William Connell was born August 28, 1890 in Pennsylvania. The 1920 census shows him in Germany, which is consistent with his 1st Division service of being in the Army of Occupation. He probably married his wife, Katherine in Germany (She was German) about 1921 as they have a 9 year old child in the 1930 census. The census' show him with occupation "soldier" at Ft. Monmouth, NJ in 1930 and 1940. He apparently retired from the Army October 31, 1941 as a master sergeant. Ancestry shows that he had a couple of years service beginning in 1911, which may have continued until his WW1 service. If so, he would have retired with 30 years of service. Connell died in Clearwater, Florida on July 28, 1971.
Sgt. Connell's group includes his officially engraved WW1 split brooch Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, edge numbered 1140, officially engraved WW1 split brooch Bailey, Banks and Biddle Purple Heart, edge numbered 127, Mexican Service medal, edge numbered 1326, WW1 Victory medal with 4 bars, and his French Croix de Guerre wth 2 bronze stars. Copies of award cards and internet research are included. He was also entitled to a WW2 Victory medal. As of March, 2014, this group has moved to another collector.
