board of directors
CECILIA GAERLAN is the Founder and Executive Director of Bataan Legacy Historical Society. She founded the organization to address the lack of information about the role of the Filipinos during World War II in the Philippines and to seek justice for the Filipino veterans whose benefits were rescinded in 1946. Bataan Legacy Historical Society’s main goal is to educate the public on the historical significance of Bataan and World War II in the Philippines by presenting the war from different perspectives (Filipino, American, soldiers and civilians) through its multimedia presentations, exhibitions, conferences and lectures in schools and different organizations throughout the country. It is also documenting the stories of survivors and veterans of WWII in the Philippines. She was inspired by her father, Luis Gaerlan, Jr. a Filipino veteran (41st Infantry Regiment) of WWII and a survivor of the Bataan Death March.
Contact her at cecilia@bataanlegacy.org |
RODRIGO DELA CONCEPCION, JR. is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with over 10 years on Active Duty with the US Army in command and staff positions with the 82nd Airborne Division, 2nd Infantry Division and 7th Infantry Division. He also served 14 years with the US Army Reserve in command and staff positions with the 6227th US Army Reserve Forces School, 353rd Psychological Operations Battalion, Sixth US Army C&GSOC Command Support Team and the Simulation Exercise Group 3 of the 91st Infantry Division (Training). He was a Bilingual Resource Teacher with San Francisco USD for five years as the Mission to College Coordinator at Balboa High School where he also taught Study Skills and ESL. He also taught for 14 years with Fresno Unified School District as a Language Arts Teacher at Kings Canyon Middle School where he also served as a Tech Mentor and AVID Teacher.
He was inspired by his father, Rodrigo Abas dela Concepcion, a U.S. army soldier (Philippine Scouts) who survived the infamous Bataan Death March. Contact him at rod@bataanlegacy.org |
RICARDO "Rick" VILLARINA, JR., received his BA degree from Chapman University and BS in Management at Troy State University, Alabama. Rick joined the U.S. Air Force in San Francisco in March 1956 and was a "Mustang" (a prior enlistment serviceman), with the rank of MSgt before he was commissioned as a U.S. Air Force Officer. During the Vietnam Campaign, he commanded two USAF Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (3AGS & 3EMS) at Clark Air Base in the Philippines and the annual JCS Exercise "Team Spirit" at Suwon Air Base, South Korea. His last assignment was at Thule Air Base, Greenland as the Hq Sq Sec Commander. After over 28 years of service, he retired from the Air Force with the rank of Major in 1984 and embarked on another career with American Express International in the Kingdom of Bahrain for almost two decades. After almost 40 years living overseas, he and his family decided to retire in Albany, California. Subsequently, Rick became an active member of the Bataan Legacy Historical Society since 2014. He is also actively engaged in the SF Valdez Foundation and Medical Mission since its inception and an active Volunteer Counselor at Retiree Activity Office at Travis AFB. His father, MSgt/FSgt Ricardo Villarina, Sr., of the "F" Company, 45th Infantry Regiment, Philippines Scout, was a survivor of the Bataan Death March, a POW and a recipient of several medals which include the Purple Heart, Silver Sta, Bronze Stars with 2 oak clusters.
Contact him at rick@bataanlegacy.org