Owen "Mike" Connelly, Ph.D. obtained his B.S. in Physics from Wake Forest University then volunteered for military service in World War II. He served as an officer in Europe until the end of that conflict. When he returned home,he received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and began his long and distinguished career as a Professor of European History and French Revolution. In 1948, he was called to Japan as part of the Air Force Reserves. While there, he served as the officer in charge of restoring radio and telephone communications to the city of Tokyo. Mike, however, was dissatisfied occupying what he considered a non-sacrificial role as the Korean conflict was escalating. From 1951-1954 he wrote to anyone he could think of with any political power, asking to transfer to the Army and to be sent to Korea in a combat role. His efforts were finally rewarded by an act of the U.S. Congress which allowed him to transfer from the Air Force Reserves and to return to active duty as a combat Army officer. His leadership in Korea was so distinguished that at the end of the war he was sent to Yale where the Army Rangers originated and began their training. Ultimately, Mike went to Florida as the Executive Director of the Army Ranger training camp, where the training program he designed remains essentially in place today. During his academic career, he was the first historian to be invited to engage in research at The Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton University. He began his tenure at the University of South Carolina in the mid-1970s where he received numerous honors and through his teaching and publication of 10 books relating to Napolean and the French Revolution sealed his position as one of our leading scholars on Napoleon and his era. Mike Connelly is survived by two brothers, his wife, three children and their spouses, four grandchildren and his best friend, Max, his devoted 150 lb. German Shepherd. Mike, himself, was enthralled by his grandchldren, his five horses, song and dance musicals and Willie Nelson.
Owen "Mike" Connelly, Ph.D. obtained his B.S. in Physics from Wake Forest University then volunteered for military service in World War II. He served as an officer in Europe until the end of that conflict. When he returned home,he received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and began his long and distinguished career as a Professor of European History and French Revolution. In 1948, he was called to Japan as part of the Air Force Reserves. While there, he served as the officer in charge of restoring radio and telephone communications to the city of Tokyo. Mike, however, was dissatisfied occupying what he considered a non-sacrificial role as the Korean conflict was escalating. From 1951-1954 he wrote to anyone he could think of with any political power, asking to transfer to the Army and to be sent to Korea in a combat role. His efforts were finally rewarded by an act of the U.S. Congress which allowed him to transfer from the Air Force Reserves and to return to active duty as a combat Army officer. His leadership in Korea was so distinguished that at the end of the war he was sent to Yale where the Army Rangers originated and began their training. Ultimately, Mike went to Florida as the Executive Director of the Army Ranger training camp, where the training program he designed remains essentially in place today. During his academic career, he was the first historian to be invited to engage in research at The Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton University. He began his tenure at the University of South Carolina in the mid-1970s where he received numerous honors and through his teaching and publication of 10 books relating to Napolean and the French Revolution sealed his position as one of our leading scholars on Napoleon and his era. Mike Connelly is survived by two brothers, his wife, three children and their spouses, four grandchildren and his best friend, Max, his devoted 150 lb. German Shepherd. Mike, himself, was enthralled by his grandchldren, his five horses, song and dance musicals and Willie Nelson.
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