Alumni Association honors military career of '53 graduate

Author: Shannon Roddel

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James J. McMonagle, a decorated combat leader inVietnamand 1953 University of Notre Dame graduate, will receive the Rev. William Corby, C.S.C., Award during a halftime ceremony at the Notre Dame-Navy football game Saturday (Nov. 8).

The Corby Award is presented annually by the Notre Dame Alumni Association to a graduate who has distinguished himself or herself in military service.

During his 35-year active-duty career, McMonagle served inKorea,LebanonandVietnam, where he held major combat command positions with the Third Marine Division.He was awarded the Legion of Merit with Combat V and a Gold Star.

McMonagle held a full range of military staff positions and directed a variety of training and development courses and programs.His career included three roles as commanding general?atCamp Pendleton,Calif., the First Marine Expeditionary Force, and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot atParris Island,S.C.Also a director of personnel, McMonagle received the Distinguished Service Medal when he retired in 1988.

McMonagle has served as an advisor for several law firms in military personnel cases and a volunteer for an outreach program that provides manual labor to improve the quality of life for children in the Nazareth Orphanage inTecate,Mexico.In addition, he is a trustee for Devil Pups Inc., a non-profit Marine Corps youth summer program atCampPendleton.

McMonagle and his wife, Carol, reside inVista,Calif., and have three sons who also are Notre Dame graduates.

The Corby Award was established in 1985 in honor of Notre Dame’s third president, who was a celebrated Civil War chaplain of the Union army’s Irish Brigade.

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