Remember...
John Conn
1909-1942
"Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment and poverty are battlefields which have their heroes--obscure heroes who are at times greater than illustrious heroes."
Victor Hugo
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Remember...John Conn
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When Army Private First Class John Conn enlisted for his military service in Huntington, West Virginia, on May 10, 1941 (U.S. Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946), his family was living in Fayette County, West Virginia, in the neighborhood of Boomer. A number of Italian immigrants had settled in the area in the early 20th century, where the family patriarchs often found work as coal miners or stone cutters. While his enlistment record states that he was born in Italy or San Marino, his draft card states that he was born in Italy, but he didn't recall where; the draft card does, however, state that he was born on February 23, 1909. His lack of recall is consistent with the fact that the family came to the United States around 1910, and his younger siblings were born in the U.S. John's parents were Joseph (b. 1882 in Italy, son of John Condalise Conn and Barbara Sellars) and Catherine Jaquinta Conn (b. 1882 in Italy, daughter of John Aquinta and Mary Condolese). Joe Conn's death record (1961) reports that he was indeed a retired coal miner.
John had six siblings: Barbara [b. 1914 in Boomer; married name, Yaquinta], Louis, Mike, Leonard [b. 1919, also in Fayette County], Mary [married name: DeMarco], and Theresa [married name: Lucenti]. Much of the family information was obtained from an obituary for Barbara Conn Yaquinta in the Charleston Daily Mail on September 22, 2011.
| Little is available through public documents of the early life, schooling, and work history of Pfc. John Conn. He stated at the time of his enlistment that he had completed grammar school and was a sales clerk prior to his service. His draft card notes that he is working for his uncle Sam Jaquinta in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. When his younger brother Leonard entered the military, he too indicated he was a sales clerk and had completed two years of high school. Unlike the offspring of many immigrants in the area, it seems some of the brothers did not enter the coal mines but turned instead to a career in a retail establishment. |  Draft card for John Conn. National Archives and Records Administration |
According to a death notice in the Charleston Gazette on October 31, 1942, Pfc. Conn died of non-battle causes on October 30, 1942, in Atlanta, Georgia, of a truck accident that occurred while his unit was on maneuvers in Tennessee.
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure
December 2021
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.