April 21, 2009

World War II veteran John F. Rogan receives Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award

(MADISON) – In a ceremony during the April 17 meeting of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Madison, Col. John (“Jack”) Rogan of Middleton was presented the Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award for February 2009, as he had been previously unable to attend an awards presentation in February.

Rogan, born in 1926 in New York City, New York and raised in Gortgarn, Northern Ireland and Elmira, New York, relinquished divinity school deferment to be drafted into the U.S. Army on June 29, 1945 for combat training at Camp Wheeler, GA. Following Japan’s surrender he transferred to the Finance Corps and graduated with honors from Officer Candidate School, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army Finance Corps in November 1946.

Over the next 25 years, he served as a Finance Disbursing Officer with the Occupation Forces in Tokyo, Japan, an Artillery Battery Commander, Battalion Operations and Training Officer with the 52nd Artillery Brigade at Fort Hancock, NJ, the Deputy Director of Finance with the U.S. Civil Administration in Naha, Okinawa, the Finance and Accounting Officer at West Point, the Finance and Accounting Officer and a Senior Staff Officer in the Office of the Comptroller with the 8th Army in Seoul, Korea, and as Director of Settlement Operations at the Army Finance Center at Fort Benjamin Harrison. He is a graduate of the Artillery and Guided Missile School at Fort Bliss, the Finance Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benjamin Harrison as honor graduate, Indiana University, with Bachelor and MBA degrees, and the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth.

He completed his career as the youngest Colonel at the Finance Center and in the Finance Corps on July 1, 1970 and was inducted into the Army Finance Corps Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member of the Regiment.

His military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Presidential Certificate of Appreciation, Department of the Army Certificate of Appreciation, National Defense Service Medal, with Oak Leaf Cluster, WWII Victory Medal, Army Campaign Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Service Medal.

Following his military career, he was the Wisconsin State Finance Director for 13 years, serving five different Governors; during that time, he was President of the National Association of State Auditors Comptrollers and Treasurers, a member of the National Council on Governmental Accounting and the Council on State Governments and National State Comptroller’s Association, and he also played a key role in the establishment of the new Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the State Employees Combined Campaign for Charities.

Over the past 38 years, Rogan has been a volunteer with the Catholic Diocese of Madison, serving as a member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council, Diocesan Appeals Committee, Holy Name Seminary Advisory Board, Diocesan Finance Council, Saint Raphael Society Board, Diocesan Corporate Board, and the Diocesan Cemeteries Board. He served a four-year term on the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ National Advisory Council and is a member of the Order of St. Gregory the Great and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and he has served the St. Bernard Catholic Parish of Middleton in a variety of lay leadership pastoral capacities for many years.

Rogan is a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He and his wife, Ann, are the parents of nine children.

Rogan is a member and past president of the Madison Serra Club and was recognized as Serran of the Year in 2004. He is a member of various military, civic, and professional organizations. In 1993 he was one of four Vietnam-era veterans honored by Vietnam Veterans of America for outstanding community achievements since leaving military service.

The Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes living veterans who have compiled a record of exemplary service as a military service member, a veteran, and a citizen during the veteran’s lifetime.

Rogan is the seventh recipient of the Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Board, through a subcommittee consisting of three board members, appointed by the Board Chair, selects the recipients. Nominations are accepted from any Wisconsin resident and the Board especially encourages submissions from Wisconsin veterans, veterans service organizations, county veterans service officers and other veterans groups.

There are up to six annual awards. Nominations may be submitted at any time during the year, but no later than the 15th of the month preceding the month of a Board meeting at which the presentation is to be made. For more information about the award, to include previous recipients, go to www.WisVets.com/BoardAward or call WDVA toll-free 1-800-WIS-VETS (947-8387).