The Corps' living history on Okinawa

Courtesy Photo | Boyce Connally pictured on the heavy cruiser USS Newport News, CA-148 in 1950. Boyce Connally served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1971 as a hospital corpsman.  

OKINAWA, OKINAWA, JAPAN

06.19.2009

Story by Pfc. J Nava 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

OKINAWA, Japan - From the battlefields of the Revolutionary War, to the island hopping campaign of World War II, to the battles fought in the Middle East today, a Connally has been there. The Connallys are a family stretching many generations, whose members have served proudly in the United States Armed Forces in most major conflicts in U.S. history.

Col. Thomas J. Connally, the commanding officer of Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, and the camp commander of Camps Courtney and McTureous, is one of the latest in his family's long lineage of service members. Instilled in him are the values and morals of generations of our country's fighting men and women.

"This is what I grew up always wanting to do; leading Marines," Connally said. "Serving my country has always seemed like the highest of callings, right below the priesthood."

Born in San Diego on Oct. 7, 1961, Connally grew up with military values as the underpinnings of his life, he said.

"I've always had a sense of family and country as my foundation," Connally said. Connally's father, Boyce Connally, was one of the main sources of that sense of family and country, said Ann Connally, Connally's wife and former Navy lieutenant.

"[Boyce's] hard work, dedication and contributions to his family left a lasting impression on [Connally]," she added.

Boyce enlisted in the Navy in 1942. He initially planned to become a signalman, but was reclassed a hospital corpsman due to the tremendous loss of corpsmen during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Boyce was augmented to the 1st Marine Division during the island hopping campaign in the Pacific and fought alongside Marines in the Battle of Peleliu.

Boyce retired from the Navy in 1971 as a Master Chief Hospital Corpsman after 30 years of constructive service.

"My dad always had sayings like, 'if you're going to fight, tell the other guy to bring a lunch and lantern, because it's going to take him all day and all night to whip you,'" Connally said. "Meaning that he believed in doing his duties to the best of his ability and never quitting."

Connally's mother, Margaretta Popelas, was also a service member. In 1942, Margaretta enlisted in the Coast Guard and became a yeoman.

When the war ended she tried to re-enlist but could not because she had lied about her age in order to join, so she enlisted in the Navy. She got out after eight years of combined service.

"His parents always taught him to do the right thing," said Ann, from Fairfax, Va. "They taught him to always give 110 percent."

In 1983, Connally continued the tradition himself by being commissioned as a Marine artillery officer through the United States Naval Academy. He was not the first of his family to do so and certainly not the last.

Both Patrick and Michael Connally, Connally's older brothers, were commissioned as Marine Corps artillery officers.

Michael's son, Michael Connally Jr., has kept the tradition strong and is now an intelligence officer with United States Marine Forces, Central Command.

Three of Patrick's children went on to be Marines as well; Cpl. Daniel Connally, a combat engineer with 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division; medically retired Cpl. Luke Connally, a mortar man who was wounded outside of Haditha in Al Anbar province, Iraq, in Dec. 2004; and reserve Capt. Lauren Grigsby a logistics officer.

In 1978, Buck Connally, another of the siblings, was commissioned through the Naval Academy as a surface warfare officer in the Navy.

"My brothers are the best officers I know," Connally said. "I've learned so much from them."

They always took care of each other and looked out for each other, Ann said. His brothers were one of the biggest impacts on his life.

The Connally's rich military history dates back even further. According to Connally, Tom Connally, his seventh generation grandfather, was a recruiter in Virginia for the Continental Army.

During the Civil War, Col. John K. Connally commanded the 55th North Carolina Regiment.

In World War I, Connally's grandfather, Army Pvt. Pled Connally fought alongside the 5th and 6th Marine Regiment in 1918 during the Battle of Belleau Wood.

Connally is one of the last members of his family on active duty, but he hopes their long established tradition will keep going, he said.

"I tell my kids the same thing that my dad told me when I was young," Connally said. "I hope that sometime in their life, my children will find time to serve their country."

• Date Taken: 06.19.2009
• Date Posted: 06.21.2009 20:30
• Story ID: 35430
• Location: OKINAWA, OKINAWA, JP