 The panel members rejected Sherburne's assertion and the final report of the subcommittee held no one person accountable for the losses.For his service as the "brain" of the AEF, Conner was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal and the French Croix de Guerre.After the war, Conner and Palmer received credit for writing the after-action report on World War I operations which influenced the content of the National Defense Act of 1920 and set the course for the interwar army.