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Bataan March survivor Elias Saavedra dies at 96
Fresno Bee ^ | June 5, 2014 | BY RUSSELL CONTRERAS

Posted on 06/05/2014 3:32:25 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

Elias Saavedra, one of the last survivors of the Bataan Death March, died Wednesday. He was 96.

Saavedra died of natural causes at his San Rafael, New Mexico, home after battling a number of illnesses, his son Alfred Saavedra said.

Born in 1918 in San Rafael, Saavedra joined the New Mexico National Guard at the outset of World War II. He was one of 75,000 Filipino and American soldiers taken captive by the Japanese in World War II when U.S. forces surrendered in the province of Bataan and Corregidor Island in April 1942.

In all, tens of thousands of troops were forced to march to Japanese prison camps in what became known as the Bataan Death March. Many were denied food, water and medical care, and those who collapsed during the scorching journey through Philippine jungles were shot or bayoneted.

(Excerpt) Read more at fresnobee.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Japan; News/Current Events; US: New Mexico
KEYWORDS: bataandeathmarch; eliassaavedra; obituaries; obituary
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RIP.
1 posted on 06/05/2014 3:32:25 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

And a Navajo ‘code-talker’ just passed away. The last one I think of a patriotic American Indian tribe. Surprisingly patriotic in spite of what the US Govt. did to them. RIP in a Happy Hunting Ground, free of government interference in your life.


2 posted on 06/05/2014 4:03:41 PM PDT by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Jap barbarism was returned in kind many times over.

We won that war in less than four years.

How long have we been playing nice w/muzzie animals?

3 posted on 06/05/2014 4:26:22 PM PDT by Jacquerie (To restore the 10th Amendment, repeal the 17th. Article V.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I recall that after the war they said most of the POW’s of the Japanese would not make it to their 50’s.


4 posted on 06/05/2014 4:31:01 PM PDT by mware
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
God Rest Him. My father was one of the men of Corregidor, and I grew up knowing several veterans of Bataan.


5 posted on 06/05/2014 4:34:56 PM PDT by VR-21 (Next Stop, Willoughby.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

God bless him. May he rest in peace.


6 posted on 06/05/2014 4:36:04 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: mware

I think it has been documented that being starved actually made people healthier in the long run because their bodies sucked all the cholesterol out of their veins. Of course the heart muscle damage offsets it.


7 posted on 06/05/2014 4:44:26 PM PDT by Chickensoup (Leftist totalitarian fascism is on the move.)
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To: Jacquerie
Jap barbarism was returned in kind many times over.

The hell you say.

Publish the accounts of our soldiers beheading Jap POW's after about of drinking.

Publish the accounts of our warriors removing pieces of liver and kidneys from living Jap POws for a BBQ.

Publish the accounts of secret American units engaging in the testing of biologicals against Jap POWs.

A friend whose father was a Bataan survivor worked the National Archives to uncover the full extent of the notorious Jap unit that experiment on Allied POWs as well as working with Iris Chang before her death. The full extent of Japanese atrocities against the Chinese, Koreas, Philippinos, and Allies has yet to be published.

8 posted on 06/05/2014 4:48:18 PM PDT by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: Jacquerie

You could not be more wrong. We didn’t attack Japan.


9 posted on 06/05/2014 4:50:51 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Covenantor; trisham
Uh, hey clowns, spare me your silly cr@p.

We won WWII in less than four years by not being nice. We returned their inefficient personal barbarism with mechanized barbarism. A good thing.

We purposely incinerated Jap cities. By summer ‘45 it dawned on the Japs we were ready to exterminate them. It was good for them that they finally understood what we were ready to do.

10 posted on 06/05/2014 5:04:11 PM PDT by Jacquerie (To restore the 10th Amendment, repeal the 17th. Article V.)
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To: Jacquerie

I’m sorry I spoke to you. It won’t happen again.


11 posted on 06/05/2014 5:07:09 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Jacquerie

That’s how you choose to characterize the war effort of the United States in WWII? “Mechanized barbarism”?

You are one sick puppy.


12 posted on 06/05/2014 5:11:11 PM PDT by samtheman
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To: samtheman
I'll let you know when I care what you think.
13 posted on 06/05/2014 5:13:33 PM PDT by Jacquerie (To restore the 10th Amendment, repeal the 17th. Article V.)
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To: Jacquerie

Based on your comments, I think you are one sick puppy.


14 posted on 06/05/2014 5:14:34 PM PDT by samtheman
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To: trisham

Good.


15 posted on 06/05/2014 5:14:34 PM PDT by Jacquerie (To restore the 10th Amendment, repeal the 17th. Article V.)
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To: samtheman

I’m convinced you don’t think.


16 posted on 06/05/2014 5:15:49 PM PDT by Jacquerie (To restore the 10th Amendment, repeal the 17th. Article V.)
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To: Jacquerie

And you’re convinced the American war effort in WWII was an act of barbarism.

Your convictions are sick.


17 posted on 06/05/2014 5:25:28 PM PDT by samtheman
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To: samtheman

And you can’t read.


18 posted on 06/05/2014 5:28:34 PM PDT by Jacquerie (To restore the 10th Amendment, repeal the 17th. Article V.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Thanx.

My wife’s Filipino aunt in Plano TX is active in the reunions, organizations, etc.

I sent this to her.

Remember there are survivors here and the Philipines also.


19 posted on 06/05/2014 5:28:49 PM PDT by morphing libertarian ( On to impeachment and removal (IRS, Taliban, Fast and furious, VA, Benghazi)!!!)
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To: Jacquerie

“We returned their inefficient personal barbarism with mechanized barbarism.”

You’re the one who chose that characterization, not me.


20 posted on 06/05/2014 5:29:59 PM PDT by samtheman
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