John Conkling

Personal Information

Birthplace: Partridge, Kansas

Service Information

Branch of Service: Army

Unit: Company B, 45th armored medical battalion, third armored “Bayou Blitz” division; 323rd (BG) Bombardment Group, 453rd (BS) Bomb Squadron

Theater of Operation: European

Battle: Normandy

Enlisted / Commissioned: Nov 7, 1941

Discharged: Nov 15, 1944

Highest Rank: 1st Lieutenant

Military Honors: Air Medal

Honored By: Eisenhower Foundation

Biography

While Private John L. Conkling was serving in Company B, 45th armored medical battalion, third armored “Bayou Blitz” division, he was selected to enter a medical course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, early in 1942. One year later, he was advanced from the pre-flight training units at the San Antonio, Texas, aviation cadet center. Conkling served 11 months in Europe as a B-26 co-pilot and earned the rank of First Lieutenant. John L. Conkling flew 66 missions over Europe, including the pre-dawn D-Day bombing of Normandy.

In October 1945, Conkling married Katherine “Katie” Lawrence, who served with the Women’s Army Corps.

After retiring from teaching, Conkling was a ham radio operator, a member of the Blinded Veterans Association, and the B-26 Marauder Historical Society. After his passing in 2004, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.