Memorial

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David Conner enlisted on 27 January 1944 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Pvt Conner was part of a squad, serving as a dismounted listening post for a road block net Coo, Belgium. The position was overrun by enemy infantry. After the position was back in American hands, a thorough search was made but no trace of Pvt Conner was found.

The other members of his tank crew, who were also present at the road block were interrogated concerning his disappearance. According to 1st Lt George E. Gray the enemy action started about 1400 hours. The attack started with small arms fire from the southeast and either artillery or mortar fire directed at the position they were occupying. The second of third round of artillery burst about 20 feet from where four men were digging in a machine gun position. Pvt Conner was struck in the right chest from a fragment. Two men carried him to the celler of a nearby house. He was conscious at the time. Lt Gray examined him about 15 minutes later and saw a small hole in his right chest, but there was no bleeding externally. He appeared to be seriously but not critically injured. In the soft flesh of his back near the bottom of his shoulder blade and toward the backbone a hard object could be felt that appeared to be a fragment of a bullet. The hole in his chest was to the right and about the middle of the sternum. He was breathing with a rasping sound and kept repeating "Don't Leave me".

When captured, the enemy forced them to carry Pvt Conner to the company command post (a distance of 300 to 400 yards) where their aid man looked at him and asked Lt Gray if he had had morphine (he had not) and then two of his comrades carried him to the aid station in an adjoining room. Pvt Conner was alive and conscious, although he was coughing a little and showing signs of shock when he was carried into the aid station. That was the last Lt Gray saw or heard of him.

His remains were recovered by the 531st QM Group in March 1946 from an isolated grave located at the bank of the Amblève River near Coo. A statement made by a civilian, Jean Elias, revealed that Pvt Conner was buried by him the first part of the month of May 1945.

His remains were evacuated to Ardennes Cemetery as Unknown X-3157. After being identified he was initially buried in a temporary grave on 2 April 1946. He was given his final resting place on 1 September 1950.