John Arthur Considine (1889 - 1960)

Born 10 Mar 1889 in Chicago, IL

Husband of Mary Constance MacDonald — married 25 Jun 1913 in Seattle, Washington; St James Cathedral

Husband of Kathryn Eloise McCleave — married 26 Dec 1936 in Alameda, California

Descendants

Died 21 Aug 1960 at age 71 in Sonoma, CA

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Biography

There has fallen to my lot the proud task of writing of Jack Considine - roommate, loyal and devoted friend, brave soldier and gallant officer.

It was well known to all cadets and former cadets that no man becomes so aware of the character and capacities of another as does that man's roommate - and this is doubly true in the case of a long-lasting relationship. So it was with Jack and me; we roomed together for nearly three years, in good weather and foul, in periods of elation and of despondence. We knew each other's ambitions, and we knew of the courage that could be confidently expected, each in defense of the other. That, I think, is one of the principal virtues of cadet life.

So it was that I knew Jack better than did almost anyone else. He had but one fault, if fault it was: he was under a lifelong compulsion to stand by his convictions even to the extent of running afoul of those who were in position to harm his career. Colonel John A Considine was born in Chicago, Illinois on 10 March 1889 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Thomas J. and Mildred Considine. He attended Standford University briefly prior to his appointment to the US Military Academy by Congressman Francis Burton Harrison of District 16, New York. he entered the Academy on 1 March 1909 and graduated on 12 June 1913.

While a cadet he displayed those magnificent qualities of honesty, intelligence, loyalty and patriotism which characterized him throughout life. Kind and generous to a fault on almost all occasions, he was quick to display indignantly resentment in the face of injustice - and he was not slow to express himself in physical combat to the offender's great chagrin and discomfort. And with it he possessed a keen sense of the humorous side of life.

There is not enough space here to permit me to go into a detailed discussion of his military career; to touch the high points must be sufficient. Upon graduation on 12 June 1913, he was promoted to the grade of Second Lieutenant, 6th Cavalry at Texas City, Texas. There he remained until, with his regiment, he entered Mexico in the Expeditionary Force. Returning, he was sent to the Big Bend District of Texas, a section of the border where he spent, at one time or another, a considerable part of his military career.

Not all of it, however; nor was most of it in the grade of Second Lieutenant.

As proof of his worth and the diversity of his skills, it is only necessary to list some of his duties: Deputy Chief Requisition Officer in Paris, France, Following World War I; District Intelligence Officer in Big Ben District of Texas; Instructor of English and History USMA; Student Officer, Advanced Class, Cavalry School; Student Officer, Command & General Staff School, Eligible List, Instructor, Command & General Staff School, General Staff Corps Eligible List; Instructor, Duty in the Office of the Chief of Cavalry; again Instructor, Command & General Staff School; Military Attache, Ascuncion, Paraguay.

In addition, he spent six years in Guatemala. These six years were probably as fruitful as any like period of his military career; certainly, they were for him the most enjoyable. This service began when, on 8 April 1930, he was detailed as the first Chief of the US Military Mission and Instructor, Guatemalan Army, by President Herbert Hoover under the President's newly initiated "Good Neighbor" policy. there Colonel Considine spent six engrossing years, becoming adviser and confidant of the President, General Jorge Uhico, at whose request he revamped along the lines of West Point the Escuela Politecnica, Guatemala's military academy. he was appointed Brigadier General of the Guatemalan Army, and Commandant of the Escuela Politecnica by General Ubico.

Shortly before World War II, Colonel Considine was assigned to command the 6th Cav at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, which organization he hoped to lead in the approaching conflict. Instead, he was ordered to Australia, where he was assigned to the staff of General MacArthur. Being attached to Australian troops, he participated in the campaign in the Owen Stanley mountains in New Guinea, during which he underwent great physical hardships which resulted eventually in his retirement for pernicious anemia. A notable achievement while commanding the 6th Cav occurred when Colonel Considine received and tested a number of the first jeeps received by the Army. He personally drove these vehicles over every type of road and terrain, and caused the manufactures to change in many details the design of these vehicles. As a result of these changes, jthe jeep became a versatile vehicle of war and peace, and remains to this day a memorial to the genius of this man.

Almost every man has a hobby. Jack was an ardent gun collector and hunter. His prowess with the gun took him early in life to the northern wilds in search of bear and moose. While on a tour of duty in the Philippines, he went to French Indo-China, Borneo and Java in search of big game. There, many of the largest and fiercest animals fell before his expert shooting. In 1919 he was sent as a member of the American Pistol Team to compete in the international matches in Paris.

Invalided home following his service in New Guinea, he was sent as Military Attache to Paraguay. This assignment was cut short when a detached retina, a delayed result of an ammunition blast in New Guinea, sent him to Walter Reed Hospital for an opertation. After duty at Fort Mason, San Francisco, he was retired for physical disability on 30 April 1947. This long list of assignments speaks more forcefully of his military ability than than could any words of mine. Brave, intelligent, loyal, he was imaginative, a first-rate disciplinarian, as quick to praise as he was to rebuke; he had that rare quality of winning the complete love and admiration of those with whom he served. This was John Arthur Considine, the beau ideal of a Cavalry Officer.

But it is not of Colonel Considine of whom I would speak so much as of my friend, Jack Considine, the human being. While we were roommates we had the usual quota of disagreements and even of unreasoning quarrels; but always, sooner or later, good sense intervened to bring us back to the true value of friendship. His father and uncle were infrequent visitors. Their conversations with him were packed with wise and wholesome principles, from which I learned many a bit of good sense.

So the years flowed by

Jack was no 'specoid', he did well in his studies without making too great an effort. His native intelligence and good humor helped him to maintain a creditable record; he could have made a better scholastic record had he not had so much interest in other matters.

We saw each other at Texas City, Texas, where he was Second Lieutenant, 6th Cavalry, and I was Second Lieutenant, 26th Infantry. Soon I resigned and did not see him again until, in July 1916, I was passing through the Big Bend District on my way to Fort Bliss. On that occasion he woke me at about 2:00 o'clock at night, as full of enthusiasm and the joy of life as he had been as a cadet. Then no furthetr meeting with him until he and his family visited Laura and me at our home in South Carolina during the New Deal days He was looking for a place to retire when retirement should come his way.

There followed several visits from them. One cold evening while he was in the Carolina maneuver area he drove in for a bath and supper. His care attention to his orderly and driver, his care to make them fell at home, and his concern for their comfort impressed Laura and illustrated to me why his men were so loyally devoted to him. A few days later he was in the South Pacific.

Early in the 1950s, Laura, our daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, and I had a delightful day with Eloise and Jack and their two sons at their home at Sonoma, California. It was grandto be wtih them; their hospitality the warmth of our welcome and the lovely locale of their home entranced us. In June 1958, Eloise, Jack and their son Mike, spent nearly a week with us at our home in Columbia. It was a true reunion. We picked up where we had left off several years before - no fuss and feathers, but a true and simple friendship. Not again will there be such a friend, whom I loved as if he were my own brother.

I cannot close this account without referring to his family: to his father and uncle whom I knew on the occasions of their visits to Jack at West Point: to his mother and father who so warmly entertained Laura and me on our trip, as a young married cuople to our first post in Alaska; to his first wife Connie, and their two lovely daughters who visited us at our farm home in South Carolina; and lastly, but by no means least, to his widow, Eloise, and their two sons, John and Mike.

-Wyndham M Manning

Cullen number 5161, West Point Class of 1913 Born 10 March 1889 - Died 21 August 1960

Name

Name: John Arthur Considine^[1]

Note

Note: #N232

Data Changed

Data Changed:

Date: 2 APR 2009

Prior to import, this record was last changed 2 APR 2009.

Sources

Colonel John A Considine   Sonoma - Funeral services have been set for 9:30 AM tomorrow in San Francisco for Col John A Considine, 71, a retired cavalry officer who died at his home in Sobre Vista Sunday.   Col Considine was a native of Chicago, Illinois. His military career was a colorful one, including six years as military adviser to the Guatemalan government, reorganization of that country's military academy and during World War II, service in Australia with General Douglas MacArthur's staff.   He had been a resident of Sonoma for five years. He is survived by his wife, Eloise Considine, and his sons, John Thomas and Michael McCleave Considine, all of Sonoma. He is also survived by his daughters, Dorothy 'Tinker' Considine, Camarillo, and Mrs Phillip B Davidson (Jeanne), Paris, France, and his brother, George Considine of San Diego.   He was not the brother of Hearst reporter and columnist Bob Considine as reported in yesterday's paper. Services will be at the Presidio with a requiem mass at 9:30 a.m. at the Chapel of Our Lady. There will be a recitation of the rosary at 8 p.m. today at the Chapel of Bates, Evans, & Fehrensen.

• Memorial Obituary - The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, 23 August 1960

• WikiTree profile Considine-34 created through the import of Davidson_Fink.ged on Sep 26, 2011 by Shayne Davidson. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Shayne and others.

• Source: S90 Type: GEDCOM File Title: Davidson Family Date: March 2009 Submitter: Phillip Buford Davidson III

• New York (State). Adjutant General's Office. Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917–1919. Series B0808. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Emergency Passport Applications, Argentina thru Venezuela, 1906-1925; Collection Number: ARC Identifier 1244183 / MLR Number A1 544; Box #: 4566; Volume #: 182.

• Marriage Certificate, State of Washington, Nr. 39269 and 43057

• Marriage records, select counties and years. California State Archives, Sacramento, California.

• U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962. Interment Control Forms, A1 2110-B. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland.

Notes

Note N232

contracted tropical dysentery early in WW II while in New Guinea. sent back to the US. repaired a detached retina. In 1959 he had a serious heart attack and died in his sleep.

1. ↑ Source: #S90