Julian Trist Bringier McConnell was born in Memphis, [Annotator's Note: Memphis, Tennessee], where his father was working in the railroad industry. Three weeks later, his family moved to Monroe, Louisiana. After graduating high school at age 15, he moved to the Gulf Coast to attend Tulane University [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana]. By his third year of college, McConnell was an ensign in the Navy. After his third year, he was sent to Notre Dame [Annotator's Note: Notre Dame University in Notre Dame, Indiana], where he did every physical thing he could. McConnell was surprised that thousands of men were sent to fight in the war, but he was sent back to Tulane to finish school. Despite his disappointment, he felt like he might receive extra training over his peers who went to war. More of his friends were sent to sea, but McConnell remained in school. The Navy sent McConnell to Harvard [Annotator's Note: Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts] and MIT [Annotator's Note: Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts]. While there, he decided to volunteer for the submarine force. During his physical evaluation, three high ranking officers came in to take his blood pressure. He was told to come back in a month because his blood pressure was too high. At the end of the month, his blood pressure was still too high, so McConnell decided to serve with PT Boats [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boats]. He was sent to New England, where he spent that January and February training as a PT Boat officer. The water was frozen for much of the time and there was snow. The weather caused some affects to the boats. Eventually, McConnell was assigned to PT Squadron 31 [Annotator's Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 31 (MTBRon-31)]. There were 15 boats in his squadron. McConnell was excited that the boats were made by Higgins [Annotator's Note: Higgins Industries] in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. When his group left, not all of the boats in his squadron were prepared to leave. When he left, he sailed from Lake Pontchartrain [Annotator's Note: north of New Orleans], into the Gulf [Annotator's Note: Gulf of Mexico], out to Miami [Annotator's Note: Miami, Florida]. He waved goodbye to his family as he sailed away. He did his shakedown around Miami for a month. He enjoyed going full speed through a canal, which he was not supposed to do. He was never stopped for the behavior. After his month in Miami, he shipped out overseas.

Julian Trist Bringier McConnell first went to Cuba before heading to the Panama Canal [Annotator's Note: Panama]. While in the Caribbean [Annotator's Note: Caribbean Sea], his six boats ran into a bad storm. He could not see the other boats around him. The next day, all the boats except McConnell's ran out of gas. McConnell's boat made it up a river, got gas, and brought it to the other boats. Once across the Panama Canal, McConnell's squadron [Annotator's Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 31 (MTBRon-31)] remained in the country until a ship big enough to carry the group arrived. While waiting, the sailors attached rockets to the boats and practiced firing them. The men also improved their radar. McConnell had high regards for the Navy. While in his first year at Tulane [Annotator's Note: Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana], his uncle took him hunting. He wanted to do his school work but his uncle had him do more hunting stuff. He started paying more attention at school because of that activity with his uncle. By the time he was deployed overseas, he was an ensign. While at Notre Dame [Annotator’s Note: Notre Dame University in Notre Dame, Indiana], he did six weeks of physical exercises. McConnell loved the activities. He did training when he was in the Gulf [Annotator's Note: Gulf of Mexico] moving towards Miami [Annotator's Note: Miami, Florida]. Once in Miami, he did his boat's shakedown. On Lake Pontchartrain [Annotator's Note: north of New Orleans, Louisiana], he was land based, but he did boat tests in the shallow water. A PT Boat [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] carried a 15 man crew plus two officers. Later in the war, the crew was seven or eight with two officers. At one point, there were seven men and McConnell as the only officer. The decrease happened because the Navy did not need as many men working in PT Boats.

When Julian Trist Bringier McConnell left the bigger ship that took him overseas, he patrolled mountainous islands and lagoons. Australian soldiers were in the mountains looking for places for the American boats [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boats or PT boats] to attack. The Japanese were being chased farther away. McConnell would go out in his boat at night to attack the remaining Japanese on the islands. Once the Coast Watchers [Annotator's Note: Australians who worked with indigenous peoples on islands in the South Pacific to locate and report on Japanese forces] located a target, they would hide and transmit the coordinates to the PT Boats. The Americans would sneak into the area, but the boats exhaust would make noise, ruining the surprise. The Americans tried to take advantage of those moments as often as possible. Months after arriving at the island, McConnell's squadron [Annotator's Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 31 (MTBRon-31)] moved to a new location. The island was large and extended into a large horseshoe. There was a mass of ships at the island. Within two days, he heard that small Japanese submarines were in the area. The PT Boats began patrolling the islands looking for the submarines, but they never found them. It was close to Christmas and the red lights that were on the ships brought McConnell joy. After leaving the island, McConnell arrived in Manila, Philippines. He had a great time in the city. There were huge ships around Manila. The sight of the armada was breathtaking. The admirals used the PT Boats to ferry them to the various ships. An admiral climbed aboard McConnell's boat and told him where to bring him. McConnell had to get him onto the ship in choppy water. He planned how he would arrive, but the water would not cooperate. After the admiral left, McConnell became aware that his boat had twisted around and almost ran into the ship's dingy. Meanwhile, the admiral was telling McConnell of the good job he did. McConnell spent 32 years in the Naval Reserve, eventually becoming a captain. When he was in the Philippines, he was a lieutenant. While he was with another captain, McConnell was told he was finished his tour of duty. Once in a while, a medical ship would come in full of wounded men. There were nurses on the ship and McConnell would bring his men to see the women. It was a dangerous act, but he was never reported. McConnell was brought to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] on a large ship. While on his PT Boat, he decided to drive up to the large ship, thinking the sailors would like it. When he got closer the sailors on the other ship were yelling at him. McConnell later found out the other ship had a laundry line in the water that got wrapped up in his propeller. He never told his skipper about the event. He cleaned the screws [Annotator's Note: propellers] himself. He used early scuba gear to unwrap the screw.

By the time he went overseas, Julian Trist Bringier McConnell did not have heavy ammunition. He spent most of his time trying to run Japanese out of the islands. He was among the first to go to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He did night time patrols around the island. When he arrived at Okinawa, his boat was put into the water and McConnell drove up to a destroyer to get some ice cream. The skipper of the ship traded him ice cream for a ride on the boat. McConnell then raced the destroyer around the island. McConnell won the race. When the war ended, McConnell's friends started going home because they had families. McConnell remained overseas in his boat. His squadron [Annotator's Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 31 (MTBRon-31)] was reduced to two boats. Word came to McConnell that he would be sent back to the Philippines. While there, he worked on fixing both of the boats, but they were ultimately burned, which surprised and saddened McConnell. He took a crank off of the boat to keep as a souvenir. McConnell was returning to his camp when he saw an airplane above him. He knew the plane would dive on him, so he prepared to make a sudden turn. He stopped the boat and something from the boat hit him in the face. The crew helped bandage him and sent him to see a medic who treated the wound. When he returned home, he told his father about some of the sad things that happened, but his father told him not to talk about them. Other PT Boats [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] in his group inadvertently attacked something they thought was attacking them. At midnight, McConnell saw a boat adrift filled with people. He knew they were the enemy, but he did not like killing them. His crew discussed capturing the crew, but decided not to.

Julian Trist Bringier McConnell’s boat [Annotator's Note: McConnell served as an officer aboard patrol torpedo boats, or PT Boats, in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 31 (MTBRon-31)] had .50 caliber machine guns, torpedoes, depth charges, 20mm and 40mm guns, and a 37mm gun. When he would get close to shore, he would use an 80mm mortar. On his way to the Pacific, McConnell practiced using rockets mounted on his boat. The boat maneuvered well in the water. The rockets would have been used against ships like destroyers. He believes it would have been better to have a different combat system for the PT Boats. He thinks the Higgins Boats [Annotator's Note: PT Boats made by Higgin Industries in New Orleans, Louisiana] were very good and well made. McConnell lived near one of the engines. He was proud to be able to move quicker than boats in the north, despite being a little slower. The other officer on the boat was the executive officer. McConnell served on two different boats. One of the boat skippers and other officers got into a fist fight. At some point, a group of PT Boats from the Aleutian Islands [Annotator's Note: Alaska] joined his squadron. One of the men was from coastal Texas. Everyone went to a building and the Texan stood up and decided to fight anyone in the group. McConnell decided to leave after fights broke out. McConnell thought the Texan was funny, but cocky. When he was around Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan], the kamikaze attacks had already occurred. He never saw a kamikaze attack. While trying to protect some ships, McConnell's boat was shot at by ground forces. McConnell was patrolling around a small island that had been captured. His boat would go into the island to give supplies. One of the other boat crews captured a Japanese soldier and sent him to headquarters. On another occasion, there were 25,000 Japanese on an island who would shoot at the Americans. Years after the war, Japanese soldiers would be found in the caves.

Julian Trist Bringier McConnell was loaded onto a ship in the Philippines and headed towards the United States [Annotator's Note: when returning to the United States at the end of the war]. After a brief stop in the Solomon Islands, he arrived in California. His sister was working for an airline and he found out where she was and visited her for one week. After his visit, McConnell took a train to New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. He was very happy to see his family. After his visit, he was sent to Norfolk [Annotator's Note: Norfolk, Virginia], where the Navy had him work for Commander Operational Government Force. He decided how well new equipment for ships worked. He sent aircraft loaded with equipment out from a ship to see how far it could go and still work. The devices were used to locate and damage aircraft. He did that job on various types of ships. He enjoyed that work because he was always with a different ship. He did that job for around eight years. A battleship accidentally ran aground while he was working with it. In 1949, he left the Navy and got an engineering degree. He built a new facility he was in charge of and eventually became a technical clerk.

In 1987, Julian Trist Bringier McConnell retired from his job and was given golf clubs. After retiring, he ran for a council position in Williamsburg [Annotator's Note: Williamsburg, Virginia]. After four years on the council, he was elected mayor. He enjoyed his council position because he did not have to have a political position. McConnell tried hard to have a good relationship with other members on the council. He spent three years keeping the council from building a bridge across the James River [Annotator's Note: Virginia]. He also worked hard to save historical parts of Williamsburg. He retired from being mayor in 1996. He later helped put on the city's 300th anniversary. His team was able to make the 300th anniversary very special. He then created the Greater Williamsburg Community Trust. McConnell remained the chairman, and the trust grew every year. The man who became president was good at his job.

When Julian Trist Bringier McConnell was leaving Panama for the Pacific, his PT Boat [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] was put on a ship that was similar to a LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. They put his boat on a rack on the ship using a crane. At sea, the ship would turn every few minutes in a zig-zag [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] movement. On the ship, he would climb into his PT Boat while it was in its rack. He would drop things on the ship's skipper at night. When McConnell crossed the equator, the skipper got his pay back during a ceremony. The ship's skipper and deputy had been on PT Boats. They had been in the Solomon Islands and heard about a Japanese submarine in the area. They managed to sink the submarine. McConnell slept on the PT Boat when it was on the larger ship. He ate on the larger ship. His patrols were always short and he never missed a meal. The day after a patrol, McConnell and his men would clean and repair the boat. In his off time, McConnell enjoyed diving. He caught many octopi. One time while diving, he saw a large squid and tried to catch it. Another time, he found a beautiful shell, but something was living in it. He took the shell to an island and the locals told him what to do with it. A week later, he was told he would be going to the Philippines. McConnell wanted to get his shell from the other island, but his commander would not let him go back for it.