Sharing Our StoriesSandra Simpson
He went to the recruiting office, and told the Navy recruiter he’d take the next ship out. So two days later he found himself on a bus leaving friends and family behind in Anniston, Ala., and traveling to San Diego, Calif. He spent nine weeks at the San Diego Naval Base, and then was sent to Korea. He never talks of the horrors he saw or the aches and pain he endured there. But, he has shared a few amusing and exciting tales with us. Here’s one I especially remember. Dad was a machinist mate 3rd class and served on the USS Iowa. He was in Korea for three years, seven months and 19 days. The Navy took the Iowa out of mothballs for service in the Korean Conflict, and it was Dad’s job to rebuild the pumps, fire and flush them for fresh drinking water and purify water for the steam pumps and air conditioners to operate the engines. The pumps were the life’s blood of the Iowa. One night, the USS Missouri sent out a distress signal to the Iowa. They desperately needed someone to work on their pumps because there was no fresh drinking water and the ship was failing. They chose Dad to do the job. Now, picture this. The two ships are out in the middle of the ocean off the Korean coast. Each battleship weighs 66,000 tons and is 17 storeys high. They were side-by-side, with waves rolling and capping all around them. How were they going to get Dad from one ship to the other? The Iowa shot a rope to the Missouri. Dad was strapped into a chair that was fastened to the line and he was “highlined” across to the Missouri in the middle of the night. He worked for three straight days and nights to restore pump operations. For his hard work, he was treated royally by the crew of the Missouri. He ate all his meals with the ship’s officers in the officers’ mess. The chefs fixed him anything he wanted. Such were the adventures of my Dad aboard the Iowa. I would also like to mention that we have 20 veterans in my family. They are: Millard E. Conner, U.S. Navy, Korea; Aaron Conner, U.S. Navy, Korea; Connie I. Conner, U.S. Air Force (Ret.); Jerry L. Richardson, U.S. Army (Ret.), Vietnam, Panama; Nadina I. Richardson, U.S. Army; Bill McCurry, U.S. Army, Vietnam; Ralph White, U.S. Army, Korea; Daniel Conner, U.S. Army, Korea; Pamela Conner, U.S. Air Force; Clarence Smith, U.S. Air Force (Ret.); Richard K. Roach, U.S. Army (Ret.), Doug Upchurch, U.S. Navy, Korea; Tim White, U.S. Army Airborne; John Patterson, U.S. Navy, WWII; Wesley T. Simpson, U.S. Army. WWII; David Cureton, U.S. Army, Korea; Floyd Chupp, U.S. Army, WWII; Harry Killips, U.S. Army Master Sgt. (Ret.), Korea, Vietnam, Panama; William H. Hughes, U.S. Army, WWII; and Lawrence D. McCracken, U.S. Marine Corps, Korea.
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It was 1951, and my Dad, Millard Ellwood Conner turned 22, and was notified that Uncle Sam needed his services. He had good test scores and was told he had five day to pick a service branch to join. He told his Mom and Dad he was joining the Navy.