Americans veterans who fought against German tyranny are heroes for our time while we risk losing our Democracy

Story of 3 war heroes' fight against tyranny 80 years ago echoes today | Opinion Published by Al Cross in the Courier Journal 

Three Americans risked their lives 80 years ago to save Europe from tyranny. They were recognized with the Medal of Honor, including Garlin Conner of Southern Kentucky.

Eighty years ago this week, on successive days a few miles apart in eastern France, three rural Americans risked their lives to help save Europe from tyranny. 

One soon died of his wounds, and another’s heroism was almost unknown until after his death. Their lives and their valor, all recognized with the Medal of Honor, should be remembered as America reflects on its role in the world — past, present and future.

All three soldiers were in the Third Infantry Division, which chased German forces out of the Colmar Pocket, named for a city between the Rhine River and the Vosges Mountains. This 800-square-mile area was the last part of France held by the Germans, and had been German territory before World War I, so they fought hard to keep it.

No matter where you are reading this, you’ve probably heard of the third soldier who earned the Medal of Honor in the Colmar Pocket, on January 26, 1945: Second Lt. Audie Murphy, an East Texan who was hailed as the most decorated American soldier of World War II and became a movie star.

Audie Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was one of the most decorated United States Army combat soldiers of World War II, serving from 1942 to 1945. He received every American combat award for valor available at the time of his service,[ALM 1] including the Medal of Honor. He also received recognitions from France and Belgium.

Murphy’s postwar life was in sharp contrast to that of the Third Division soldier who earned the Medal of Honor two days earlier, on January 24. He was First Lt. Garlin Murl Conner, who didn’t get the medal until 2018, 20 years after he died, because of the fog of war — and returned to a Southern Kentucky farm that had no electricity or running water.

But Conner was luckier than the other Medal of Honor recipient in the Colmar Pocket. On January 25, 1945, PFC Jose F. Valdez of northwest New Mexico, who had already killed three heavily armed Germans in a firefight, volunteered to cover his patrol’s retreat against heavy fire. Even after he was shot through, he directed artillery fire and held off 200 Germans. He died three weeks later.

Garlin Murl Conner's heroism in WWII

Murphy also directed artillery fire, after ordering his company to retreat. When the Germans knocked out a tank destroyer near his command post, he mounted the flaming vehicle and directed its machine gun at advancing enemy troops, killing or wounding 50. 

He suffered a leg wound, ran out of ammunition and rejoined his company, which forced the Germans back.

Kentuckian Garlin Murl Conner's heroism in WWII:  Conner’s heroism on January 24, 1945, was also about directing artillery at great risk. He had already earned three Silver Stars and had been assigned to a staff position because he was due to be sent home after 28 months in combat and had suffered a leg wound, but when Germans advanced on the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Infantry Regiment, he volunteered to be a forward observer for artillery. He unrolled telephone wire as he ran more than 400 yards through German artillery fire and slid into a shallow ditch, from which he directed fire for three hours – finally on his own position because enemy troops were 15 feet away. The Germans finally retreated after 50 were killed and more than 100 were wounded.

Conner’s commanding officer was Col. Lloyd Ramsey, who went on to be a major general and have future Gens. Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf under his command. He told his staff to seek the highest possible honor for Conner, but he was injured the next day and detailed eyewitness accounts needed for the Medal of Honor were not gathered. Instead, Conner was given the Distinguished Service Cross after winning his fourth Silver Star.

Like most war heroes, Conner didn’t tell war stories, and his heroism was never publicly reported in Clinton County, Kentucky, where he returned to live and farm. 

Near the end of his life, he was visited by Richard Chilton of Genoa City, Wis., a retired soldier seeking information about his uncle’s service in World War II. 

Conner could talk only a little, but as Chilton left, Conner’s wife Pauline showed Chilton her husband’s box of medals. When he saw the DSC and four Silver Stars, and heard the story about his heroism at Houssen, he started a campaign to get Conner the Medal of Honor — a task made daunting by federal law, Army regulations and the Pentagon bureaucracy.

The road to the Medal of Honor:  The campaign got traction when Byron Crawford, then a columnist for The Courier Journal, wrote about it and Conner’s heroism, which was news to almost all of his neighbors. One of them, Walton Haddix, took charge of the campaign and got lawyers involved. After many twists, turns and apparent dead-ends, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Army to mediate the matter, and the end result was that Pauline Conner accepted the Medal of Honor in 2018.