Lieutenant Colonel James J Macken 1897 - 1980
(Ballindine Post, Issue 10, Dec. '94)
Last June many old soldiers made a sentimental journey to the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the landing of the Allied Forces during the fateful days of the liberation of France in June 1944. They were the lucky ones. Tens of thousands died during the invasion itself and many more from wounds and scars in the intervening years. The success of the combined effort of the Allied Forces was due mainly to the timing and very detailed planning that went into it for days and weeks beforehand. Many Irish people took part. Among them was Lt. James J. Macken from Carranurlaur, Ballindine.
James, or Seamus, as his friends called him, was the eldest of six sons in a family of nine, born to John and his wife Bridget Quinn from Irishtown, in Illaune village on July 8, 1897. As a child he walked the five miles to and from school in Milltown along the newly constructed railway line.
Being an energetic youth he left school early around 1911 and became a labourer working on farms and in the Clare drainage scheme. Later on June 8, 1915 he left Ballindine Railway Station destined for England. He worked with his father on a farm near Oldham in Lancashire and later near Kirks-Dogdyke in Lincolnshire. The work was hard - mowing and harvesting by piece-work, but the money was relatively good - £40 for a job. Because he was young and healthy with a keen intelligence he feared that he would be conscripted into the British Army so he returned home with eyes set on America.
On November 2, 1915 along with forty two others he left Ballindine Station bound for Liverpool where he boarded the St. Louis liner and arrived in New York on November 10, 1915. Ironically it was because he went to the U.S. that he joined the army and was sent along with the New York 77th Division to Chateau Thierry, France in July 1918. He was awarded the Silver Star for bravery.
Having survived that dreadful war he returned to New York where he worked in a shipyard in 1919 and later with the Sheffield Farms Milk Company until 1924. At night he studied at the Dewitt Clinton High School on 10th Avenue. Then he worked with the McGovern Brothers Real Estate and Travel Bureau organising excursions. Being a fervent catholic he joined a pilgrimage to the Eucharist Congress in Dublin in 1932. Afterwards he enjoyed a short holiday with his parents and family.
On returning to the U.S. he moved to Washington where he worked as a clerk in the House of representatives and later in the Department of Justice. Being a man of keen intelligence with an almost photographic memory he turned his mind to the study of law and graduated from Columbia University in 1935 with a Master of Law degree.
By now it was time for him to settle down, so on October 4, 1936 he married Florence Duffy, a grand-niece of Charles Gavan Duffy. They married in Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Brooklyn. His best man was his neighbour and friend Anthony Coyne and the bridesmaid was another neighbour Ellen Walsh. He continued to work in Washington at the Department of Justice dealing mainly with the records of Congress. Being a real extrovert with a great memory for names and events he revelled in the hustle and bustle of the political and social life in the U.S. Capital. But it was not to last for long. Soon he was recalled to active military service destined for Europe now in the throes of World War II.
On Christmas Day 1943 along with hundreds of other soldiers he bade a tearful farewell to his wife Florence, his brothers Martin and John and boarded a liner in New York bound for Europe. He was assigned to England where he became Port Security Office in Plymouth. Later he was assigned to intelligence work and cryptography in Southampton until June 1944. A Captain by now, he was sent to France arriving at Utah beach. He took up duty, again at intelligence work this time at the Command Head Quarters in Paris.
While accompanying the 9th army at Ausa Lorraine he narrowly escaped death when a shell exploded near his jeep killing his companions. In recognition of his bravery and outstanding services in the cause of freedom and peace he was promoted to Major and later to Lieutenant Colonel and awarded the much coveted Purple Heart decoration.
When the war was over with a grateful heart he returned home to visit his prayerful parents and family for a very welcome rest in Carranurlaur. Soon he returned again to Washington where he worked in the Department of Justice until 1954. Then he transferred to New York where he became a Director of the Bureau of Marshals in the Department of Investigation until 1965. During all that time he was especially active in procuring compensation and pensions for war widows and their families both in Ireland and the U.S. He retired on January 1st, 1965 and regularly visited Ireland while his health permitted.
Gifted with a tremendous sense of humour and a powerful voice, he was a great talker and seemed to have an endless supply of jokes and anecdotes. Apart from some general memoirs of his war experiences he was understandably loath to talk in any detail about what he had been through.
To the end he remained a devout catholic and throughout his life had helped many immigrants to process their papers and make a new beginning in the U.S.
His long and varied career faded away on January 1, 1980. He is buried at the Veterans' Memorial Park in Queens, New York. May he rest in peace.
For more article from the Ballindine Post and information on ordering see the Ballindine Post home page.
