The Day Post No. 7591 of the VFW of the United States- A History
The Day Post, No. 7591 of the VFW of the United States, was chartered on October
13, 1963, at the Monona Community Center by 48 VFW members who previously
belonged to The Lt. Marion C. Cranefield Post N o . 1318 in Madison, Wisconsin.
In the early days, Post 7591 did not have its own “home” like it does today. Instead,
post members met at the Monona Community Center, in private homes, at the Old
Colonial Inn on Monona Drive, and then The Park Ponderosa Supper Club in
McFarland.
The Day Post’s current building was once home to a bowling alley and later a tiki
bar. When the Day Post purchased the building, it was in rough shape and much
work needed to go into transforming it into a proper VFW and canteen. The post
opened for business in April of 1976. Due to the hard work of its members, the Post
paid off its mortgage in May 1984 and held a ceremonial mortgage burning to
celebrate.
The namesake of The Day Post is The Day Family.
One of the charter members was Galen “Pappy” Day, Sr. who lost both sons, Galen,
Jr. and Donald, in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Pappy earned his VFW
eligibility for his service in Europe during World War I from February 19 th , 1918, to
May 21 st , 1919. His service records indicate that he was involved in several
campaigns, including Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne, Meuse-Argonne, Defensive Sector,
and Alsace. After the war, Pappy married his second wife Ruth, and they had five
children: Galen Jr., Joyce, Donald, Dee, and Pat. After the charter of Post 7591, the
members could not find a more fitting namesake than that of the two Day sons who
gave their lives during World War II. These heroes became the namesake of the
post: The Donald and Galen Day, Jr. Post N o . 7591 of the VFW of the United States.
Private First Class (Pfc.) Donald W. Day enlisted in the Marines and served in the
Pacific Theater on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands. He served with Company G, Second
Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division for his actions on February 27 th ,
1945, Pfc. Day earned The Bronze Star with “V” device for heroic service. His citation
read in part, “…Private First Class Day continuously braved the devastating, close-
range fire of the enemy to carry hand grenades, rocket and small-arms ammunition
to his platoon and directed stretcher carriers to wounded over rugged and
hazardous terrain. By his cool courage in the face of grave peril, resolute fortitude
and skilled performance of duty, Private First Class Day kept his unit adequately
supplied with ammunition throughout the bitter engagement and contributed
materially to the success of the attack.”
Killed in action on March 3 rd 1945, Donald was buried, in a grave on Iwo Jima, then
repatriated to rest with his family at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison. For his service
and actions, Pfc. Day was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” device, the Purple Heart
Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal.
Staff Sergeant (Staff Sgt.) Galen A. Day, Jr. enlisted as a private in the United States
Army Air Corps on December 13 th , 1941. After many months of training, Junior
served as a tail gunner in a B-26 Bomber and then in a B-24 Bomber with the 70 th
Bomber Squadron, 42 nd Bomber Group, Medium in the Pacific Theater. He earned
the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. Sadly, in January 1944, Staff Sgt. Day’s
bomber was lost in a raid over Rabaul, New Britain, New Guinea. The nature of the
crash is uncertain, but he was then designated as Missing in Action (MIA). Over the
ensuing months, the Army made several unsuccessful attempts to find and recover
the missing crew. Staff Sgt. Day was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
Galen Jr. remains designated as MIA and he has been added to the list of missing
Wisconsin Veterans at the University of Wisconsin Missing in Action Recovery and
Identification Project. There is hope that one day, his remains will be recovered and
returned home.
For the members of VFW Post 7591, our namesake is an honorable legacy we are
proud to share and protect. We have this legacy wall to help us tell the story of the
three men who gave us our proud name to all those who may come.