John French Conklin (April 20, 1891 – January 25, 1973) was an American brigadier general, who served most of his career in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

. During the World War II, Conklin served as

Chief Engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "Chief" or "ChEng", is the most senior licensed mariner (engine officer) of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that departmen ...

, Third U.S. Army.

Early years

John French Conklin was born on April 20, 1891, at

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, as a son of Army Colonel, John Conklin and Rosalie French. He came from the family with a long military tradition, because his maternal grandfather was Union major general William H. French and also maternal uncle was major general John Clem. Young John followed his family tradition and upon completing of the high school in May 1911, he received an appointment to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

. During his time at the academy, he reached the rank of cadet lieutenant and also was an expert rifleman. Conklin graduated with

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree on June 12, 1915, as a part of "

the class the stars fell on "The class the stars fell on" is an expression used to describe the class of 1915 at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. In the United States Army, the insignia reserved for generals is one or more stars. Of the 164 gradu ...

", where many of his classmates became distinguished general officers later, including

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

Omar Bradley Omar Nelson Bradley (12 February 1893 – 8 April 1981) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He wa ...

, Joseph T. McNarney,

James Van Fleet General (United States), General James Alward Van Fleet (19 March 1892 – 23 September 1992) was a United States Army officer who served during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised i ...

, Henry Aurand, John W. Leonard, Joseph May Swing, Stafford LeRoy Irwin, Vernon Prichard, Vernon Evans, Charles W. Ryder, Albert W. Waldron, Paul J. Mueller, Leland Hobbs, Leroy H. Watson, Roscoe B. Woodruff and many others. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers on the date of his promotion and attached to the 2nd Battalion of Engineers, with whom he served on the Mexican Border during the

Pancho Villa Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, US Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the para ...

until April 1917. Shortly before his departure, Conklin married Marguerite Heard, a daughter of Major General John W. Heard, USMA Class of 1883 and

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient. He was subsequently appointed an instructor and assistant adjutant of the Officers Training Camp at

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and remained in that capacity for the duration of World War I.

Interwar period

Following the World War I, Conklin completed the courses at

Command and General Staff School The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

, in 1927 and at Army War College in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1934 and served as an instructor in the Department of Civil and Military Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1923–1924 and later as company commander with engineers units. During that period he reached the rank of major. Following his promotion, Conklin returned to West Point in 1931 and served as assistant professor in the Department of Natural and Experimental Philosophy mid-1934. In July 1934, Conklin was appointed District Engineer, U.S. Engineers Office in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

, and remained in that capacity until he was attached to the 11th Engineer Regiment in July 1937. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1936, and assumed command of the regiment at the end of September 1937. Conklin was then transferred to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, where he served as District Engineer, U.S. Engineers Office until June 1941.

World War II

Conklin was subsequently appointed corps engineer, I Armored Corps and was promoted to the rank of colonel in December 1941. He served in this capacity under famous general George S. Patton during desert maneuvers in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in order to prepare the corps for deployment to

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. Conklin landed near

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

during the

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

on November 8, 1942, and participated in the combat operations against

Afrika Korps The German Africa Corps (, ; DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its Africa ...

with additional duty as chief engineer, Western Task Force. He distinguished himself in that capacities and was decorated with the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

by General Patton. He was ordered back to the United States in January 1943 and assumed duty as army engineer, U.S. Third Army under Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges. Conklin sailed with Third Army to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in December of that year and when General Patton assumed command of the Army in January 1944, he remained in his previous capacity and took part in the intensive training until mid-1944. Conklin sailed for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the end of July 1944 and participated consecutively in the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

, Lorraine Campaign,

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

and the advance to Germany and Czechoslovakia. He was promoted to brigadier general on January 7, 1945, and received several decorations for his service in European Theater from 1944 to 1945. Conklin received the

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

and

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

and also was decorated with Legion of Honor, rank Chevalier by the Government of

and with Belgian and French ''Croix de guerres'' with Palm.

Postwar service

Following the occupation duty in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Conklin returned to the United States in December 1945 and assumed duty as commanding general, Replacement Training Center at Fort Lewis, Washington. He remained in that capacity until March 1947, when he was appointed Chief of Personnel Division, Office of the Chief of Engineers under Lieutenant General Raymond A. Wheeler. In mid-May 1949, Conklin was ordered to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and assumed duty as civil property custodian, Far East Command under General of the Army

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

. He served in that capacity until mid-1951, when he was ordered back to the United States and retired from active duty. Brigadier General John F. Conklin died on January 25, 1973, at

Sibley Memorial Hospital Sibley Memorial Hospital is a non-profit hospital located in The Palisades neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and is licensed by the District of Columbia D ...

He is buried at United States Military Academy Post Cemetery with his first wife, Marguerite Heard Conklin (1893–1929). They were married in April 1917 at

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Established in 1848, the fort was renamed in 1854 to honor William Wallace Smith Bliss, Bvt.Lieut.Colonel William W.S. Bliss (1815–1853 ...

, Texas. She was the daughter of Brigadier General John W. Heard. They had one adopted son, John Heard Conklin who died in 1971, and three grandchildren. After his first wife's death, Conklin married Helen DeWitt Duff in 1931. They lived in the Westmoreland Hills section of

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, after his retirement.

Decorations

Here is Brigadier General Conklin's ribbon bar:

References

External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conklin, John French 1891 births 1973 deaths People from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas United States Military Academy alumni Graduates of the United States Military Academy Class of 1915 Military personnel from Kansas United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel United States Army personnel of World War I United States Military Academy faculty United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army War College alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army generals of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Knights of the Legion of Honour American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) American recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) United States Army generals Mass media people from Bethesda, Maryland Burials at West Point Cemetery