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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Ann M. Cameron: Monaghan statue a monument to his character

By Ann M. Cameron For The Spokesman-Review

My grandmother was one of John Robert Monaghan’s sisters. Agnes Isabel Monaghan was born in Spokane in 1891. All six of her children, including my mother, were born in Spokane. Agnes and her husband, George Kronenberg (also a Spokane native), settled in Southern California but she returned home to Spokane for every birth. How she must have loved Spokane to travel all that way so her children would be born there, at her birthplace, beautiful Spokane. Her family home sits on Gonzaga’s campus as a music hall. John Robert, a member of Gonzaga’s first graduating class, was an accomplished musician, playing both piano and violin. Family, faith, education and hard work; these were the cornerstones of the Monaghan family.

The monument is a gift from the city of Spokane. John Robert Monaghan was the first “son of Spokane” to enter the military as urged by Sen. John L. Wilson, but more significantly, he was the firstborn son of Irish immigrants. My great-grandfather, James Monaghan, desired that he take his place in the family business, not enter the military. John Robert took the exams to satisfy his father’s curiosity. His scores had him accepted to both West Point and Annapolis. Generously, he chose Annapolis so a friend could take the desired spot at West Point. Recognizing the loss suffered by the Monaghan family and Spokane itself, the statue was commissioned. It is a memorial to a kind, self-sacrificing man and a gesture of empathy from the city. The relationship of the two is perhaps captured best by the grieving father, James Monaghan,

“To Our Friends and Neighbors and the Press of Spokane:

At a time when the keenness of our great sorrow for the loss of our dear son and brother has somewhat abated, we come with our hearts still full of the deepest emotion to tender our heartfelt and sincere thanks to all for the great kindness and sympathy expressed in so many ways to us in our sad bereavement.

“If anything could comfort us that humanity in its highest form could offer, surely we ought to be consoled. Nothing could exceed the tenderness of sympathy expressed in the flood of consolatory messages and letters that came to us from everywhere, as well as from our home, to help us to bear our great affliction….”

Obviously, the monument was never intended to be a political statement. Anyone looking at the plaque and knowing the history can see that profound artistic license was taken. Indeed, the Samoans look African and the weapons are all wrong. John Robert was shot – shot with rifles supplied to the Samoans by the Germans, the British and the Americans, ironically. As for the wording “savage foe” which seems to offend people, it is my understanding that it refers to the Samoan custom of severing of the heads of their dead enemies after the fight and carrying them as trophies at the head of a procession to present them to their chiefs. John Robert’s body was desecrated in this manner, as were those of Lt. Philip Lansdale – his unit commander – and Lt. Angel H. Freeman, RN, in general charge of the expedition and specific charge of the British forces.

It is one thing to lose a fine young man, it is quite another to see his body treated in such a manner. The word is appropriate to the event as defined by Webster’s Dictionary meaning “cruel; barbarous; fierce; ferocious; inhuman; brutal.” It was undeniably cruel and brutal. Remembering the past does not condone it. If we erase our history, how do future generations learn from it?

Above all, the monument is about honoring character. Firsthand accounts from those who knew John Robert before his time in the Navy and during it, attest that he was a kind young man, “modest and reserved,” and a faithful friend. Orders were given to retreat; his superior officer and friend was mortally wounded and begged him to stay. John Robert remained by his side, to his own demise. Parents might make such a sacrifice for their children but very few people would make it for a friend. While I hope to never meet that choice, I pray God gives me the courage to walk in John Robert’s footsteps if faced with it.