World War II Honoree

John J. O’Connor

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Haverford, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Friends of American Heroes

HE ENLISTED IN THE U.S. ARMY AND WAS STATIONED AT FORT BENNING, GEORGIA. IN LATE 1942 HE WAS SHIPPED TO THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER. ASSIGNED TO A SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNIT, HE FOUGHT IN BURMA WITH MERRILL’S MARAUDERS, NAMED FOR BRIGADIER GENERAL FRANK MERRILL. AFTER ASSISTING THE MARAUDERS IN AN ASSAULT ON A JAPANESE AIRFIELD, HIS UNIT WAS MOVED TO SOUTHERN CHINA, WHERE THEY TRAINED AND SUPPLIED THE CHINESE ARMY FIGHTING THE JAPANESE. HE RECEIVED A BRONZE STAR AND RETIRED A LIEUTENANT COLONEL.