DOCSLIB.ORG

Bataan Death March – Philippines

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bataan Death March – Philippines Bataan Death March – Philippines Handout to accompany Prezi presentation: Canadian Hong Kong Veterans and Allied POWs in the Asia-Pacific War: Wounds and Closure Overview Just hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army simultaneously attacked several other countries, including the Philippines. The US and Filipino forces fought for four months, ending with the fall of the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942 and the surrender of American and Filipino forces to the Imperial Japanese Army. An estimated 78,000 POWs—12,000 Americans and the rest Filipinos —were marched in successive groups of 100 to 1,500 northward along a 88-kilometer journey to San Fernando, from where they were taken in train boxcars to Capas. After they reached Capas, they were forced to walk the final 8 kilometers to Camp O'Donnell. Along the journey the POWs were treated brutally. They were marched with barely any food or water, and were even intentionally prevented from having water when it was available. They were without adequate clothing, often walking barefoot over hot rocks. They were beaten, tortured and constantly threatened with their lives. Those who physically couldn’t march were bayoneted, beheaded, buried alive, shot and or simply left to die. Conservative estimates say that around 10,000 POWs died in the death march. (Handout for Canadian Hong Kong Veterans and Allied POWs: Wounds and Closure, prepared by BC ALPHA www.alpha- canada.org) Testimony Excerpts Excerpt from interview with former American POW Alf R. Larson Retrieved from http://www.bataansurvivor.com/content/the_bataan_death_march/1.php You and your group began the march on April 12, 1942? Yes. We began walking the next morning. It was about eighty miles from where we started to where we ended up. It doesn't seem very far, but we were in such awful condition that eighty miles was a heck of a long way to walk. It took six days to get to San Fernando. […] On the first day, I saw two things I will never forget. A Filipino man had been beheaded. His body lay on the ground with blood everywhere. His head was a short distance away. Also, there was a dead Filipino woman with her legs spread apart and her dress pulled up over her. She obviously had been raped and there was a bamboo stake in her private area [...] You didn't eat a thing for four days and you were already starved when you were captured. That's right. We weren't given any water either. There was good water all around us. Artesian wells flowing everywhere! They would not let us go and get it. Men went stark raving mad! Soldiers broke ranks and ran towards the water. They went completely insane because they had to get it. They never got it! Of course, you know what happened to them. Our soldiers were shot before they reached water? That's right. Excerpt from interview with former American POW Alfred X. Burgos Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/sfeature/bataan_capture.html […] If you should not want to walk anymore -- let's say you were tired -- well, I've seen them shoot walking prisoners of war -- actually be shot. Or if you tried to get food which was thrown by the civilians to the walking military, the Filipino military, that not only endangered you, but the one who was giving the food or throwing the food to you [...] Well, those that they could catch, they'd just shoot them there [...] If you could not keep up with the group in the Death March, rather than slow the Death March, they'd get rid of you by shooting you [...] Oh, they bayoneted people, they shot people, and if they think that you were delaying the Death March, you're dead. Excerpts from the book “My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March” by former American POW Lester I. Tenney […] I was talking with Bronge and Cigoi when a Japanese officer came riding by on horseback. He was waving his samurai sword from side to side, apparently trying to cut off the head of anyone he could. I was on the outside of the column when he rode past, and although I ducked the main thrust of the sword, the end of the blade hit my left shoulder, missing my head and neck by inches. It left a large gash that had to have stitches if I were to continue on this march and continue living. As the Japanese officer rode off, Bronge and Cigoi called for a medic to fall back to our position. The medic sewed up the cut with thread, which was all he had with him, (Handout for Canadian Hong Kong Veterans and Allied POWs: Wounds and Closure, prepared by BC ALPHA www.alpha- canada.org) and for the next two miles or so, my two friends carried me so that I would not have to fall out of line. We all knew that falling out of line meant certain death. (p. 53) Photo of POWs on Bataan Death March Photo of a burial detail of Filipino POWs using improvised litters to carry fallen comrades at Camp O’Donnell following the Bataan Death March. (Handout for Canadian Hong Kong Veterans and Allied POWs: Wounds and Closure, prepared by BC ALPHA www.alpha- canada.org) .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • War Crimes in the Philippines During WWII Cecilia Gaerlan
    War Crimes in the Philippines during WWII Cecilia Gaerlan When one talks about war crimes in the Pacific, the Rape of Nanking instantly comes to mind.Although Japan signed the 1929 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, it did not ratify it, partly due to the political turmoil going on in Japan during that time period.1 The massacre of prisoners-of-war and civilians took place all over countries occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army long before the outbreak of WWII using the same methodology of terror and bestiality. The war crimes during WWII in the Philippines described in this paper include those that occurred during the administration of General Masaharu Homma (December 22, 1941, to August 1942) and General Tomoyuki Yamashita (October 8, 1944, to September 3, 1945). Both commanders were executed in the Philippines in 1946. Origins of Methodology After the inauguration of the state of Manchukuo (Manchuria) on March 9, 1932, steps were made to counter the resistance by the Chinese Volunteer Armies that were active in areas around Mukden, Haisheng, and Yingkow.2 After fighting broke in Mukden on August 8, 1932, Imperial Japanese Army Vice Minister of War General Kumiaki Koiso (later convicted as a war criminal) was appointed Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army (previously Chief of Military Affairs Bureau from January 8, 1930, to February 29, 1932).3 Shortly thereafter, General Koiso issued a directive on the treatment of Chinese troops as well as inhabitants of cities and towns in retaliation for actual or supposed aid rendered to Chinese troops.4 This directive came under the plan for the economic “Co-existence and co-prosperity” of Japan and Manchukuo.5 The two countries would form one economic bloc.
    [Show full text]
  • Hall's Manila Bibliography
    05 July 2015 THE RODERICK HALL COLLECTION OF BOOKS ON MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINES DURING WORLD WAR II IN MEMORY OF ANGELINA RICO de McMICKING, CONSUELO McMICKING HALL, LT. ALFRED L. McMICKING AND HELEN McMICKING, EXECUTED IN MANILA, JANUARY 1945 The focus of this collection is personal experiences, both civilian and military, within the Philippines during the Japanese occupation. ABAÑO, O.P., Rev. Fr. Isidro : Executive Editor Title: FEBRUARY 3, 1945: UST IN RETROSPECT A booklet commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of the University of Santo Tomas. ABAYA, Hernando J : Author Title: BETRAYAL IN THE PHILIPPINES Published by: A.A. Wyn, Inc. New York 1946 Mr. Abaya lived through the Japanese occupation and participated in many of the underground struggles he describes. A former confidential secretary in the office of the late President Quezon, he worked as a reporter and editor for numerous magazines and newspapers in the Philippines. Here he carefully documents collaborationist charges against President Roxas and others who joined the Japanese puppet government. ABELLANA, Jovito : Author Title: MY MOMENTS OF WAR TO REMEMBER BY Published by: University of San Carlos Press, Cebu, 2011 ISBN #: 978-971-539-019-4 Personal memoir of the Governor of Cebu during WWII, written during and just after the war but not published until 2011; a candid story about the treatment of prisoners in Cebu by the Kempei Tai. Many were arrested as a result of collaborators who are named but escaped punishment in the post war amnesty. ABRAHAM, Abie : Author Title: GHOST OF BATAAN SPEAKS Published by: Beaver Pond Publishing, PA 16125, 1971 This is a first-hand account of the disastrous events that took place from December 7, 1941 until the author returned to the US in 1947.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bastards of Bataan: General Douglas Macarthur's Role
    The Bastards of Bataan: General Douglas MacArthur’s Role in the Fall of the Philippines during World War II By: Lahia Marie Ellingson Senior Seminar: History 499 Professor Bau-Hwa Hsieh Western Oregon University June 8, 2007 Readers Professor Kimberly Jensen Professor John L. Rector Copyright © Lahia Ellingson, 2007 On December 8, 1941, just hours after having attacked the United States’ fleet on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army turned their attention toward another American stronghold, the forces stationed on the Philippines. Here the Japanese attacked Clark Field, an American airbase on the island of Luzon.1 The subsequent battle and surrender that ensued has become known as “…the worst defeat yet suffered by the United States, a source of national humiliation.”2 With all of the confusion and horror that happened to the men in the Philippines it is hard to understand where blame should be placed. Was it General Douglas MacArthur, the Commanding General in the Philippines at the time? Or were there other factors such as war in Europe and conflicting beliefs on how best to defend the Philippines that led to the defeat? Historians have debated MacArthur’s role in the Philippines for some time. There are those who believe that MacArthur should be held accountable for the fall of the Philippines and those who see him as a commanding general who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In this paper it will be argued that MacArthur’s actions in the Philippines prior to his escape to Australia hastened the fall of the Philippines, which led to more death and brutality at the hands of the Japanese.
    [Show full text]
  • Guest of the Emperor
    GUEST OF THE EMPEROR K. C. Emerson 1977 GUEST 0F THE EMPER0R by K. C. Emerson 560 Boulder Drive Sanibel Island, Florida 33957 Fourth Printing, 1987 Copyright 1977, Kary Cadmus Emerson Electronic copy by RCD 2002 by permission PREFACE After my return to the United States in the fall of 1945, my parents and others urged me to record my experiences in the Orient before and during World War II. In 1970 I wrote about my experiences from the fall of 1942 until mid September 1945. At that time I could not write about my earlier experiences because my notes covering that period had been misplaced. Recently I found the remainder of my notes while emptying an old foot locker for my son. The job has now been completed. My delay in beginning this task probably reflects the fact that I did not want to do it until time had mellowed my interpretation of these experiences. Just as in combat, time alters what one cares to relate to those who were not there, and it moderates interpretation of the more severe situations. Some people experienced worse conditions than I, and of course, some had better conditions. However, I have chosen to discuss typical incidents, with emphasis on the ordinary events and without many of the unpleasant details. Five notebooks of notes which I took in prison camp and my memory were the principal sources of the material recorded. The National Archives, the US Army Photographic Library, and friends who also survived were consulted to verify my recollec- tions. In addition to my family, L.
    [Show full text]
  • Key Terms and People Lesson Summary
    DO NOT EDIT--Changes must be made through “File info” CorrectionKey=NL-B Name ________________________________ Class ____________________ Date _____________ World War II Lesson 4 MAIN IDEAS 1. The Japanese continued advancing across the Pacific in 1942. 2. The Allies stopped Japan’s advance with key victories over the Japanese navy. 3. The Allies began battling toward Japan. Key Terms and People Douglas MacArthur general who commanded U.S. ground troops in the Pacific Bataan Death March forced march of American and Filipino prisoners on the Bataan Peninsula, during which many died Chester Nimitz American admiral who commanded U.S. Pacific fleet Battle of the Coral Sea naval battle in which the American fleet prevented Japanese invasion of Australia Battle of Midway key Pacific battle in which Japanese navy was severely weakened island hopping strategy of attacking only key Pacific islands Battle of Leyte Gulf largest naval battle in history; American navy defeated the Japanese navy to retake the Philippines kamikaze tactic of purposely crashing piloted planes into enemy ships Lesson Summary JAPAN ADVANCES The attack on Pearl Harbor left the U.S. Pacific Why were the Japanese fleet weak. As a result the fleet was not able to able to conquer much of react immediately to the assault. In the meantime the Pacific after the attack on Pearl Harbor? Japan was able to conquer much of Asia and the __________________________ Pacific. American forces under the command of U.S. General Douglas forces could not stop the __________________________ Japanese advance in the Philippines. MacArthur __________________________ was forced to leave. More than 600 Americans and 10,000 Filipinos died in the Bataan Death March.
    [Show full text]
  • American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society
    STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD to the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and House Veterans' Affairs Committee Joint Hearing To Receive Legislative Presentations of Veterans Service Organizations By Jan Thompson President American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society 3 March 2020 AMERICAN PRISONERS OF WAR OF JAPAN 75th Anniversary of Liberation Chairmen Moran and Takano, Ranking Members Tester and Roe, and Members of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, thank you for allowing us to describe how Congress can meet the concerns of veterans of World War II’s Pacific Theater. The American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society (ADBC-MS) represents surviving POWs of Japan, their families, and descendants, as well as scholars, researchers, and archivists. Our goal is to preserve the history of the American POW experience in the Pacific and to teach future generations of the POWs’ sacrifice, courage, determination, and faith—the essence of the American spirit. Today, 75 years ago, the Battle of Manila ended. The Japanese did not let liberation come without a cost. The “Pearl of the Orient” was in ruins, hundreds had been raped, and over 100,000 civilians killed. Historians have described the aftermath as less a battlefield than a crime scene. On the eve of and during the battle, U.S. troops swept into POW and civilian internment camps throughout the Philippine islands liberating thousands of Americans who were reportedly hours away from execution. This year, 2020, is the 75th anniversary of the final battles of World War II. Whereas Nazi Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, Imperial Japan fought on until August 15, 1945.
    [Show full text]
  • World War Ii in the Philippines
    WORLD WAR II IN THE PHILIPPINES The Legacy of Two Nations©2016 World War II in the Philippines The Legacy of Two Nations©2016 By Bataan Legacy Historical Society Several hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Philippines, a colony of the United States from 1898 to 1946, was also bombed by the Empire of Japan. During the next four years, thousands of Filipino and American soldiers died. The entire Philippine nation was ravaged and its capital Manila, once called the Pearl of the Orient, became the second most devastated city during World War II after Warsaw, Poland. Approximately one million civilians perished. Despite so much sacrifice and devas- tation, on February 20, 1946, just five months after the war ended, the First Supplemental Surplus Appro- priation Rescission Act was passed by U.S. Congress which deemed the service of the Filipino soldiers as inactive, making them ineligible for benefits under the G.I. Bill of Rights. To this day, these rights have not been fully-restored and a majority have died without seeing justice. But on July 14, 2016, this mostly forgotten part of U.S. history was brought back to life when the California State Board of Education approved the inclusion of World War II in the Philippines in the revised history curriculum framework for the state. This seminal part of WWII history is now included in the Grade 11 U.S. history (Chapter 16) curriculum framework. The approval is the culmination of many years of hard work from the Filipino community with the support of different organizations across the country.
    [Show full text]
  • Pcg Chicago Commemorates Araw Ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor)
    CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES CHICAGO PRESS RELEASE NO. 05-2021 PCG CHICAGO COMMEMORATES ARAW NG KAGITINGAN (DAY OF VALOR) From left to right: Cultural Officer Noly Dulay, Consul Ryan Pondoc, Consul and Acting Head of Post Ryan Francis Gener and Consul Melvin Almoguera. Chicago, 09 April 2021 – The Philippine Consulate General in Chicago held a wreath- laying ceremony at the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Bridge in Downtown Chicago in commemoration of the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) on 09 April 2021. Attending the event were Consul and Acting Head of Post Ryan Francis Gener, Consul Ryan Pondoc, Consul Melvin Almonguera and Cultural Officer Noly Dulay. Also known as the State Street Bridge, the first bridge on this site was built in 1864. The current structure was completed and opened on 28 May 1949. It was named the Bataan- Corregidor Memorial Bridge by then Chicago Mayor Oscar Hewitt in memory of the American soldiers from the Chicago area who fought in Bataan and Corregidor during World War II. On 09 April 1998, on the occasion of Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) and in commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of Philippine Independence, this same bridge was rededicated by former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in honor of all Filipino and American veterans who fought side by side during the fall of Bataan and Corregidor in 1942. According to historical accounts, Major General Edward King Jr., commander of Luzon Force Bataan, surrendered more than 76,000 of his starving and disease-ridden troops (64,000 Filipinos and 12,000 Americans) on 09 April 1942.
    [Show full text]
  • Activity: We Did Not Surrender: the POW Experience in the Philippines
    Activity: We Did Not Surrender: The POW Experience in the Philippines Guiding question: How did American prisoners of war survive the war in the Pacific? DEVELOPED BY NICOLE WINTER Grade Level(s): 9-12 Subject(s): Social Studies Cemetery Connection: Manila American Cemetery, San Francisco National Cemetery Fallen Hero Connection: Private Evans Overbey, Lieutant Colonel Charles Leinbach Activity: We Did Not Surrender: The POW Experience in the Philippines 1 Overview Using primary sources from Pacific Theater veterans includ- ing memoirs, testimonies, and photographs, students will investigate the capture, camp experience, and means of survival of prisoners of war at the Cabanatuan POW Camp in “Private Evans Overbey the Philippines. experienced the horrors of the Bataan Death March and succumbed to the poor Historical Context conditions of the prisoner The Third Geneva Convention established international rules of war (POW) camp at for the treatment of prisoners of war in 1929. However, after Cabanatuan, Philippines. the Japanese attacked the Philippines in December 1941 This lesson offers personal and took control of the islands in April 1942, they forced connections to the POW experience in the Pacific Allied soldiers to march across the Bataan Peninsula with through my Fallen Hero, as little water, food, or rest in the hot, tropical climate of the well as other camp survivors. Philippines. Some stragglers that could not keep up on the Though little is known about march were executed at point blank range by the Japanese. Overbey before the war, it Approximately 75,000 Americans and Filipinos were forced is important to recognize on the Bataan Death March.
    [Show full text]
  • World War II Participants and Contemporaries: Papers
    World War II Participants and Contemporaries: Papers Container List ACCETTA, DOMINICK Residence: Fort Lee, New Jersey Service: 355th Inf Regt, Europe Volume: -1" Papers (1)(2) [record of Cannon Co., 355th Inf. Regt., 89th Inf. Div., Jan.-July 1945; Ohrdruf Concentration Camp; clippings; maps; booklet ”The Story of the 89th Infantry Division;” orders; song; ship’s newspaper, Jan. 1946;map with route of 89th Div.] AENCHBACHER, A.E. "Gene" Residence: Wichita, Kansas Service: Pilot, 97th Bomber Group, Europe; flew DDE from Gibraltar to North Africa, November 1942 Volume: -1" Papers [letters; clippings] ALFORD, MARTIN Residence: Abilene, Kansas Service: 5th Inf Div, Europe Volume: -1" Papers [copy of unit newspaper for 5th Inf. Div., May 8, 1945; program for memorial service; statistics on service and casualties in wars and conflicts] ALLMON, WILLIAM B. Residence: Jefferson City, Missouri Service: historian Volume: -1” 104 Inf Div (1) (2) [after action report for November 1944, describing activities of division in southwest Holland; this is a copy of the original report at the National Archives] 1 AMERICAN LEGION NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS Residence: Indianapolis, Indiana Service: Veteran's organization Volume: 13" After the War 1943-45 [a monthly bulletin published by the Institute on Postwar Reconstruction, Aug. 1943-April 1945] American Legion Publications (1)-(11) [civil defense; rights and benefits of veterans; home front; citizenship; universal draft; national defense and security program; Americanism; employment manual; Boy Scouts-youth program; G. I. Bill of Rights; peace and foreign relations; disaster; natural resources; law and order; UMT-universal military training; national defense; veterans’ employment; 1946 survey of veterans; reprint of two pages from The National Legionnaire, June 1940; instructors manual for military drill; United Nations; junior baseball program] Army-Navy YMCA Bulletin, 1942-44 Atlas of World Battle Fronts [1943-45] China at War, 1939 [four issues published by the China Information Publishing Co.] Clippings [submarine war; Alaska; U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Remembering the Bataan Death March 21 Leadership Corner
    July/Aug. 2013 Vol. 8 No. 6 GRIZZLYOfficial Newsmagazine of the California National Guard Fighting the flames CNG’s 146th Airlift Wing takes on the Mountain Fire pg. 5 Remembering the Bataan Death March 21 www.calguard.ca.gov/publicaffairs Leadership Corner A band of brothers and sisters Major General David S. Baldwin Our organization is steeped in history dating to the First Curchin Sgt. Salli Staff by Photo Muster in 1636, and our culture and tradition are among the things that make the National Guard exceptionally Throughout the strong. To maintain and build our strength, however, we must continuously evolve, and one of the biggest, most past decade, women beneficial changes of the past 376 years has been the in- clusion of women in our force — and as of this year, in have shown great every military role. In August we celebrate Women’s Equality Month, and courage, contributed to we can celebrate it in the U.S. Armed Forces this year more wholeheartedly than ever before. the military’s mission Women have played important roles in every conflict in unprecedented ways in U.S. history, including some women who disguised themselves as men so they could serve in combat during and proven their ability the Revolutionary War. Those patriots stood shoulder- to-shoulder with their fellow countrymen, fully com- in a wide variety of mitted to safeguarding our fledgling democracy. Their actions were invaluable to the war effort and laid the roles. Their performance foundation for a steadily increasing role throughout the centuries since. made the DoD’s Despite supporting the military in a variety of positions decision to remove all throughout the years, women were not granted regular status in the Army or any other U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Feelings Are Important: Recognizing the Range of Emotions in the Bataan Death March
    Activity: Feelings are Important: Recognizing the Range of Emotions in the Bataan Death March Guiding question: What is the importance of being able to understand a service member’s emotional experience during the Bataan Death March? DEVELOPED BY JOSE CUMAGUN Grade Level(s): 6-8 Subject(s): Special Education, English Language Arts, Social Studies Cemetery Connection: Manila American Cemetery Fallen Hero Connection: Sergeant Teofilo Yldefonzo Activity: Feelings are Important: Recognizing the Range of Emotions in the Bataan Death March 1 Overview In this lesson, students will use pictures, illustrations, and narratives of personal accounts related to the Bataan Death March and the defense of the Philippines to analyze different “The Bataan Death March emotions of soldiers. Students will recognize and understand that happened during the defense of the Philippines what the service members were feeling. They will provide is an emotionally charged specific cues from the picture or text to support their obser- event. This chapter in the vations and explain possible causes of the emotions. Finally, history of World War II in the students will make connections between the emotional the Pacific is a great subject experiences of the service members and their own personal to teach the importance of lives. understanding emotions. Students able to understand what a service member felt Historical Context during the Death March will Several hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on have a better appreciation December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the Philippines, of the soldier’s sacrifice. For which was then a U.S. territory. Under General Douglas students with special needs, learning to recognize basic MacArthur, the combined forces of American troops and emotions can reinforce Filipino soldiers (including the Philippine Scouts) attempted relationship skills and to resist the Japanese invasion of the island.
    [Show full text]