Odell Maurice Conoley – Brigadier General, United States Marine Corps

Thanks for your quick response.  I am happy to provide you with information on both my father and brother-in-law who were Marines buried in Arlington.

My father was Augustus Theodore Lewis born June 17, 1884.  He enlisted in the Marine Corps August 7, 1905 and retired July 1945 as a Lieutenant Colonel.  He died September 23, 1977 and was buried in Arlington (with my brother, Robert A. Lewis, who was an Army Lieutenant killed in Europe during World War II).

My brother-in-law was Odell Maurice Conoley (known as “Tex”) born November 9, 1913.  He was commissioned in August 1935 and retired in May 1964 as a Brigadier General.  He died September 1, 1993 and was buried in Arlington.  He was awarded the Navy Cross and the Silver Star for actions on Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester.

I entered my Dad’s data and a write-up in the Navy Memorial Log, as well as part of Tex’s data.  If you want or need more for your web-site, please let me know.

George Lewis (retired Navy)

CONOLEY, ODELL M.

Captain, U.S. Marine Corps
2d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Action: October 26, 1942

Citation

The Navy Cross is presented to Odell M. Conoley, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while attached to the Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, October 26, 1942.

While under tremendous fire during an assault by hostile forces, major Conoley, with courageous initiative and skillful leadership, organized a group of Marines and counterattacked a numerically superior unit of Japanese troops who had seized a ridge previously held by one of the companies in his own Battalion. After killing two-thirds of the enemy force and driving off the remainder, he and his group captured many rounds of ammunition and much equipment from the enemy.

His heroic conduct, maintained at great personal risk in the face of grave danger, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Service Dates: 8/1935 – 5/1964
Born: 11/9/1913 at AMARILLO, TEXAS
NAVY CROSS
SILVER STAR
LEGION OF MERIT
NAVY & MARINE CORPS COMMENDATION MEDAL

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard