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Courtesy of the National Museum
of the USAF
Bataan Death March - April 9, 1942
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Image below:
The March of
Death. Along the March these prisoners were
photographed, they have their hands tied behind
their backs. The March of Death was from Bataan
to the prison camp.
Left to right,
Samuel Stenzler, Frank Spear, James McD.
Gallagher. May 1942
(Defense dept.
USMC 114541, National Archives) |
You are in
World War II.
Who Marched?
American troops and Philippine
troops who were captured by Japanese troops. All in all
roughly 100,000 prisoners of war.
Group of American prisoners,
note Japanese guard with fixed bayonet. The March of Death
was from Bataan to the prison camp march at Cabana Tuan. May
1942.
(Defense dept., USMC
114542, National Archives).
They Marched
From Where to Where?
From Mariveles, southern Bataan
Peninsula, to San Fernando, train to Capas, from Capas to
Camp O'Donnell.
Distances:
Mariveles to San Fernando - 55 miles / 88 kilometers
Capas to Camp O'Donnell - 8 miles / 13 kilometers
All in all, they marched 63
miles / 101 kilometers.
Route of the
Bataan Death March
PBS
"Their ferocity
grew as we marched ...
They were no longer content with
mauling stragglers or pricking them with bayonet points. The
thrusts were intended to kill."
Capt. William Dyess, 21st Pursuit Squadron commander
Taken during the March of
Death from Bataan
to the prison camp march at Cabana Tuan.
(Defense department
USMC 114,540, National Archives)
Who All Arrived?
Only 54,000 troops.
Seven to ten thousand troops
died on the march. The rest escaped into the jungle.
The march of death. Taken
during the March of Death from Bataan to Cabana Tuan prison
camp. May 1942.
(Defense depart., USMC
114538, # 127-GR-111-114538, National Archives)
Who Was
Responsible?
The man in charge and
responsible for the Bataan Death March was Japan's General
Homma Masaharu.
Or so the American military
commission found. Homma had surrendered in Tokyo on
September 14, 1945, was tried at Manila, convicted, and
executed via firing squad at Los Baņos, Luzon, the
Philippines, on April 3, 1946.
Jorge B. Vargas, secretary of
President Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, and Homma Masaharu,
general lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army, on
February 20, 1943
Wiki
More Info on the
Bataan Death March
Check the
Bataan Death March in
the timeline of World War II.
Go here to
read
General MacAthur's
I Have Returned speech.
Go here for
more on the
annual Bataan Memorial
Death March in New Mexico -
presented by Veterans of Foreign Wars of the
United States (VFW)
Go here for
more on the
annual Bataan Memorial
Death March in New Mexico -
presented by an upright citizen.
PBS has an
excellent site with interviews and comments
from Bataan Death March survivors.
Here it is.
Here is the
Bataan fact sheet presented by the
National Museum of the
USAF
Bataan Death
March
Courtesy of the National Museum
of the USAF
Here are the maps:
World War II: Major
Operations in Asia and the Pacific 1939-1945
1941 December: Philippines, Luzon,
Bataan Peninsula
Battle of the Points
And here are some maps from the Spanish-American War, just
FYI:
1898 Spanish American
War
1898, April-May -
Spanish-American War
1898, April 30-May 1 -
Manila Bay
1898, August 13 -
Capture of Manila
More History
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