Hepburn

T/4 Andrew Hepburn was born July 25, 1918, in Northern Ireland to Samuel and Mary Hepburn. With his two brothers, Jack & Sam, he was raised at 2411 Oakton Street in Park Ridge, Illinois. He graduated from Oakton Elementary School and Maine Township High School in Park Ridge, Illinois, in 1936, at the age of fifteen.

Andrew joined the Illinois National Guard's 33rd Tank Company with his high school friends, Jim Bashleben and Willard Von Bergen. In September, 1940, the draft act had been signed into law and all three men wanted to fulfill their one year of military service and get on with their lives. He and his friends decided that joining the tank company was a good idea because riding in a tank sounded better than marching.

In November of 1940, the tank company was federalized as Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion, and Andy went with the company to Fort Knox, Kentucky to train. He then went on maneuvers in Louisiana where the battalion learned that they had been selected for overseas duty. It was at this time that Andy returned home and married.

Andy returned to Camp Polk. His company was given new tanks and other equipment that had been used by the 753rd Tank Battalion. Over three different rail routes, the battalion was sent to Angel Island for preparation for duty in the Philippine Islands.

When war came in with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Andy was stationed at Clark Field. Ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Andy survived the Japanese bombing of Clark Field. As a machine gunner in a tank crew, Andy took part in some of the first engagements of World War II involving American Armor personnel.

For the next four months, Andy would continue to fight to slow the Japanese conquest of the Philippines. On April 9, 1942, Andy became a Prisoner of War when the Filipino and American forces were surrendered.

As a POW, Andy took part in the death march. On the march, he witnessed the cruelty of the Japanese to the prisoners. He was interred at Camp O'Donnell, where he was selected for a work detail to rebuild bridges that had been destroyed by the Americans as they retreated. While on this detail, he became ill and was sent to Bilibid Prison which served as a so called "hospital". On October 18, 1943, Andy died from what was officially reported as pulmonary tuberculosis.

During Christmas 1943, Andy's parents received a Christmas card from him It said:

"Dear Mother, Dad and Fam.,

I hope this finds all of you in best of health. I am doing fine and am in good health. Give my love to Jean (his girlfriend) and family. Regards to relatives and friends Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. "

Reading this card, his parents had no idea that their son had died in a Japanese POW Camp. He had written it a year before they had received it.

In 1949, his family requested that Andrew's remains be returned to the United States from the Philippine Islands. He was reburied at the Town of Maine Cemetery in Park Ridge, Illinois on April 23, 1949. Jim Bashleben, the only one of the three friends to survive the war, attended the funeral.