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Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, 7th Infantry, 3d Infantry
Division. Place and date: Cape Cavalaire, southern France, 15 August 1944.
Entered service at: Wilmington, Del. Birth: Wilmington, Del. G.O. No.:
18, 15 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity
at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 15 August 1944, Sgt.
Connor, through sheer grit and determination, led his platoon in clearing
an enemy vastly superior in numbers and firepower from strongly entrenched
positions on Cape Cavalaire, removing a grave enemy threat to his division
during the amphibious landing in southern France, and thereby insured safe
and uninterrupted landings for the huge volume of men and materiel which
followed. His battle patrol landed on "Red Beach" with the mission of destroying
the strongly fortified enemy positions on Cape Cavalaire with utmost speed.
From the peninsula the enemy had commanding observation and seriously menaced
the vast landing operations taking place. Though knocked down and seriously
wounded in the neck by a hanging mine which killed his platoon lieutenant,
Sgt. Connor refused medical aid and with his driving spirit practically
carried the platoon across several thousand yards of mine-saturated beach
through intense fire from mortars, 20-mm. flak guns, machineguns, and snipers.
En route to the Cape he personally shot and killed 2 snipers. The platoon
sergeant was killed and Sgt. Connor became platoon leader. Receiving a
second wound, which lacerated his shoulder and back, he again refused evacuation,
expressing determination to carry on until physically unable to continue.
He reassured and prodded the hesitating men of his decimated platoon forward
through almost impregnable mortar concentrations. Again emphasizing the
prevalent urgency of their mission, he impelled his men toward a group
of buildings honeycombed with enemy snipers and machineguns. Here he received
his third grave wound, this time in the leg, felling him in his tracks.
Still resolved to carry on, he relinquished command only after his attempts
proved that it was physically impossible to stand. Nevertheless, from his
prone position, he gave the orders and directed his men in assaulting the
enemy. Infused with Sgt. Connor's dogged determination, the platoon, though
reduced to less than one-third of its original 36 men, outflanked and rushed
the enemy with such furiousness that they killed 7, captured 40, seized
3 machineguns and considerable other materiel, and took all their assigned
objectives, successfully completing their mission. By his repeated examples
of tenaciousness and indomitable spirit Sgt Connor transmitted his heroism
to his men until they became a fighting team which could not be stopped.
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
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