Lt. Col. Theodore Francis Wickord

    When Headquarters Company was formed, in January, 1941, with soldiers from the four letter companies of the 192nd Tank Battalion,  Capt. Theodore Wickord became the Executive Officer of the battalion.  As a Major, he assumed the command of the 192nd Tank Battalion as it prepared for duty in the Philippine Islands. 

    On December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  Major Wickord lived through the attack on Clark Field.  Having heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor, his tanks had been deployed around the perimeter of the airfield.  This was done to prevent the Japanese from using paratroopers to capture the field.

    When the planes approached the airdield, Wickord took his camera, that he had bought so that he could film his time in the Philippines, and filmed the planes.  He stood like the other men in awe of the planes.  It was only when he saw the bombs falling from the planes, through the magnification of the camera lens,  that the spell was broken.  He threw the camera down and ordered his men into action.

    Sometime around December 21st, Wickord was promoted to Lt. Colonel.  On that day, he was given orders to send a platoon of tanks north to Lingayen Gulf .  As it turned out, the tanks he sent were from B Company his original company of Illinois National Guardsmen.

    Under Lt. Col. Wickord's command, 13 tanks of the 192nd were deployed as the rear guard of the North Luzon Force as it retreated into the Bataan Peninsula.  His battalion was the last American unit to withdraw into the peninsula.  

    During the withdraw into the peninsula, Wickord crossed over the last bridge which was mined and about to be blown.  He wanted to see if all Allied forces had crossed the bridge.  On the other side of the bridge, he discovered a platoon of his tanks parked along the road.   The crews were asleep inside the tanks.  Over the next several months, the battalion fought battle after battle with tanks that were not designed for jungle warfare.  

    For five days, during the Battle of the Anyasan Pocket, American tank forces had attempted to recover a tank as salvage.  It was during this battle that  Lt. Col. Wickord, personally led an effort to recover a tank.

    On February 6, while under heavy fire, Lt Col. Wickord took his own command tank into combat to tow out the disabled tank.  The crew of the tank had been killed and the tank was being used by the Japanese as a hostile strong point.  Lt. Col. Wickord's actions inspired the supporting tank maintenance and tank troops to make the salvage possible.  For his actions on this day, Lt. Col. Wickord received the Silver Star for gallantry in action.

    When Bataan surrendered to the Japanese, Lt. Col. Wickord became a Prisoner of War.  He was aware like the other members of the battalion that the Japanese had promised that the Americans would be loaded onto ships and sent to San Francisco.  Smelling something rotten, he attempted to get his men taken to Manila.  Unfortunately, when the trucks they were riding in stopped, they found themselves at Mariveles at the southern tip of Bataan.  It was from there that Lt. Col. Ted Wickord began what was to become know as the "Bataan Death March."  

    On the march, Lt. Col. Wickord witnessed the kindness and great courage that the Filipino people showed by throwing food to the starving POWs.  The Filipinos would make balls out of rice and throw them to the marchers.  The marchers had to catch the rice balls "just right" or they would disintegrate and the POWs would get nothing to eat.  

    It took Lt. Col. Wickord four days to complete the march and reach San Fernando.  It was there that a Japanese officer told the American prisoners that all American cities had been blown off the face of the map.  The officer would say, "Chicago - boom,  boom! No more!  Detroit -boom, boom! No more! " One prisoner shouted, "Baloney!" The officer answered, "Baloney-boom, boom! No more!"  

     As a POW, Lt. Col. Wickord was first imprisoned at Camp O'Donnell.  While at Camp O'Donnell, he was selected to be the American commanding officer of a work detail that was being sent out to rebuild bridges near the town of Calaun.  Upon arriving in Calaun, the work group was divided into two details of 75 men each.  One detail would build a bridge at Calaun while the other detail would work at a sawmill.  

    Lt. Col. Wickord filled as many of the worker positions on this detail with men of his own battalion to get them out of the Camp O'Donnell.  Since at this time, as many as fifty men a day were dying in the camp, it was his hope that doing this would save some of their lives.  On the detail, he was also given the authority to decide which prisoners were strong enough to work that day and which ones were not strong enough to work.  

    While in command of this detail, one POW assigned to the sawmill detail escaped during the night.  Because of this, Lt. Col. Wickord was informed by the ranking Japanese officer that he was being sent to the sawmill to witness the execution of ten prisoners because the one POW had escaped. 

    The American commanding officer of the sawmill detail was told by the ranking Japanese officer that he had to select ten prisoners for execution. The officer first considered a lottery to select who would die, but later decided that the five men who had slept nearest to the escapee's left or right would be executed.  No matter what decision the officer made, he could not win.

    The morning of the execution all the POWs were silent.  Finally, one of those selected to be executed asked the American commanding officer if there was some way he could stop the execution.  The officer simply said, "No."  Another of the chosen men simply said, "I guess I'll never see Denver again."  Still another of the "selected" POWs was the brother of another POW on the detail.  Even though other POWs offered to take his place, the Japanese would not allow the switch.  The prisoners were offered blindfolds but refused them.  They were lined up next to their grave and shot.

    After the execution, Lt. Col. Wickord was shown the grave and told that he had to tell his men what had been done because one POW had escaped.  He was told to inform his men that if they attempted to escape the same thing would be done to them.  

    As it turned out, a prisoner on the bridge detail attempted to escape.  The man made a break and ran down the main road in Calaun before being stopped by a guard.  The Filipino doctor who provided medical treatment to the Americans convinced the Japanese that the POW was mentally ill and could not be held accountable for his actions.  By doing this, the doctor saved the lives of the ten other prisoners.  The POW who had tried to escape was returned to the main camp.

    After the bridge building was completed at Calaun, the POWs were sent further south to Batangas.  Again, the prisoners rebuilt a bridge that had been destroyed.  There the Sisters of the Good Shepherd invited twelve POWs for a dinner.  The Japanese commanding officer gave his permission and allowed Lt. Col. Wickord to pick the twelve men.  Lt. Col. Wickord picked six Catholic and six Protestant POWs who were the most emaciated.  The thirteen men were allowed to attend this meal with only one guard.

    Again the prisoners were moved to build another bridge.  This time they were moved north to Candelaria.  The prisoners slept in an old coconut mill which was surrounded by fencing.  Again, the Filipino people showed their courage by aiding the prisoners.  Twice a week two Filipinos would bring bread and food to the POWs to supplement their diet.

     When this detail was completed in September of 1942, Lt. Col. Wickord was sent to Cabanatuan and would remain there until November of 1942.  At that time, he was selected to be sent to Japan.  At Manila, he was boarded onto the Japanese "hell ship" Nagato Maru in early November.  On the ship he was reunited with Capt. Ruben Schwass, Lt. Richard Danca, Lt. Tom Savage and Lt. Ben Morin.  It was during this trip that Lt. Richard Danca died and was cremated on Formosa.  Lt. Col. Wickord was given his ashes for safe keeping after the cremation.  But, they would later be lost in a Japanese POW Camp.

    Upon arrival in Japan, Lt. Col. Ted Wickord was assigned to Umeda Bunsho on November 26, 1942.  In August of 1943, he was sent to Zentsuji Camp on Shikoku Island.  There he was reunited with 2nd Lt. Ben Morin of Company B.  Lt. Col. Wickord was next sent to Rokuroshi on Honshu on June 25, 1945.  The POWs there farmed to feed themselves.  He remained a prisoner there until he was liberated at the end of the war. 

    After he was liberated, Lt. Col. Ted Wickord returned to Maywood to his wife and two sons.  Lt. Col. Ted Wickord passed away in October of 1967.

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