Matt Konop, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Matt Konop

Date of Birth: 06-Feb-1906

Place of Birth: Stangelville, Wisconsin, United States

Date of Death: 12-May-1983

Profession: military personnel

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Lieutenant Colonel Matt Konop (February 6, 1906 – May 12, 1983) was a United States Army officer during World War II, noted for his fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and celebrated in the Czech Republic for his role in the liberation of the cities of Domažlice and Pilsen in Czechoslovakia near the end of the war. In early May 1945, Konop was made the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division advance party by Second Infantry Division Commanding Officer General Walter M.
Robertson, who had learned of Konop's Czech lineage and ability to speak the language.
Konop's advance force coincidentally liberated the same Czech villages where his grandparents had lived before they emigrated to America.
During the liberation, news spread throughout the region that "one of our own" had returned to free the people from six years of occupation by Nazi Germany.Today, a bronze plaque of Konop is mounted on the Hruska building in the main square of Domažlice, in the Czech Republic, where he parked his jeep on May 4, 1945, and received a hero’s welcome in the closing days of the war.
In 2016, Konop was made an honorary citizen of the town of Domazlice.