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President Trump will present the medal of honor to the widow of 1st Lieutenant Garlin Murl Conner at the White House on Tuesday.
(Courtesy of the US Army)
For Pauline Conner, Tuesday is a day she was not sure of coming.
The widow of 1st Lieutenant Garlin Murl Conner led a 22-year campaign to obtain his Distinguished Service Cross – which was awarded to him for his actions on January 24, 1945 in France – reconverted into a medal of honor, as his World War II battalion commander had wanted at the time.
"After all these years, it's really an honor," said the 89-year-old widow at the Pentagon on Monday. "I had really and really abandoned it, I did not think it would ever happen, but it has a [combat] record that speaks for itself. I do not need to say it. "
President Donald Trump will award Pauline the highest military decoration of the nation at a ceremony at the White House in honor of a remarkable heroic moment of career 28. months of Conner in North Africa and Europe.
In the end, the veteran's upgrade needed testimonials, which were eventually found by Kentucky MP Ed Whitfield, who sent a staff member to the National Archives where the necessary paperwork was discovered.
His widow talked about the toll of her tour of duty, which included seven wounded, on her husband – whom she married at the age of 16.
"You know, during the Second World War and in Korea, they did not recognize PTSD as they did in Vietnam," said Pauline at the Pentagon. "But I've always said that if anyone had ever suffered from PTSD, he did it.Because most of the time he woke up in the night, you know, with nightmares. And then I woke him up, and he went out, sat on the porch, smoked cigarettes for hours.
(Photo of the US Navy by Oscar Sosa / Released)
However, her husband never talked about what happened to him abroad.
On January 24, 1945, Conner's soldiers – 7th Infantry, 3rd Battalion – were faced with a counterattack of 600 German soldiers armed with tank destroyers. Instead of retreating, he chose to run into enemy fire with a phone in order to direct the fire of the artillery in the hope of ending the attack. He remained in an irrigation ditch for three hours until the battle was won as swarms of German soldiers headed for his battalion.
"It would just be hurt – it was not even supposed to be there," said Erik Villard, military military historian of the Army Military Center. "But he returned to his unit and ran ahead and volunteered the mission, and did what he did."
Kentucky Republican leader Mitch McConnell talks about Conner's sacrifice on the Senate floor Tuesday
"I'm proud to congratulate Pauline and her family today, and I want to thank her for giving our nation the opportunity to greet First Lieutenant Garlin Murl Conner," McConnell said in a statement. "He has embodied the highest values of our Commonwealth and our nation, but this humble man has never been called a hero, so it is incumbent upon us to do just that."
The record of Conner's army during the war included four silver stars, French awards and three purple hearts. He won decorations in wild battles between October 1942 and March 1945 when his 3rd Infantry Division unit pushed from Morocco, across Tunisia to Italy, across France and into Germany.
"My husband was a very humble man and I am honored to represent him.It is … it does not talk about me.It is about him.And he was my hero.It was 53 years old, and he's been there for 20 years.
Fox News & Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report
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