James P. Conboy Jr.
 

James P. Conboy Jr., 78, veteran depicted in famous photograph
By Gayle Ronan Sims
Inquirer Staff Writer
James P. Conboy Jr., 78, a decorated veteran who lost his leg in World War II, a riverman with the Dad Vail Regatta for four decades, and a father of five, died Thursday of lung cancer at his home in Broomall.
Mr. Conboy was a longtime resident of Drexel Hill before moving to Broomall six years ago.
Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Mr. Conboy was a 1943 graduate of La Salle High School, where he was captain of the rifle team and a member of the crew team.
He enlisted in the Army at 18 and served with the 17th Airborne Division. In March 1945, he participated in Operation Varsity - the final airborne assault of World War II and the first into German soil. He made a jump near the Rhine River, northeast of Wessel, Germany.
War photographer Robert Capa's shot of Mr. Conboy, taken just before boarding the plane that took him to Germany, was featured in a 1945 Life magazine photo essay and picked up by media around the world. Mr. Conboy appeared in a 2003 PBS documentary, Robert Capa: In Love and War, that aired in October.
After the jump, however, a 20mm shell hit him in the right leg, shattering it. His leg was amputated, for which he received a Purple Heart. Mr. Conboy also was awarded the Bronze Star.
After he returned home, Mr. Conboy earned a bachelor's in business in 1950 from La Salle College, where he met his future wife, Carolyn Baldino.
During college, he became a crew-team manager, and later was heavily involved with the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest college regatta in the nation. He worked as a judge, rivermaster and organizer for more than 40 years.
While raising four sons and a daughter, Mr. Conboy was a Boy Scouts leader for two decades.
His son James said: "On camp-outs, my father made breakfast, then roused the sleepy scouts with his off-key, enthusiastic rendition of 'Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.' "
Mr. Conboy worked for the Philadelphia Suburban Water Co. from 1953 to 1997 as superintendent of maintenance.
"My father was a humble man. He rarely spoke of his work or about his war experiences until after he retired," his son said.
In an effort to preserve the history of World War II, after retirement Mr. Conboy became a speaker for the Delaware County Historical Society. He traveled to local schools to tell youngsters about World War II and his experience.
When he told students the story of the young paratrooper who lost his leg, Mr. Conboy delighted in watching their eyes dart from the Life magazine page to the man before them, he said in a 2001 Inquirer article.