Discover

'The Bataan Death March' (also known as '''The Death March of Bataan''') was a Japanese war crime involving the forcible transfer of prisoners of war -- with wide-ranging abuse and high fatalities -- by Japanese forces in the Philippines in 1942. The march occurred after the three-month Battle of Bataan, part of the Battle of the Philippines (1941-42), during World War II. In Japanese, it is known as , with the same meaning.
[Note on correct pronunciation. Filipino (Tagalog) speakers pronounce "Bataan" as (phonetically) "Bata-An".]

Contents

The Fall of Bataan

The Death March

Camps O'Donnell and Cabanatuan

War Crimes Trial

Commemorations

The Philippines

New Mexico, USA

Minnesota, USA

Memorials

See also

References

External links

The Fall of Bataan

On April 9, 1942, approximately 75,000 Filipino and United States soldiers, commanded by Major General Edward "Ned" P. King, Jr., were formally surrendered to a Japanese army of 54,000 men under Lt. General Masaharu Homma. This required Japan to accept emaciated captives who outnumbered them. The Japanese, having expected the fighting to continue, expected 25,000 prisoners of war and did not have facilities to properly care for them.
Logistics planning to move the prisoners of war from Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, a prison camp in the province of Tarlac, was handed down to transportation officer Major General Yoshitake Kawane ten days prior to the final Japanese assault. The first phase of the operation, which was to bring all of the prisoners to Balanga, consisted of a nineteen mile march that was expected to take one day. Upon reaching Balanga, Kawane was then to take personal command of carrying out the second phase, which consisted of transporting the men to the prison camp. 200 trucks were to be utilized to take the prisoners 33 miles north to the rail center at San Fernando, where freight trains, which would move them another 30 miles to the village of Capas, awaited them. Upon reaching Capas, the prisoners were then to march an additional 8 miles on foot to Camp O'Donnell. Field hospitals were to be established at Balanga and San Fernando while various aid stations and resting places were to be set up every couple miles.

The Death March

Although General Homma and Kawane had expected 25,000 prisoners of war, the Allied garrison at Bataan consisted of more than 75,000 (66,000 Filipinos and 11,796 Americans) starving and malaria-stricken men. During the battle, only 27,000 of these men were listed as "combat effective". Even then, three fourths of this number were still affected by malaria. As a result, the Japanese army met great difficulties in transporting these prisoners from the beginning. Distributing food was also almost impossible and many were fed nothing. 4,000 sick or wounded captives had to stay behind to be treated by the Japanese at Bataan. A shortage of manpower and supplies on the part of the Japanese, who were now laying siege to Corregidor, raised confusion and irritation amongst the guards as many prisoners escaped. At most, only 4 Japanese soldiers could accompany each group of 300 prisoners. The march to Balanga, which was to take only one day, lasted three days for some soldiers.
After reaching Balanga, it became obvious to General Kawane that his trucks could not carry more than half of the prisoners to the rail center at San Fernando. Since most of the other vehicles the Japanese had brought to the Philippines were either in repair or being used for the Battle of Corregidor, those who could not get a ride were forced to continue marching for more than 30 miles on completely unshaded roads that were sometimes made of asphalt. The thick dust swirling in the air would make it difficult for the prisoners to see and breathe while those who were walking barefoot had their feet burned on the molten asphalt. Men who refused to abandon their belongings were the first to fall. The last nine miles of the march from the town of Lubao to San Fernando were among the hardest the men would ever walk.

Those who were able to reach San Fernando alive were then locked into makeshift prisons where they were finally able to receive some level of proper and adequate medical care, food, and rest. Soon after this, however, the prisoners were jammed into freight trains that took them to Capas. Vomiting was frequent during the ride as some were even crammed or suffocated to death. After the three hour trip, which included few stops for rest, the prisoners then marched the 8 mile road to Camp O'Donnell.
Through the duration of nine days, a majority of the disease and grief-stricken Filipino and American prisoners were forced to march as much as two-thirds of the 90 miles that separated Bataan from Camp O'Donnell. Those few who were lucky enough to travel to San Fernando on trucks still had to endure more than 25 miles of marching. Prisoners were beaten randomly, and were often denied the food and water they were promised. Those who fell behind were usually executed or left to die; the sides of the roads became littered with dead bodies and those begging for help. A number of prisoners were further diminished by malaria, heat, dehydration, and dysentery. It should be noted, however, that many of the soldiers who accompanied the prisoners of war were not only Japanese, but Korean. Since they were not trusted by the Japanese to fight on the battlefield, most Koreans in the Japanese army were forbidden to participate in combat roles and delegated to such service duties as guarding prisoners. As one prisoner recalled, "The Korean guards were the most abusive... the Koreans were anxious to get blood on their bayonets; and then they thought they were veterans." ^[1]
On the Bataan Death March, approximately 54,000 of the 72,000 prisoners reached their destination. The death toll of the march is difficult to assess as thousands of captives were able to escape from their guards. In some instances, prisoners were even released by their Japanese counterparts. Out of fear that the prisoners would be mistreated, Colonel Takeo Imai made the humanitarian decision of releasing more than 1,000 of his prisoners into the jungle. These acts of kindness, however, were especially rare. All told, approximately 5,000-10,000 Filipino and 600-650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach Camp O'Donnell.
^[2]
Many prisoners died of dysentery and other infectious diseases, in part because they couldn't understand, or ignored, their captors' orders regarding sanitation. Even with perfect compliance, sanitation would have been a challenge; without it, it became nearly impossible.

Camps O'Donnell and Cabanatuan

On June 6, 1942 the Filipino soldiers were granted amnesty by the Japanese military and released. The American prisoners continued to be held, eventually to be transferred to camps outside of the Philippines. The start of this process began with American prisoners moving from Camp O'Donnell to Cabanatuan. Acting as a staging camp, many of these American prisoners then were sent from Cabanatuan to prison camps in Japan, Korea, and Manchuria in transports known as "Hell Ships." The 511 prisoners-of-war who still resided at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp as of January 1945 were freed during an attack on the camp led by United States Army Rangers later known as The Great Raid.

War Crimes Trial

After the surrender of Japan in 1945, an Allied commission convicted General Homma of war crimes, including the atrocities of the death march out of Bataan, and the following atrocities at Camp O'Donnell and Cabanatuan. The general, who had been so absorbed in his efforts to capture Corregidor after the fall of Bataan, remained ignorant of the high death toll until two months after the event. His neglect would cost him his life as General Homma was executed on April 3, 1946 outside Manila.

Commemorations

The Philippines

★ Every year on April 9, the captured soldiers are honored on 'Araw ng Kagitingan' ("Day of Valor"), also known as the "Bataan Day", which is a national holiday in the Philippines.

★ In Capas, Tarlac there is the Capas National Shrine built in the grounds surrounding Camp O'Donnell.

★ There is also a shrine in Bataan named 'Dambana ng Kagitingan' ("Shrine of Valor") commemorating this event. The shrine has a colonnade that houses an altar, esplanade, and a museum. There is also a Memorial Cross built towering 92 meters in height.

New Mexico, USA

The Bataan Death March is commemorated every year at White Sands Missile Range just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico. The march, which covers 26.2 miles via paved road and sandy trails, allows 4000 entrants from both civilian and many military units both International and the United States armed services. Several of the few remaining Bataan prisoners await the competitors to congratulate them on their success of the grueling march. Official Bataan Memorial Death March Page

Minnesota, USA

The 194th’s Company A was deployed to the Philippines in the fall of 1941. To commemorate the military and civilian prisoners that were forced to march from Bataan to Camp O’Donnell, an annual Bataan Memorial March, organized by the 194th Armor Regiment of the Minnesota Army National Guard and is held in Brainerd, MN. The march is open to anyone who wishes to participate with ten and twenty mile distances. The march has different categories consisting of teams, individuals, light pack, or a heavy pack. A closing ceremony is held at the end to award the finishers and pay tribute to the survivors and their comrades who did not survive the death march.

Memorials

★ The Bataan Bridge in Carlsbad, New Mexico commemorates the victims of the march.

★ The Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Bridge in Chicago, Illinois, where State Street crosses the Chicago River, commemorates the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor as well as those on the march.

★ The Bataan Memorial Highway in Indiana, SR 38 from Richmond, Indiana to Lafayette, Indiana.

★ Highway-70, through Southern New Mexico was renamed the Bataan Memorial Highway.

★ Statue of American and Filipino Bataan survivors resides at Veterans Memorial Park, in Las Cruces, New Mexico

★ The "A Tribute To Courage" Memorial in Kissimmee, Florida, at the corner of Lakeshore Boulevard and Monument Avenue. It depicts a scene from the Bataan Death March: two soldiers, one American and the other Filipino, are propping each other up while a Filipino woman is offering water to them. It symbolizes the unique friendship between the United States and the Philippines - the two countries fought together during World War II, and the heroism and comradeship between the Americans and Filipinos. It was sculpted by Sandra Storm and is made of bronze. A brick walkway encircles the monument and there are commemorative plaques depicting the history of the Bataan Death March and the Memorial. American and Filipino flags fly side by side. It is the only statue in the United States dedicated to the heroes and survivors of the fall of Bataan and Corregidor and the Bataan Death March [1].

★ Bataan Elementary School in Port Clinton, Ohio commemorates the 32 men from the Port Clinton area who were victims of the march. [2]

See also

★ Battle of the Philippines (1941-42)

★ USS Bataan (LHD-5)

★ USS Bataan (CVL-29)

★ San Fernando City, Pampanga

★ List of Japanese war atrocities

★

★ The March (1945)

★ ''The Great Raid'' (2005)

★ ''Ghost Soldiers''

References

1. Jacobs, Colonel Eugene C. Blood Brothers: A Medic's Sketch Book. Carlton Press Corporation, 1985.
2. http://home.pacbell.net/fbaldie/In_Retrospect.html

External links

★ American Battlefield Monument Commission website Those lost in Philippines are memorialized on Tablets of the missing on Manila American Cemetery,Manilia Philippines.

★ Battling Bastards of Bataan survivors org.

★ Bataan Memorial Death March - A 26 mile march commemorating the Bataan Death March (held yearly in New Mexico, USA)

★ "Back to Bataan, A Survivor's Story" - A narrative recounting one soldier's journey through Bataan, the march, prison camp, Japan, and back home to the United States. Includes a map of the march.

★ The Bataan Death March - Information, maps, and pictures on the march itself and in-depth information on Japanese POW camps.

★ PBS American Experience: Bataan Rescue The story of the 1945 rescue of Bataan Death March survivors

★ "Technical Sergeant Jim Brown U.S. Army Air Corps (ret) Bataan Death March Survivor Presentation to EAA Chapter 108 May 16 2000"

★ Proviso East High School Bataan Commemorative Research Project - Comprehensive history of the Battle for Bataan, the Death March and the role of the 192nd Tank Battalion

★ Bataan and Corregider Memorial Foundation of New Mexico 200th & 515th Coastal Artillery units

★ 4th Marine Regiment. 1st Battalion/4th Marines and 3rd Battalion/4th Marines were at Corregidor

★ 4th Marines at Corregidor and Bataan Death March

★ Maywood Bataan Day Organization Marks Bataan Day on the second Sunday in September since 1942

★ 1200 Days, A Bataan POW Survivor's Story A biography of Russell A. Grokett's survival of the Bataan Death March, including three years as a Japanese Prisoner of War.

★ Chicago's Bataan-Corrigedor Memorial Bridge

★ [3] - Info on the Dambana ng Kagitingan Shrine.