Commander · U.S. Army National Guard
John “Jack” Erwin
John Erwin built a life around service in uniform, in the classroom, and in the veteran community. He completed a 21 year Army National Guard career, served in command roles, and deployed three times after September 11, 2001. After military service, he brought the same steady leadership to special education at Franklin Middle School in Wheaton. Erwin has also supported veterans through charity running and advocacy for the Wounded Warrior Project. As commander of St. Charles VFW Post 5036, he has helped lead a post known for practical community work, including outreach to veterans in care facilities, support for Hines VA patients, and partnerships with schools and local nonprofits.
Senior Vice Commander · U.S. Navy
Anthony L. Leycock
Anthony Leycock served four years in the U.S. Navy as a sonar technician, working with the systems used for underwater surveillance and navigation. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Northern Illinois University and a master’s degree in management operations from Kettering University. His civilian career has included engineering and procurement work in the automotive industry and technical responsibility for National Airspace System surveillance facilities with the Federal Aviation Administration. As senior vice commander of VFW Post 5036, Leycock brings together military experience, engineering discipline, and public service leadership in support of local veterans and the wider St. Charles community.
Junior Vice Commander · U.S. Army
Jake W. Wyatt
Jake Wyatt is a retired U.S. Army colonel whose 24 years of active service included assignments in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Germany. During Operation Desert Storm, he served in a senior logistics role with U.S. Central Command under Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, helping support a vast coalition campaign. Wyatt later applied his military planning and financial experience to business ownership and community service in St. Charles. A 1967 graduate of St. Charles High School, he returned to the community after military service and has served local veteran organizations in financial and leadership roles. He now serves as junior vice commander of VFW Post 5036.
Quartermaster · U.S. Army National Guard
Dennis Wambangco
Dennis Wambangco has spent more than a decade in public service with the Army National Guard and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He volunteered in support of the Global War on Terrorism and served in Afghanistan, where his work included district reconstruction and mentoring members of the Afghan National Police. His National Guard team helped secure and coordinate humanitarian relief, including grain, school supplies, and clothing, and supported the restoration of electrical, water, farming, and municipal services in war damaged communities. Back home, Wambangco prepared disaster relief missions, trained soldiers for overseas deployments, and served military families. He continues that work as quartermaster of VFW Post 5036 and through civic and workplace volunteer leadership.
2 Year Trustee · U.S. Army
Patrick J. Boyle
Patrick Boyle served in U.S. Army field artillery during the Cold War with Battery A, 969th Field Artillery Battalion. The Army Center of Military History records that the battalion was activated in Korea in March 1955 and remained there until June 1958. As a field artillery operations and intelligence specialist, Boyle supported the information, coordination, and planning needed by an artillery unit in the field. He later continued serving veterans in Illinois and represented St. Charles VFW Post 5036 as a delegate to the Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission.
Benefits Advisor, appointed · U.S. Marine Corps
Dennis K. Larson
Dennis Larson served as a U.S. Marine Corps officer and EA 6A pilot during the Vietnam era. Marine Corps histories describe the EA 6A as an electronic warfare aircraft whose crews supported operations in Southeast Asia by helping protect American aircraft from hostile radar and surface to air missile threats. Larson later continued serving veterans in St. Charles. In 2024, Capt. Dennis Larson served as chaplain at the dedication of the Veterans of the Vietnam War Memorial Post Office, where he delivered the invocation and remembered local service members who died overseas. He also serves as service officer for American Legion Post 342 and has represented the post through the Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission.
Surgeon · U.S. Navy
Richard R. Zawislak
Richard Zawislak served in the U.S. Navy as a yeoman aboard USS Enterprise during the carrier’s 1972 to 1973 WestPac deployment. The Navy’s official history records that Enterprise operated from Yankee Station and supported combat operations in and around Vietnam during that cruise. In October 2024, Zawislak joined Honor Flight Chicago on a trip to the national memorials in Washington, and his name was entered into the Congressional Record with the Illinois veterans on that mission. He has continued serving veterans at home, including leadership as commander of American Legion Post 342 and an appointment as a VFW National Aide de Camp associated with Post 5036. His civilian career included more than three decades in mainframe and distributed platform technology.
