2dLt John W. Conway, USAF

Foil: 13 Panel: 1 Column: 1 Line: 23

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. George W. Conway

John enlisted in the Navy on July 24, 1944 and after completion of technical training at Fleet Sound School, Key West, FL in Jan. 2, 1945; was assigned to U. S. S. Lamson (DD-367) as SoM3c. The Lamson had just returned to Puget Sound Navy yard for repairs after surviving a kamikaze attack at Ormac Bay off Leyte Island in the Philippines. After extensive repairs the Lamson returned to the Pacific in May of 1945 and spent the rest of the war on patrol and performing Air-sea rescue work off Iwo Jima. John was a witness to history when on September 13, 1945 the Lamson arrived at Chichi Jima to accept the surrender of the Bonin Islands and then was assigned occupation duty at Sasebo Navy Base. The Lamson departed Japan on October 29, and arrived at San Diego on November 29, 1945, and was assigned as a test ship to the Atomic Bomb Test Able at Bikini Atoll and was sunk in the atomic explosion of July 2, 1946.
John, like his older brothers, was fascinated with flying and after WW-II he took advantage of the government GI-Bill program and enrolled in aviation training at a local flying school. He quickly progressed through Private Pilot and Instrument ratings and was the first person to achieve a Commercial Pilot rating at the flying school under the GI-Bill Program.
On January 16, 1950 John entered the USAF Aviation Cadet training program at Randolph Field Texas. He completed fighter pilot training at Williams AFB Chandler, AZ and graduated with Class 51-A on February 10, 1951.
John was station at Las Vegas, NV when he died in an Automobile accident on March 25, 1951. He is buried next to his brother Charlie at Arlington National Cemetery, Fort Meyer, VA.