Sunday, Sept. 29 marks the 125th anniversary of the first Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post in the United States.
Naperville’s local VFW, Judd Kendall Post 3873, has now been running 80 years strong itself. This Thursday, it will commemorate the national anniversary, while also celebrating its own rich history.
Origin story of the national VFW
The VFW got its start in the fall of 1899, when 13 Spanish-American War veterans gathered in Columbus, Ohio, to discuss how they could help their fellow veterans and the families of those who died during the conflict.
Their solution was creating the American Veterans of Foreign Service, known today as the VFW.
The founders’ mission lives on at nearly 6,000 VFW posts, made up of 1.4 million veterans and auxiliaries from overseas conflicts.
“(The founders thought) how do we create some kind of organization that is going to make sure that veterans going forward for years and years and generations are taken care of medically, mentally, and the fact that they created the VFW and what it is today is remarkable,” said Staci Boyer, the Commander of Naperville’s Judd Kendall VFW Post 3873
Boyer oversees 700 members of the local post, named after a Naperville native and World War I hero.
Who was Judd Kendall?
28-year-old Oliver “Judd” Kendall enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 to fight in World War I. He was assigned to the U.S. Army Engineer School and rose to the rank of first lieutenant.
Kendall led a party onto the battlefield a few nights before the Battle of Cantigny to prepare the site for U.S. troops, who were new to trench warfare. While out on patrol, it is assumed Judd Kendall was taken prisoner by the German Army.
“At one point, Judd Kendall heard a noise and asked one of the privates in the group to come with him to investigate,” Jennifer Bridge, curator of exhibits and interpretation at Naper Settlement said in 2018. “And then he told the private to stay back and wait for him and the private saw Judd Kendall move off into the distance and then he heard a noise that sounded like some equipment being dropped. And then he heard nothing and Kendall did not return. So it was assumed he had been taken prisoner by the Germans.”
His capture did not bode well for the U.S. Army. As an officer, Kendall was aware of the battle plans for Cantigny. If the Germans could force him to give up intelligence, it could mean thousands of lives lost.
Kendall did not divulge any information, and the Battle of Cantigny became the U.S. Army’s first victory in the war. Months later, Kendall’s body was found buried behind enemy lines.
In a letter to Kendall’s mother, Captain Shipley Thomas wrote that if Kendall had given away intelligence, 12,000 American lives could have been lost.
The Naperville VFW opened in 1944, and its 31 founding members named the post in Kendall’s honor.
Lobbying done by Naperville VFW members in the 1990s led to Kendall posthumously being awarded the Purple Heart, Silver Star, and the French Croix de Guerre.
Volunteers support Judd Kendall VFW
Since its inception, volunteers have played a pivotal role at the Naperville VFW…such as Mike Rechenmacher, who cuts the grass and helped paint the building’s hallway, and Dennis Lukavsky, who helps Naperville Vietnam veterans receive Agent Orange exposure and disability compensation.
“Those people are giving of themselves, they’re giving their time,” Boyer said. “They’re taking time away from their families, I’m very grateful for that.”
Volunteers also help coordinate community events for the VFW like the plant sale, turkey raffle, and Buddy Poppy Day drive.
Every year, the Naperville VFW teams up with Naperville American Legion Post 43 to hold the Veterans Day program and Memorial Day Parade.
Those events often provide veterans with public gratitude they’ve not always found…as in this parade memory shared by Lukavsky.
“The car drove onto Washington (Street), and something happened to me that I couldn’t explain, and I just cried and cried all the way up Washington, and I couldn’t stop. It was like all the people saying, ‘Thank you for your service’… It was finally the thank you that we never got when we came home from Vietnam.”
VFW anniversary celebrations in Naperville
125th anniversary celebrations kicked off at the Sept. 3 Naperville City Council meeting, where the dais redesignated Jackson Avenue as the “Judd Kendall 125th Anniversary VFW Memorial Parkway.”
At the following meeting on Sept. 17, the city proclaimed Sept. 29 as VFW Day in the City of Naperville.
This Thursday, Sept. 26, Naperville VFW members will come together at the Judd Kendall Hall, 908 W. Jackson Ave., to celebrate the anniversary with an event featuring live music, food, and a museum of memorabilia.
“People have had scrapbooks or uniforms they have preserved and different things that they’ve kept over the years,” Boyer said. “Or family members, like their grandpa passed and he was a member of the VFW and they want to bring it in and talk about it… It’s just going to be a beautiful experience for not just the 125th (anniversary) of the VFW, but for all of our members as well,” said Boyer.
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