{"id":81,"date":"2015-10-28T20:17:43","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T20:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/?p=81"},"modified":"2017-06-16T21:17:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-16T21:17:30","slug":"james-mack-connolly-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/?p=81","title":{"rendered":"JAMES ‘MACK’ CONNOLLY JR."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CONNOLLY<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 JAMES EDWARD \u201cMACK\u201d CONNOLLY JR.<\/strong><\/em>
\nPage One of the Post Register of May 8, 1945 announced boldly, WAR IN EUROPE ENDS; VE DAY SOLEMN DAY IN LOCKHART<\/strong>. In part this was because information had just been received that Lt. Mack Connolly, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Connolly Sr., had been killed in Germany.
\n\u201cThe effect of the news on Lockhart people was depressing in the extreme. It was passed from one to another in whispers or low tones. Another son, one of the flowers of Lockhart manhood, gives his life in the cause of Freedom just as the day of Liberty is dawning over the world.\u201d
\nMack was the son of James Edward Sr. and Jessie Mary (McMillan) Connolly. He was the older brother by eight years to Dr. J. Tom Connolly. The family lived at 617 S. Brazos in Lockhart. He was born on May 15, 1924. Mack\u2019s circle of friends included Herbert (Herb) Reid Jr., Fleetwood Richards, and Forrest (Jack) Wilson. All played football on the high school team. In the words of Jack Wilson, \u201cMack was the best guy in the world.\u201d He recalled Mack\u2019s mother would feed some of the team steaks every Friday night, Mack and his friends adored her. Mack graduated from Lockhart High School in 1942, and enrolled at Texas A&M. Leaving school to enlist, he later became an officer.
\nIn late July 1944 while home on leave, he attended a Business Men\u2019s Club luncheon where the topic of post-war use of government built tanks for stock water was discussed. The newspaper\u2019s playful report of the lunch noted that \u201cLt. Mac[k] Connolly was called on to state what he wanted. He replied that at present he was just trying to learn enough to be able to get back when the war was over.\u201d
\nMack married Mariellyn (\u201cDink\u201d) Andrews on September 23, 1944 at Fort Sill Oklahoma. The Connolly family and Mack\u2019s bride-to-be traveled together from Texas so that all could attend the wedding.
\n\"CONNOLLY\u00a0At some point Mack was assigned to Company I, 33rd Cavalry Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division. The 33rd Cavalry\u2019s unit nickname was \u201cMen of War.\u201d It was richly deserved. Described as part of the \u201cmassive tank battering ram which made the 3rd Armored Division famous,\u201d its M4 Sherman tanks had a splendid combat record. However, the M4 Sherman also had a reputation as a crew killer, because of its tendency to explode if taking a direct hit. Its nickname was the \u201cRonson\u201d (a cigarette lighter that was guaranteed to \u201clight up the first time\u201d).<\/p>\n

Mack was one of the many replacement officers and men inserted as the attrition of constant \"CONNOLLYcombat across Europe served as a meat grinder on Allied forces pushing the Germans back into the Fatherland. The unit had fought across France\u2019s hedgerows reaching Belgium in September 1944. The Division was part of the northern \u2018neck\u2019 that held, then closed on the Germans during the winter Battle of the Bulge. It swept into Cologne in March of 1945 and then crossed the Saale River speeding toward the agreed meet-up point with the Russians on the Elbe River. On April 11, 1945 it freed the survivors of the horrific concentration camp of Dora-Mittlebau.
\nAs the war wound down, and with Germany\u2019s surrender clearly in sight, many families were tortured by the possibility that a loved one would be killed with the war practically over. Certainly the Connolly family and Mack\u2019s bride must have feared that.
\nOn the Western Front, German soldiers were surrendering by the thousands. Many were fleeing the Russian advance on the Eastern Front, seeking to escape the tender mercies the expected retribution exacted by the Soviet Union would offer, either by summary execution or slow death in the Gulag. The Wehrmacht, the German regular army, was crumbling, as its manpower and command structure ebbed away \u2013 regular army soldiers knew to expect humane treatment as prisoners of the French, British or Americans. The only units still offering any real resistance to the western Allies were SS units, and Hitler Youth – both imbued with a fanaticism that transcended the reality of Germany\u2019s impending defeat. Many of these units had panzerfausts \u2013 shoulder mounted single shot anti-armor weapons that were very effective.
\nThe 33rd\u2019s final action was an intense battle to take the German city of Dessau. Mack was killed in that battle on April 14, 1945. Notice of his death came four days before VE Day. In October 1945, he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the Armed Forces\u2019 third highest award for valor. His wife accepted the award on Mack\u2019s behalf in a solemn ceremony at Camp Swift. The citation reads as follows:<\/p>\n

Lt. Connolly was leading his platoon of tanks in the vicinity of Dessau, Germany, when the tank in front of his was hit and disabled by bazooka fire. Although he was without infantry support and he was in the face of well emplaced bazooka teams, he went forward with total disregard for his safety in order to enable the crew of the disabled vehicle to withdraw. His tank was also hit and he was killed. Lt. Connolly’s courage and devotion to duty reflect the highest of credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mack died one month before his 21st birthday.<\/p>\n

Mack\u2019s body was eventually returned home. Final rites were held at his parents\u2019 home at 617 S. Blanco on February 2, 1949. Pallbearers were his boyhood frineds, Jack Wilson, Fleetwood Richards, Herb Reid, Newton (Doc) Wilson, Jesse Burditt, Tom Burditt, and George (Bubba) Chapman. After the reciting of the 23rd Psalm, he was buried in the Lockhart Cemetery.
\nDink later married Herb Reid, Mack\u2019s boyhood friend. She passed away in 2002.<\/p>\n

\"CONNOLLY<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 JAMES EDWARD \u201cMACK\u201d CONNOLLY JR. Page One of the Post Register of May 8, 1945 announced boldly, WAR IN EUROPE ENDS; VE DAY SOLEMN DAY IN LOCKHART. In part this was because information had just … Continue reading JAMES ‘MACK’ CONNOLLY JR.<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-texas-aggies","category-world-war-ii-caldwell-county-deaths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99,"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}