SSGT Michael Ray Conner was killed in action on 22 April 1970, when the EC-47 aircraft, callsign CAP 53, on which he was serving as an Airborne Morse Systems Operator, was downed by enemy fire over Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam.
SSGT Conner was born 17 September 1947, in Rockwood, TN and graduated from Central High School, Knoxville, TN in 1965.
SSGT Conner enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on 29 November 1966, completing basic training at Lackland AFB, TX and Morse Code training at Keesler AFB, MS. He was then assigned to the 6910th Security Wing, Darmstadt, Germany. On 25 October 1969, SSGT Conner was reassigned to Det 2, 6994th Security Squadron, Pleiku Air Base, Vietnam.
SSGT Conner’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart (Posthumously), Air Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and Vietnam Service Medal.
SSGT Conner is interred at Woodhaven Cemetery, Knoxville, TN. His name is engraved on the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall on Panel 11W, line 34.
Building 1574 on Misawa AB was renamed Conner Memorial Hall in SSGT Conner’s honor November 1987 and a dormitory at Keesler AFB, MS was renamed Conner Manor in his honor in May 1973
