Illinois Army National Guard Soldier Laid to Rest at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Nearly 82 Years After His Death in POW Camp

With the thanks of a grateful nation, Illinois Army National Guard Pfc. Harry Jerele was laid to rest with full military honors at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Oct. 4.

Jerele's primary next of kin, his 89-year-old niece, Rosemarie Dillon of Batavia, said the day was a miracle. Dillon was about five years old when her uncle was activated for federal service.

"This is a miracle," said Dillon, Jerele's primary next of kin, about the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's (DPAA) accounting for Jerele's remains. "It's been a long time coming. What a joyous occasion it was to lead our family as he was laid to rest in his home country."

Dillon said the family had been trying for about 10 years to positively identify his remains.

"We were like, did we really hear this right?" Dillon said, of the call the family received of the positive identification of Jerele's remains. "I'm just glad I'm still alive to witness this."

Jerele was serving in Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion, based in Maywood, when the unit was activated for federal service in November 1940. After training stateside, the unit arrived in the Philippines just days before Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor and just hours later, the Philippine Islands.

Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Jerele was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.

They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and then held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 Prisoners of War perished in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Jerele died Dec. 28, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp cemetery in Common Grave 804.

Following the war, the remains of those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery were exhumed and relocated to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. In 1947, the unidentified remains were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as Unknowns.

The Defense Prisoner of War-Missing in Action Accounting Agency announced April 18 Jerele's remains had been accounted for, and on Oct. 1, Jerele's remains were repatriated to his family in a ceremony at O'Hare International Airport.

Dillon said she remembers her uncle as a very quiet man whom she saw on weekends.

"He liked to sing and play guitar," she said. "He was an unassuming man, but he had great friends who joined up with him."

Dillon said the only thing which makes this homecoming bittersweet is her mother and grandmother, Jerele's sister and mother, are no longer alive to welcome him home.

"It's a great feeling to finally accomplish this identification," Dillon said. "I only wish my mother and grandmother were here to witness his homecoming."

Dillon says she can't say enough about DPAA's important work in identifying remains of missing service members.

"It is of utmost importance their work continues," she said. "Years ago, DPAA had to rely on little things that were found with the remains, like dog tags, to help with the identification. Oftentimes, it left families with no real ending. Now that DNA is used, it's amazing. I'm so glad my family and I decided to give DNA samples. It definitely gives us closure."

Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion, included 104 Soldiers from Illinois. The unit experienced 43 casualties during World War II, including 28 who died from diseases, illnesses, and wounds. Seven were killed when aboard various Japanese POW ships, called "Hell ships" by U.S. troops, which sank. Eight were killed in action, and five were declared missing in action.

Headquarters Company, 192nd Tank Battalion, included 31 Soldiers from the Illinois Army National Guard, of which 19 died due to diseases, illness, and wounds, one died aboard a Japanese ship, and one killed in action.

The men of Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion, many from Maywood, were mostly kids from the same high school. In 1940, a federal draft act had passed, and they knew that it was just a matter of time before they would be drafted into the Army. Having heard that the federal government was going to federalize National Guard units for a period of one year of military service, these men decided to join the National Guard to fulfill their military obligation.

Arriving in the Philippine Islands at Manila on Thanksgiving Day, Company B had barely settled in at Clark Field when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor days later. A mere 10 hours after the enemy raid at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese followed with a surprise attack at Clark Field. The attack wiped out the American Army Air Corps, and the first member of the battalion, Pvt. Robert Brooks, of Kentucky, Company D, 192^nd Tank Battalion, was killed during the attack. The main parade ground at Fort Knox, Kentucky, bears his name.

At Lingayen Gulf on Dec. 22, 1941, a platoon of the battalion's tanks engaged enemy tanks for the first time in World War II. Another Soldier died during the engagement and four other Soldiers in the battalion became Prisoners of War. A little under two weeks later, another platoon of 192nd tanks would engage and destroy a platoon of Japanese tanks. For the next few weeks, the members of the battalion fell back toward the Bataan Peninsula with the other Filipino and American troops. At Plaridel, the tankers fought a frantic battle against the Japanese. As they fell back, they were constantly strafed and shelled. Since they had no air force, enemy planes could destroy the tanks at will.

The 192nd Tank Battalion was the last American military unit to enter the Bataan Peninsula just moments before the last bridge into the peninsula was blown up by the engineers. There, they fought without food, without adequate supplies, without medicine, and with only the hope of being reinforced.

Prior to the funeral Oct. 4, Maj. Gen. Rodney Boyd, The Adjutant General of Illinois and Commander of the Illinois National Guard, presented Dillon with a proclamation signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, highlighting Jerele's service and sacrifice. In addition, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Antonio Taguba, chairman, Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project, presented Dillon with a replica of the Filipino veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal, honoring Jerele's service in the Philippines.

During the ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Boyd presented Dillon with the flag which draped Jerele's casket.

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