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 Owen F. Connolly was an enginnering student at Boston Unversity when WWII began December 7, 1941 -- he voluntered with many classmates, and was sworn in in February 1942. BU, as many schgools did - honored their wartime alumni with Certificates of Honor .. he remained in the military after WWI service.
A good athlete-- Owen F Connolly played fullback for BU's varsity -- also sought by the NFL with a pro-contract from the old Cleveland Rams -- and he was a varsity hockey player - BU t was the Pac-10/Big 8 League of college hockey.
After WWII ended and de-mobiization began, Owen F. Connolly transferred to the full Army, the 82d Airborne ..after serving as a pilot in the 5th Air Force of the US Army AirCorps. When the Air Force became a separate service in 1947, Lt. Connolly rejoined the Air Force .. obtaining a regular officer's commission. This news article from his mother's scrapbook recounts a 'jump' at Hanscom Field, near Lexington, mass Bedford. he flew up from North Carolina's Fort Bragg and jumped with his company ... a paratrooper and a pilot.
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In this news photo, Major Connolly is with an inspecting General, and serving as Provost Officer and a Deputy Adminstrator at a USAF Hospital Base in the UK -- Burderop park, 7505th USAF Hospital, Burderop Park, Wroughton, near Swindon in Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom -- 50 miles west of London ..1958-1961
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This Honorable DIscharge os one of Dad's service documents .. sometimes the service separated them momentarily and re-enlisted them ..for instance like this one -- a discharge after training, followed by an officer's commission. 2d Lieutenant Owen F. Connolly, after cadet training at Marfa, Texas.
In the 50's Owen F. Connlly -from Lt to Captain to Major transferred to Aviation medicine and was head of Aviation Physiology .. a training command at gunter AFB, Montgomery, Alabama ...many domestic and international armed forces personnel trained and qulified for flight through high altitude training - for the jet age of pressurized aircraft at high oxygen required altitudes.
He wrote an article about the newer pressure suits in The Airman, September 1958 issue, page 30
One of Dad's visitor'sat his base quarters one summer day - was "Kissing Jim" Folsom
- Governor of Alabama .. the source of my true story about race relations "Son, down here we have 'niggers' to do that kind of work" - while Dad was cutting his grass with a push mower .. "No thanks Governor, good talking to you ... we do our own work" ..followed by, to me: "Scott don't pay any attention to him .that's just the Governor...." [I was about 5 years old seeing a big black Fleetwood Cadillac with all the trim, and white shirted necktied man fanning himself, wearing a Panama hat .. his driver was liveried, and the Caddy was a beaut with fins and visors .. he just sat and came back a couple of times stopping by the curb and just watched us - but Dad was Hatch Act limited from too many outright political opnions. Our quarters 601-A were the last before the road to the airstrip which held the Governor's plane on the US base. Governor Folsom, was the father-in-law of later Governor George Wallace. (Folsom, New England branch by the way, is a family to which we were related by our Durgin, Scott, and Pegrim relations of Maine.) .. Dad later explained in those days, that new recruits to the Air Force asked for duty out of the southeast ..we went to segregated schools off base and the Rosa Parks boycott occurred in that time. Our alternative, Roman Catholic schools were overfilled.. but integrated. Dad also remembered when the Armed Forces were integrated in 1947-8 ... and always favored integration, and never made a racist comment in my presence ..he and Mom were raised in the North, and raised us irracially.
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More about Owen F. Connolly ... and and here ... More here ... and at Geocities
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