Samuel M. O'Connor
My Great-Grandpa
His Life Story
Samuel in front of a P-38 Lightning
He had quite the sense of humor
Secret Airbase in the Aleutian Islands
Where does he fit into history?
Later on, when the war started he was quite involved with it. He was based in a small strategical airbase that ran secret missions in Japan. This airbase was in the Aleutian Islands where Japanese soldiers were rumored to be. This was true and my great grandfather lost a great friend due to this. A Japanese soldier snuck into my grandfathers tent in the middle of the night and stabbed his good friend and tent mate. My great grandfather was outside the tent at the time and when he returned and was attacked as well. He was able to kill the soldier. Other than this, he never had any more action in combat.
After the war, he returned to California and worked at a military base as a doctor and surgeon. On August 5, 1946 he retired from the military and went home to his family. After his retirement he was able to see some cool events including the first color TV as well as the foundation of NASA.