Berkeley in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Berkeley Roll of Honor

For God and Country

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, June 4, 2025

1. Berkeley Roll of Honor Marker

Inscription. Donald G. Jaden • Albert H. Gastreich • Richard W. Bauer • Roswell A. Viall • Cornelius G. Lee • Norman N. Mc Lean • Louis J. La Rocca • Milton G. Stapleman • J. P. Mullarkey • Theodore G. Wolff • Harvey M. Karlen • Henry J. Dubsky • Williard F. Faulhaber • Paul O. Lorenz • Paul B. Darnell • Theodore D. Darnell • Mitchell E. O'Bradovich • Arthur J. Bauer • John Olar • Aurel Olar • Frank A. Wayne • Jack Klees • George J. McCaffrey • Harold A. Seidel • Charles H. Scherenberg • Harry L. Casino • Arthur Johnson • Joseph F. Novotny • Stanley E. Scherenberg • Gordon V. Spencer • Robert G. Boss • Eugene U. Weiss • John F. Bozovsky • Leroy Darnell • Robert O. O'Bradovich • Edmon Quenneville • Beryl S. Jaden • Elmer J. Wiegrefe • Donald H. Mc Lean • Sherman T. Schereberg • Samuel Olar • Steve Basich, Jr. • Matthew E. Koeppel • Earl E. Spencer

And some gave all Harry Jerele • Norman F. Spencer • George R. Morris • James Kauba • Howard Rohde • Charles W. Speechley • James T. Lee • Donald McDermott

[Text on the rear:]
Original Dedication: December 20th, 1942 Invocation:

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Father Weihl Address By Village President: Fred Faulhaber Re-dedication: July 4th, 2024 Invocation: Marianne Quednau* Address by Village President: Robert E. Lee Jr.

*American Legion Post 1016

Erected 2024 by Village of Berkeley.

Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Patriots & Patriotism • War, World II.

Location. 41° 52.94′ N, 87° 54.804′ W. Memorial is in Berkeley, Illinois, in Cook County. It is at the intersection of Taft Avenue and Electric Avenue, on the left when traveling north on Taft Avenue. The memorial is next to the Prairie Path, which runs east-west through Berkeley, and across the street from Berkeley's village hall. Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: Berkeley IL 60163, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in Greater Chicago.

It is also in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Berkeley Veterans Memorial (here, next to this marker); Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.4 miles away); Mater Dolorosa Seminary (approx. 0.4 miles away); a different marker also named Veterans Memorial

Berkeley Roll of Honor rear image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, June 4, 2025

2. Berkeley Roll of Honor rear

The rear compares details of the 1942 dedication of a veterans memorial in Berkeley with this one erected on July 4, 2024.

(approx. half a mile away); Bohlander (approx. half a mile away); Old Settlers' Cemetery (approx. half a mile away); a different marker also named Veterans Memorial (approx. half a mile away); Darmstadt Farm (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Berkeley.

More about this memorial. The memorial was erected in honor of Berkeley's 100th anniversary as a village on July 4, 2024, and it is placed next to a 1971 memorial, etched as "Berkeley Veterans Memorial," which has no names on it. The back of this new memorial compares its 2024 dedication with an "original" dedication that occurred in 1942. However, there was no evidence of this earlier memorial when the site was visited in 2023, nor is it observed on archived Google Street View images going back to 2011.

Regarding Berkeley Roll of Honor. Of the eight Berkeley men who died in service and are listed at the bottom

Berkeley Roll of Honor image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, June 4, 2025

3. Berkeley Roll of Honor

A 1971 veterans memorial is to the left; in the background on the right is Berkeley Village Hall.

of this memorial across from Berkeley Village Hall, six died during World War II. Harry Jerele and Norman Spencer were members of the 192nd Tank Battalion, part of a unit that was based in nearby Maywood prior to the war and during the war was forced to suffer the Bataan Death March. Both of them died of disease contracted while prisoners of war. George Morris died in plane crash off the Florida coast in 1942, and Charles Speechly died in a plane crash over France in 1943. James T. Lee was a member of the Army Air Corps who died in September 1944 when the B-25 bomber he was flying in crashed into the side of a mountain. Howard Rohde went missing and was presumed dead at sea when two oil tankers collided off the Florida coast in 1943.

The other two servicemen died in peacetime accidents. Airman 3rd Class Donald McDermott was a passenger on a T-33 trainer jet that took off from Glenview Naval Air Station north of Chicago on November 26, 1959, en route for Waco, Texas. Air traffic controllers lost radio contact with the plane nine minutes after takeoff. The plane was never found and was presumed to have crashed into Lake Michigan. James Kauba

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, June 4, 2025

4. Berkeley Roll of Honor

Berkeley's village hall can be see on the far left in the background.

(his name may have been Kouba) is believed to have died while serving in the Air Force in 1981, but details of his death could not be found.

Harry Jerele was in the news in 2024 after his body was successfully identified more than 80 years after his death. Jerele survived the Bataan Death March but contracted pneumonia while on a prison detail. He died in a hospital on December 28, 1942, according to Japanese prison records obtained by the government after the war. While the location of his body's burial was known, Jerele lacked military dental records and, as a result, could not be positively identified. His body and that of one other man who could not be identified were eventually buried as unknown soldiers in the American cemetery in Manila. Finally in 2023, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, using DNA sent by his family, was able to positively identify his body. His remains were flown back to Chicago on October 1, 2024, and buried three days later at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois.

Also see . . . Pfc. Harry Jerele. From the Bataan Project (Submitted on June 8, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

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Credits. This page was last revised on April 28, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 8, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 187 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on June 8, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. 2. submitted on June 9, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. 3. submitted on June 8, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. 4. submitted on June 9, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.