,000 since the Great Depression. He also was called to serve during the Second World War. Born in 1919 and raised in rural Kentucky, Murl’s formal education ended at the 8th grade. When World War II started, he was of prime military age and was enlisted on March 1st, 1941. Four of his brothers also served during the war. Assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment (part of the 3rd Infantry Division), he underwent basic training with his unit at Fort Lewis in Washington. From there, the division was sent to Camp Ord, California and then Fort Pickett, Virginia. The division left the US, headed for Europe in Octob...

One of the most heart wrenching moments in the movie Titanic is when the band, playing soothing music in an attempt to calm the panicking passengers as the ocean liner sinks, realizes they have no hope to get off the boat. They sit back down and play the hymn “Nearer, My God, to Thee” in their final moments before they go down with the ship. This scene is a fairly accurate recreation of what actually happened. The eight members of the ship’s band, led by Wallace Hartley, did in fact play music in the first class lounge during the evacuation. Their last song played as they fell into the frigid North Atlantic was reported to be “Nearer, My God, to Thee” (and Hartley had told a friend he’d play that hymn if ever on a sinking ship). Whatever they played, it undoubtedly brought some peace to those in their final moments and some order to the chaos for those going to the lifeboats. Today’s tale isn’t about these musicians. Today’s tale is about another group of men who were on a sink...

Let’s compare America to British, Canada, and Australia when it comes to military medals for combat valor and performance. The British system was used in Commonwealth countries (including Canada) up to and through World War II. This began to change as countries such as Canada, Australian, and New Zealand started to create their own systems of honors in the 1960’s.  The year 1993 saw a major change in all Commonwealth countries’ honors. The formerly overseas territories, such as Canada and Australia, fully created their own system of military awards separate from that used by Britain. Further, in Britain, the military awards system there removed distinctions of rank within the awards. Now enlisted and officers would receive the same award for the same performances. Previously, there were separate awards for officers and enlisted.  COMPARATIVE AWARDS British and Continental countries have long, complicated histories. This can make it hard for Americans (such as myse...

AMERICAN AWARDS - A Brief History America, fiercely against many European military traditions, did not have a formal system for any awards or decorations for decades after its forming. In fact, they were so anti-European, that the US Navy didn’t have the rank of admiral until the Civil War (nearly 100 years after the country’s founding) because it was too Imperial. There were two Revolutionary War-era awards however. Both were awarded in exceptionally small numbers (three awards each) and neither were awarded beyond the end of the war. The oldest, and first, American award was the Fidelity Medallion. It was awarded to the soldiers who captured British Major John Andre. Andre was famously the British point of contact for Benedict Arnold (a disaffected American general who turned traitor and gave Britain intelligence in exchange for a British generalcy). Only three men of the New York Militia received the award and it was never bestowed again. Often referred to (incorrectly) as A...

A career US Army man, First Sergeant Pascal Poolaw served his country through three wars. Along the way he became America’s most highly decorated Native soldier. A full-blooded Kiowa from Oklahoma, Poolaw’s warrior spirit is absolutely incredible. He’s one of the rare US Army infantrymen to have received the Combat Infantry Badge three times. He also had the ignominious distinction of being wounded in combat in three separate wars. Born in 1922, he enlisted in the Army in 1942 to serve during World War II. He enlisted with two of his brothers, his father, and two uncles. One of his uncles, Horace Poolaw was a very talented photographer during and after the war. If you get a chance, Google Horace’s photography. After training, Pascal was assigned to Company M of the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. The 8th Infantry participated in the D-Day landings at Utah Beach. They were the first “leg” infantry unit of the US Army to hit the shore. I’m unable to find if Po...

Aaron Fisher was born the son of a Civil War veteran just before the turn of the 20th Century. His father, being black, had served with the Colored Troops during the war. Fisher, following in his father’s footsteps enlisted with the Army in 1911. Initially assigned to the segregated 9th Cavalry Regiment he was then assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment, another segregated unit. By 1916 he’d been promoted to Corporal and was taking part in General Pershing’s in service along the Mexican border. They joined the Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa into Mexico. After that, Fisher and the 24th Infantry was sent to guard Camp Logan near Houston, still under construction. Here the all-black regiment was met with significant animosity by the local white population. Fisher had been transferred to the 366th Infantry Regiment and promoted to Sergeant before 150 black soldiers of the 24th Infantry, protesting against discrimination they’d received, went on a march into Houston on ...

As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the largest amphibious assault in human history, I’d like to highlight one man amongst the 150,000+ there on June 6, 1944. Of the tens of thousands of Americans that fought on D-Day, 12 received Medals of Honor. Nine of those awards were made posthumously. The subject of my article is one of those posthumous awards. Most people will have heard the name Theodore Roosevelt, I mean he is a legendary American historical figure. His face is one of only four on Mount Rushmore, and the only one from the 20th Century. He influenced American military and foreign policy all through today. He was a staunch conservationist and we have many national parks and the entirety of the US Forest Service due to him. He was also a true badass, surviving an assassin’s bullet to his chest, but not before giving a 50 page speech over the course of 90 minutes before seeking medical help. However, President Teddy Roosevelt’s contributions to today’s subject are purel...

Ten hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the second phase of Japan’s war against the US commenced. At 0220 local time on 8 December, 1941, the American forces in the Philippines received notice that an attack was underway at Pearl Harbor. Despite ample warning, including having three pursuit (fighter) squadrons in the air and radar tracks of incoming aircraft, there were numerous systemic and communication problems that led to many American aircraft being destroyed in the initial attacks. The air attacks were followed by a Japanese amphibious invasion of the island of Luzon. The US Asiatic Fleet had been largely withdrawn after suffering heavy losses to Japanese air superiority. Only submarines, small ships, and motor torpedo (PT) boats remained to contest the Japanese Naval forces. Taking the initiative, on 22 December, Japan landed more than 43,000 men and 90 tanks. The American forces numbered just over 31,000 at the end of November, with 12,000 of that being Phili...