LTC John J. Madigan III

Commanding Officer 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

IFFV

19 February - 24 July 1971

 

 

 

The exact dates of LTC Madigan's Command of 1st Battalion are unknown to the website at this time.

He assumed Command of the Battalion in between LTC John Ching and LTC Richard Fickett.
LTC Ching assumed Command upon the death of LTC Barney Neal in September 1970. LTC Fickett
assumed Command in July 1971. The website does not have the dates of LTC Ching's Command,
so an accurate date of change of Command between him and LTC Madigan cannot be established.

The most accurate dates determined by available research indicate LTC Madigan's Command of 1/22 Infantry
was from February 19 to July 24, 1971.

LTC John Madigan served on the command staff of IFFV from August 1970 to February 1971, at which time
he took command of 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry. His daughter has a cigarette box presented to LTC Madigan
as a gift from his command section at IFFV with the following inscription:

To Lieutenant Colonel John J. Madigan, III From The officers and men of the IFForce command section for outstanding service
as  secretary of the general staff August 1970-February 1971

LTC Madigan was listed as Commander of 1/22 Infantry in the Battalion newspaper of 7 May 1971.

Upon the death of COL John J. Madigan III, Lieutenant Wilson, who had served under Madigan in 1/22 Infantry,
Wilson at that time being Exceutive Officer of E 1/22 Infantry, had the following to say about COL Madigan:

" Ltc. Madigan was a quiet and sensible soldier who went about his
duties without any particular flash, but, was, in retrospect, very
well tailored. He was totally approachable...(and) was a fair and honest soldier..." ¹

 

 

The following chronolgy of the service of Colonel John J. Madigan III is taken from the entries for him
in the Official US Army Registers through 1969 with additional details provided by his son LTC John Madigan (U.S.A. Ret.):

Born in North Carolina on January 11, 1929.

Enlisted in the Army on October 27, 1947. Served as an enlisted man until May 18, 1950.

Basic pay Entry Date as an officer: Retroactive to November 9, 1950

Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Reserve on June 1, 1953.

Graduate of the Infantry School Officers Basic Course in 1954.

Battalion S-1 Personnel Officer of 1st Battalion 188th Infantry 11th Airborne Division,
Fort Campbell, Kentucky 1954-1955.

Promoted to 1st Lieutenant in the Army of the United States
(AUS) on December 18, 1955.

Platoon Leader in Company C and Executive Officer of Company A 1st Battalion 3rd Infantry
Fort Myers, Virginia (The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery) 1955-1957.

Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry in the Regular Army on July 26, 1956
with date of rank going back to June 18, 1954.

Company Executive Officer in 1st Battalion 19th Infantry and Assistant S-3 Operations Officer in
1st Battalion 27th Infantry 25th Infantry Division Schofield Barracks, Hawaii 1957-1960.

Captain (AUS) August 26, 1960.

Captain Regular Army June 18, 1961.

Graduate of the Infantry Officers (Advanced) Career Course in 1961.

Security Officer at the Defense Communication Agency Arlington, Virginia 1961-1963.

Company Commander Headquarters Company and Battalion S-3 Operations Officer
1st Battalion 3rd Infantry Fort Myers, Virginia (The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery) 1963-1965.

Major (AUS) August 10, 1964.

Student at the Command & General Staff College Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 1965-1966.

Student Combat Arms Advisors Course 1966.

Advisor United States Military Assistance Command Republic of Vietnam 1966-1967.

Staff Officer Combat Development Command Fort Belvoir, Virginia 1967-1970.

Major Regular Army June 18, 1968.

Lieutenant Colonel (AUS) January 24, 1968.

Secretary General Staff IFFV and Battalion Commander 1st Battalion Infantry Republic of Vietnam 1970-1971.

Student Operations Research/System Analysis Course 1971

Defense Intelligence Agency 1971-1973.

Student U.S. Army War Colllege 1973-1974.

Promotion to Colonel August 1, 1974.

Vice J2 Intelligence Officer Defense Intelligence Agency 1974-1977.

Commanding Officer Camp Humphreys Republic of Korea 1977-1978.

Student Senior Commander Orientation Course 1977.

Student Army Institutional Management Course 1977.

Director J2 Support Defense Intelligence Agency 1978-1981.

John J. Madigan III retired from the Army with the rank of Colonel of Infantry on August 31, 1981.

He had served as an Infantry Officer for over twenty-one years and as a Strategic Intelligence Officer for eight years.

**********************

 

 

Decorations of Colonel John J. Madigan III

 

 

 

 

A LOCAL LIFE: ARMY COL. John J. Madigan III

Col. John J. Madigan III Carried On His Family's Military Tradition

 

 

Retired Army Col. John J. Madigan III, with wife Ann "Nancy" Curran in 1958, was the father and son of career soldiers and a great fan
of composer John Philip Sousa's marches. He was also a Virginia tax official and adjunct professor.
(Family Photo courtesy of Jean Madigan Judge)

 

 

By Mark Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Madigan family has seen a lot of military service. Four generations have served, suiting up for the major conflicts of the past century.
Retired Army Col. John J. Madigan III, who died May 4 at 80 after a fall at his Fairfax County retirement home, was the grandson
of a Marine Corps veteran and the son and father of career soldiers. He twice served in the Old Guard at Fort Myer, an elite
ceremonial unit, and was a veteran of the Vietnam War. He spent the latter half of his 30-year career in intelligence.

In a family that prided itself on patriotism and tradition, Col. Madigan also had a wry sense of humor. Enamored of composer
John Philip Sousa after serving two tours in the Old Guard, whose ceremonies are often conducted to Sousa marches, he had
a special way of rousing his children.

"This is how Dad would wake us up for church on Sunday: loud John Philip Sousa music," said his eldest son, retired Army
Col. John Philip Madigan, 52, who got his name from the composer and later served in the Old Guard.

The first John J. Madigan came from Ireland in the late 19th century, settled his family in Washington, became a liquor dealer
and served for a period in the Marine Corps. Two of his children became Army doctors: Patrick Madigan was an Army surgeon
whose name graces the Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., and Col. Madigan's father and namesake retired as
a colonel and was for a time Gen. George C. Marshall's physician.

John Joseph Madigan III was born at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Jan. 11, 1929, and grew up in Washington, where he graduated from
St. John's College High School. Unable to win an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., he instead
attended Georgetown University's foreign service school and joined the Army in 1954.

He went on to receive a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, master's degrees in public administration and liberal
studies from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and Georgetown, respectively, and a doctorate in adult education from
Virginia Tech.

While at Georgetown, he met Ann "Nancy" Curran at a mixer. They married in October 1955 and had five children, all of whom survive.
The family moved into a house in Springfield in the late 1960s, which remained Col. Madigan's residence until he was widowed in 1997.
After a heart attack in 1977, Col. Madigan gave up smoking and began running. Within a few years, he retired from the Army and
began a second phase of his life. He was a tax official with the state of Virginia for many years and also an adjunct professor
teaching national security studies, technical writing and other subjects at area colleges.

Col. Madigan's family, including two former members of the Old Guard, gathered at Arlington National Cemetery on July 31
to say farewell to him. Tom Madigan, 50, who had served one tour in the Army, said that after so many of his family's
experiences working ceremonies there during terrible weather, the fact that it poured buckets was "almost fitting" for his father.

And as John Joseph Madigan III was guided to his burial site, with rain pouring down, there was one more fitting element:
the music of John Philip Sousa.


The Washington Post

 

 

 

Then 1st Lt. John Madigan participates in ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknowns in 1956 at Arlington National Cemetery.
1LT Madigan is shown here in command, standing in front of a detachment of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).

Photo from the Arlington National Cemetery Website

 

 

Thursday, August 6, 2009
Army legacy remembered, honored
By Debra Preitkis MDW Public Affairs

Between them, Tom and J.P. Madigan had taken part in hundreds of military funerals with The Old Guard. But July 31, 2009,
more than a decade later, they stood under a canopy in the pouring rain at Arlington National Cemetery as sons paying tribute to their father.

The familiar elements of an Army full honor funeral were performed in their presence for Colonel (Retired) John J. Madigan III.
The Army Band marched down ‘‘White Line Road” to the beat of muffled drums to take a spot in Section 30 near the opened grave
where 12 years earlier a wife and mother had been laid to rest.

The Old Guard’s Caisson Platoon arrived with the casket, to be borne off to the site by a team of eight Soldiers. A caparisoned horse,
riderless, but with boots reversed in the stirrups — representing the colonel looking back for the last time at troops he once commanded —
trailed. A formation of Soldiers, rain beating a tattoo on their caps, marched behind, the escort platoon.

Tom, J.P. and the rest of Nancy and John’s Family — five children and a good number of their dozen grandchildren — arrived
with Family and friends in automobiles and walked with umbrellas behind the casket team, following Monsignor Dominic Ashkar.
The band played a solemn hymn.

As a grandson of a Marine and son and nephew of Army doctors, Madigan entered the Army after attending Georgetown University.
His first duty station was with the Old Guard. And later he returned as a field grade officer, seasoned with tours in Vietnam and Korea.
It was a legacy kept by sons J.P. and Tom.

J.P. also served two tours with the Old Guard, Tom, one. Between the father and two sons, they participated in more than 1,000 funerals,
four state funerals and four presidential inaugurations.

The hillside where the Family stood was familiar. Not only does their mother lie there, but also their paternal grandparents are nearby
and other past associates.

‘‘That whole section — they all knew each other from serving in southeast Asia,” said daughter, Jean Judge.
‘‘We’re happy to have names we know nearby.”

The Monsignor spoke the words of committal, and the officer in charge raised his hand in salute. Seven Soldiers raised their weapons
and fired a volley, lowered, then raised and fired again. Three volleys, each expected, each startling.

Reaching across the casket, the Soldiers who bore the remains and held the flag taut over them, began the series of folds
as Staff Sergeant Ryan Spacht sounded ‘‘Taps.”

Captain Steve Gieser brought the American flag that had covered their father’s grave to the eldest son, J.P., and formally
thanked the Family, ‘‘on behalf of a grateful nation.”

And as they have been doing for more than 30 years, an Arlington Lady, Willo D. Grimes, kneeled down next and offered words
of condolence and offers of help.

Madigan died May 4, following complications from a fall at The Fairfax, a Fort Belvoir retirement community.
He was 80 years old, but had been active, teaching courses for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Funeral services at St. Bernadette’s in Springfield, Virginia, first brought the Family together. ‘‘It’s beginning to sink in,”
Tom said at the reception after the burial. Scheduling a full honors funeral takes time. Rain, which the monsignor jokingly said
their father must have commanded, won’t cancel one.

The Madigan military legacy covers many years and many wars. Madigan’s grandfather served as an NCO in the USMC.
His father, John Jr., and uncles, Joseph and Patrick, were doctors in World War I and II. John Jr. served as personal physician
to General George Marshall, namesake of the Marshall Plan that brought hope to Western Europe’s economy and people
after the Second World War.

Uncle Patrick Madigan, was called the ‘‘The Father of Army neuropsychiatry” and became assistant to the surgeon general
of the U.S. Army and then chief of neuropsychiatry at Walter Reed General Hospital. Madigan Army Medical Center was named
in his honor in 1944.

Like his sons, Madigan began his military journey at MDW and served as both a junior officer and a field grade for The Old Guard.
Father and son, J.P. share similar pasts as both of their first assignments were in Charlie Company. ‘‘It was an honor for all of us
to serve in The Old Guard when you consider its unique missions,” said son J.P. ‘‘All of this was particularly special since it grew
into a Family legacy.”

After the funeral service, Family and friends continued to remember Madigan at a gathering in the Fort Myer Officers Club.
A video slideshow that Jean put together portrayed the many sides of the man, but mostly as a husband, father and grandfather.

His daughter said her dad will be remembered for being passionate about the Army, his Family, his teaching, and the
Washington Redskins.

His war was Vietnam. He experienced it first as a military advisor, prior to the American buildup. He came back in 1971 as
commander of the 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry. He also served during the 1970s as commander of Camp Humphreys in South Korea.

Madigan’s educational dossier is something that grew over time. Madigan attended the Army War College and went on to earn
a master’s in public administration at Shippensburg University. After retiring in 1981, he returned to Georgetown University
to get another master’s degree and then a doctorate in adult education from Virginia Tech. He taught at four separate
Universities simultaneously: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Georgetown University, Central Michigan University
and the Lutheran Consortium.

Madigan’s dual focus on the military as well as education came from his own Family’s influence.
‘‘I suspect with his Family’s history of academic excellence, that it was the impetus for him to contribute to his Family,” J.P. said.
Their father’s focus on Family as well on his job made a lasting impact on his own life.
‘‘It was important for him to stabilize us and have his Family intact. His example of us growing up ... taking on hard jobs
to stabilize the Family ... I tried to template that example with my family through my military career,” J.P. said.

The Family legacy in serving their country and serving students continues.

It appears the Madigan military legacy lives on; grandson Tommy tells his parents he wants to join up
and continue the Madigan military lineage.

The above was posted: 9 August 2009

on the Arlington National Cemetery Website

Prepared by Webmaster: Michael Robert Patterson

 

 

 

 

Birth: January 11, 1929
Fort Bragg
Cumberland County
North Carolina, USA

Death: May 4, 2009
Springfield (Fairfax County)
Fairfax County
Virginia, USA

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colonel John J. Madigan III was interred in Arlington Cemetery
on July 31, 2009.

Section 30 Grave 595-RH

 

Grave marker for John J. Madigan III

Photo from the Arlington National Cemetery website

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This page prepared under the direction of Jean Madigan Judge and LTC John Madigan (U.S.A. Retired).

The 1st Battalion website is grateful to the family of COL John J. Madigan III for their assistance
in creating this memorial.

¹ alt.politics.bush

 

 

 

 

 

 


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