Maywood Bataan Day Organization

Maywood Bataan Day Organization Welcome from the President of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization and the Board of Directors.

Shared by Jim Opolony. Here's how the folks in Brainerd, Minnesota, continue to honor the memory of their heroes of Bata...
11/11/2024

Shared by Jim Opolony. Here's how the folks in Brainerd, Minnesota, continue to honor the memory of their heroes of Bataan and Corregidor.

We pray that soon, Maywood, Illinois, will once again do the same.

"The Boys of Bataan" is a powerful documentary that delves into the experiences of the young men from Brainerd, Minnesota, who served in the 194th Tank Battalion, Company A during World War II.

New coverage of the return of PFC Harry Jerele (HQ Co., 192nd Tank Battalion) to the US 83 years after he left for Bataa...
11/09/2024

New coverage of the return of PFC Harry Jerele (HQ Co., 192nd Tank Battalion) to the US 83 years after he left for Bataan.

Learn more about Jerele at the Bataan Project website: https://bataanproject.com/jerele-pfc-harry/

Welcome home PFC Jerele. We remember Bataan! RIP!

The remains of a World War II prisoner of war were returned home to the Chicago area Tuesday. NBC Chicago's Charlie Wojciechowski reports.

The Board of Directors of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization extends our sympathies to the family of Karen Yarbrough, a...
04/12/2024

The Board of Directors of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization extends our sympathies to the family of Karen Yarbrough, as well as all of those who knew and loved her. Karen has been a champion for veterans throughout her life, and her commitment to the Maywood Bataan Day Organization and its mission to hold sacred the memory of the brave heroes of Maywood in WWII was very important to us. Godspeed, Mrs. Yarbrough. Thank you for all your years of service.

View Karen A. Yarbrough's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

Funeral Service details for VP Major Edwin H. Walker IV:Visitation 4-7 PM Friday, Jan 12th at St. Innocent’s Church1 N 0...
01/09/2024

Funeral Service details for VP Major Edwin H. Walker IV:

Visitation 4-7 PM Friday, Jan 12th at St. Innocent’s Church
1 N 075 Woods Ave, Carol Stream, IL 60188 Stream, IL;

Panikhida at 7 PM

Funeral Service 10 AM Saturday, Jan 13th at St. Innocent’s

Burial at Rock City Cemetery immediately following funeral

Funeral expense donations can be made here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fundraising-for-saint-innocent-orthodox-church

01/07/2024

We have just learned that Major Edwin Walker passed away at Hines Hospital in Maywood, Illinois, yesterday afternoon. We wish to extend our sympathies to Major Walker's loved ones and friends at this time of sorrow. Major Walked was the driving force that sustained our efforts to memorialize the men of the 192nd Tank Battalion from Maywood, Illinois for all these years and his loss will be severly felt.

May he rest in peace.

Learn more here, including how you can help with funeral expenses:

Due to a decision by the Village of Maywood to schedule a village festival on the same traditional weekend that Maywood ...
09/11/2023

Due to a decision by the Village of Maywood to schedule a village festival on the same traditional weekend that Maywood Bataan Day was celebrated for more than 75 years, we have had to, unfortunately, temporarily cease our in-person memorial services. At this point, our attempts to reclaim that date for our memorial service have been unsuccessful.

The second Sunday in September was the date selected for the first Maywood Bataan Day in 1942. Until the pandemic lockdown, that was the date we marked the heroic immortal memory of the men who marched through the streets of Maywood to a waiting train and their date with destiny in the jungles of Bataan and Corregidor.

Unlike nearly all other memorials that used to mark the memories of WWII, Maywood Bataan Day continued to be a day of pride and honor in Maywood long after the return of the few survivors of the infamous Death March, the years of captivity as prisoners of war, and eventually slave labor in Japan. Maywood remembered their heroic sons as symbols of all that was exceptional about America. It was one of the last such memorial services and regularly drew crowds in the hundreds, including citizens, family members, officials, and celebrities.

Today, the WWII Stuart tank still stands at Veterans Park on the corner of 1st Ave. and Oak St. in Maywood. We thank the Village for their continued commitment to maintaining this sacred space in honor of these heroic men and look forward to a time when we can again gather to tell their story and keep our promise to them that we will keep their memory immortal.

REMEMBER BATAAN!

Video with sound from the 1980 Maywood Bataan Day parade. Video courtesy of Jesse Jones. Edited and digitized by Steve Gibson.For more information about Mayw...

The Board of Directors of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization is sad to announce that longtime MBDO Board Member Estrell...
11/03/2022

The Board of Directors of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization is sad to announce that longtime MBDO Board Member Estrella Alamar passed away on October 23, 2022. The Board is thankful for her important service and the giving of her time to ensure that the Filipino community in the Chicagoland area was aware of our efforts to celebrate and remember all of the heroes of Bataan and Corregidor....

https://mbdo.org/estrella-alamar-1936-2022/

The Board of Directors of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization is sad to announce that longtime MBDO Board Member Estrella Alamar passed away on October 23, 2022.

09/11/2022

Due to circumstances beyond our control, this year's Maywood Bataan Day celebration has been cancelled. We look forward to next year's Bataan Day Memorial on September 10' 2023.

Remember Bataan!

This evening, we received information that Pat Besaw, longtime Board member and Secretary of the MBDO has passed away. W...
05/26/2022

This evening, we received information that Pat Besaw, longtime Board member and Secretary of the MBDO has passed away. We offer our condolences to her friends and family on the loss of Pat. May God bless her and her loved ones in this time of grief. More details as we receive them.

https://mbdo.org/in-memory-of-pat-besaw/

This evening, we received information that Pat Besaw, longtime Board member and Secretary of the MBDO has passed away. We offer our condolences to her friends and family on the loss of Pat. May God bless her and her loved ones in this time of grief. More details as we receive them.

The MBDO wishes to thank Mindy Kotler for her unceasing efforts to immortalize the legacy of the heroes of Bataan and Co...
04/21/2022

The MBDO wishes to thank Mindy Kotler for her unceasing efforts to immortalize the legacy of the heroes of Bataan and Corregidor. Her most recent efforts resulted in the following statement presented by Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Please read her statement, presented on the floor of the Senate, as she details the heroism of the men of Maywood in the war that began that same day in the Philippines....

https://mbdo.org/in-memory-of-lucille-w-sylvester-2/

12/7/2021 - Sen. Duckworth remembers the men of Maywood and the Bataan Death March.

Something made me recall the memory of Lucille Wallingsford Sylvester. In 2008, Pastor Eliot Winbush told us the story o...
08/28/2021

Something made me recall the memory of Lucille Wallingsford Sylvester. In 2008, Pastor Eliot Winbush told us the story of how Lucille, living in Maywood during WWII, was inspired by the epic heroism of the men of the 192nd Tank Battalion to write a tribute to those men. Lucille, born in 1917, was 91 when she performed her song live for us at Bataan Day 2008....

https://mbdo.org/in-memory-of-lucille-w-sylvester/

Something made me recall the memory of Lucille Wallingsford Sylvester. In 2008, Pastor Eliot Winbush told us the story of how Lucille, living in Maywood during WWII, was inspired by the epic heroism of the men of the 192nd Tank Battalion to write a tribute to those men. Lucille, born in 1917, was 91...

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Board of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization has decided to postpone this y...
08/19/2021

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Board of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization has decided to postpone this year's event until September 11, 2022. At that time, we will mark the 80th anniversary of the first Maywood Bataan Day. Please stay safe. We look forward to seeing all of our friends next year! Attached is an official press release. Feel free to download and share this. MBDO Press Release 2021

https://mbdo.org/maywood-bataan-day-2021-postponed/

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Board of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization has decided to postpone this year’s event until September 11, 2022. At that time, we will mark the 80th anniversary of the first Maywood Bataan Day. Please stay safe. We look forward to seeing all of our frie...

President Richard McMahon and the rest of the Board of Directors are proud to welcome Kimyada Wellington to the Maywood ...
06/07/2021

President Richard McMahon and the rest of the Board of Directors are proud to welcome Kimyada Wellington to the Maywood Bataan Day Organization board of Directors. Kimyada brings several years of public service as a Village of Maywood Trustee to the board and is proud to have served our state and country as a member of the Illinois National Guard for more than 20 years....
https://mbdo.org/new-board-member-kimyada-wellington/

President Richard McMahon and the rest of the Board of Directors are proud to welcome Kimyada Wellington to the Maywood Bataan Day Organization board of Directors. Kimyada brings several years of public service as a Village of Maywood Trustee to the board and is proud to have served our state and co...

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100 Oak Street
Maywood, IL
60153

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The Origins of Maywood Bataan Day

The Origins of Maywood's Bataan Day and The Maywood Bataan Day Organization

They were barely more than kids, only in their teens and early twenties. Their buddies from Proviso High School called them "Weekend Warriors". They were members of the 33rd Tank Company, 33rd Infantry Division of the Illinois National Guard based at the Armory in Maywood, Illinois. In September 1940, the Draft Act had been passed and selected National Guard Units were called into active duty to prepare for the possibility of entering the war in Europe. The 33rd Tank Company was organized May 3, 1929 at Maywood, Illinois and was inducted into active Federal service as Company “B” of the 192nd Tank Battalion on November 25, 1940.

One hundred twenty-two of these men left the Armory at Madison Street and Greenwood Avenue in Maywood to board a Northwestern Railroad train which took them to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where Company B joined Company A from Janesville, Wisconsin. Company C from Port Clinton, Ohio, and Company D from Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to form the 192nd Tank Battalion.

After further training and participating in Louisiana maneuvers, the 192nd Tankers were at Camp Polk, Louisiana, to be fully equipped for overseas shipping. In October of 1941, 89 men of the original Company "B" left the United States for the Philippine Islands. They arrived in Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands on November 20, 1941 — Thanksgiving Day. From the port area, they went to Clark Field on Luzon, 60 miles to the north of Manila.