Bill Text: IL HR0904 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Recognizes U.S. Army Private First Class Harry Jerele, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II, for making the ultimate sacrifice in service to his State and country.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-11-12 - Resolution Adopted [HR0904 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HR0904-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the Illinois House of
Representatives pays honor and respect to those who have
served our country and State and, in doing so, have made the
ultimate sacrifice; and
WHEREAS, The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
announced that U.S. Army Private First Class Harry Jerele of
Berkeley, who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during
World War II, was accounted for on December 20, 2023; and
WHEREAS, PFC Jerele was born to Leopold Jerele and Mary
Flori-Jerele in Clinton, Iowa on February 1, 1916; he and his
family eventually resettled in Berkeley, Illinois; and
WHEREAS, PFC Jerele was a member of the 33rd Tank Company
of the Illinois National Guard in Maywood; after his unit was
called to federal service on September 1, 1940, he became a
member of the 192nd Tank Battalion, Company B in the U.S. Army,
which included 104 soldiers from Illinois, and was deployed to
the Philippines; and
WHEREAS, In the summer of 1941, PFC Jerele and the 192nd
Tank Battalion were serving in the Philippines when Japanese
forces invaded the country in December 1941; intense fighting

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continued until the surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on April
9, 1942 and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942, leading to
thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members being captured
and interned at POW camps; and
WHEREAS, PFC Jerele was among those reported captured when
U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese; he and
fellow POWs were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March
and then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp, where more than 2,500
POWs perished during the war; and
WHEREAS, According to prison camp and other historical
records, PFC Jerele died on December 28, 1942, and he was
buried along with other deceased prisoners in Common Grave 804
of the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery; and
WHEREAS, Following the war, American Graves Registration
Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the
Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery and relocated the remains to a
temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila; the AGRS
examined the remains in an attempt to identify them in 1947;
while two sets of remains from Common Grave 804 were
identified, the remaining two were declared unidentifiable,
which included those of PFC Jerele; the unidentified remains
were buried as Unknowns at the Manila American Cemetery and
Memorial (MACM); and

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WHEREAS, In early 2020, the remains associated with Common
Grave 804 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory for
analysis; to identify PFC Jerele's remains, scientists from
DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial
evidence; additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
analysis; and
WHEREAS, Although interred as an Unknown in MACM, PFC
Jerele's grave was meticulously cared for by the American
Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) for the past 70 years; and
WHEREAS, PFC Jerele will be buried with full military
honors at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood on
October 4, 2024; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we recognize U.S. Army Private First Class Harry Jerele for
making the ultimate sacrifice in service to his State and
country during World War II; and be it further