A Time to Remember Them All By Deb Quantock McCarey


We shall never forget We shall keep this day, We shall keep the events and the tears In our minds, our memory and our hearts and take them with us as we carry on. www.911-remember.com


W


hile this poem aptly pays homage to those lost in the tragedy of 9/11, it also upholds the individual heroism and


bravery that has led Americans to its 10th Anniversary year. Likewise, the sentiment captures the emotions and


experiences of those lost in every war, including the family, friends and survivors who support the ongoing efforts of the Maywood Bataan Day Organization (MBDO) to maintain and honor the memory of soldiers from the 192nd Tank Battalion, who died in, or survived, the Bataan Death March experience. For nearly 70 years now, MBDO has gathered the Village


of Maywood on the second Sunday in September to memorialize its “Company B”, the men of the 192nd Tank Battalion, who served and were lost in the Philippines at the hands of the Japanese in World War II.


MBDO origins… On April, 9, 1942, when Bataan surrendered, the next


day, some 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war, began the Bataan Death March -- a 60-mile trek in tropical heat from Mariveles on the Southern tip of Bataan to San Fernando, where approximately 5,000 to 10,000 Filipinos and between 600 and 700 Americans died. From San Fernando the prisoners were


transported by rail to Capas. They were placed in box cars with each car holding 100 prisoners. Many of the men did not survive. After the Filipino and American POWs reached Capas, they were forced to walk the 9 miles to Camp O’Donnell. Of the nearly 10,000 Americans taken prisoner at Bataan,


between 6,000 and 7,000 lost their lives in Japanese prison camps during their three-and-one-half years of captivity. And, of the 89 men of Maywood’s “Company B” who left


the U.S. in 1942, only 43 soldiers returned home safely. The Bataan Death March and the subsequent events that occurred over that time period were among the most egregious atrocities of the Pacific War. Maywood has a proud tradition of military service,


dramatically illustrated by the fact that over 10% of the population of 30,000 actively served in the military during World War II. Last fall, as has been done every year since 1942, the


Village of Maywood and the Maywood Bataan Day Organization marked yet another Maywood Bataan Day, this time on Sunday, September 12, 2010, says U.S. Army, retired, Col. Richard. A. McMahon, Jr. He is President of the local group, and says the next Memorial Service will be held on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. As always, last year’s 68th Annual Memorial Service was


held at Maywood Veterans Memorial Park. It featured keynote speaker, Illinois Army National Guard Brigadier General Steven P. Huber, the Director of the Joint Staff, Joint Forces Headquarters. Brigadier General Huber rose through the ranks at the nearby Illinois National Guard facility in North Riverside (1st Ave and Cermak Rd.) – 1244th Transportation Co., which is in Maywood’s backyard, adds Edwin H. Walker IV, Vice President of the group and the President/CEO of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce.


Maywood Chamber Of Commerce, P.O. Box 172, (708) 345-7077, www.maywoodchamber.com


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