This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Connors, Howard Joseph, QMC.
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Casualty Info
Home Town San Diego, CA
Last Address 7015 Stuart Ave La Mesa, CA
Casualty Date Aug 20, 1952
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Artillery, Rocket, Mortar
Location Korea, North
Conflict Korean War
Location of Interment Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery (VA) - San Diego, California
Wall/Plot Coordinates Q 516
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Chief Quartermaster Connors served aboard the Destroyer-Mine Sweeper, USS THOMPSON (DMS-38). On August 20, 1952, his ship received shore battery fire from Songin, North Korea.
Korean War/UN Offensive (1950)/Inchon Landing/Operation Chromite
From Month/Year
September / 1950
To Month/Year
September / 1950
Description (September 15–26, 1950) in the Korean War, an amphibious landing by U.S. and South Korean forces at the port of Inchon, near the South Korean capital, Seoul. A daring operation planned and executed under extremely difficult conditions by U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the landing suddenly reversed the tide of the war, forcing the invading North Korean army to retreat in disorder up the Korean peninsula.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
September / 1950
To Month/Year
September / 1950
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories While Thompson and Carmick had steamed across the Pacific, United Nations forces had been rallying after the initial heavy losses and retreats at the hands of the communist armies. Accordingly, the American Eighth Army put heavy pressure on North Korean troops, pushing them towards P'yŏngyang, on the west coast of Korea. This thrust was stretching the Army's supply lanes. To remedy this problem, an operation was mounted to open up the mined port of Chinnampo, some 50 km southwest of P'yŏngyang, at the mouth of the Taedong River.
This required ingenuity and resourcefulness, not least because of a lack of minesweeping craft at the start of operations. Thompson and Carmick, newly arrived in the "Land of the Morning Calm", were detailed to join the makeshift minesweeping organization recently established under Commander Stephen M. Archer.[1] Consisting of Forrest Royal (DD-872), Catamount (LSD-17), Horace A. Bass (APD-124), Pelican (AMS-32), Swallow (AMS-36), and Gull (AMS-16), Japanese LST Q-007,[2] four Republic of Korea minesweepers, and a helicopter from Rochester (CA-124), this task group performed a nearly-impossible feat in slightly over two weeks. Before too long, American ships were bringing in supplies to the advancing Eighth Army. After a week of patrol duties off the newly-swept port escorting logistics ships now able to utilize the channel, Thompson left the bitterly-cold region behind for a week of repairs and resupply at Sasebo.
