April 10, 1942: Bataan Death March Begins

History Channel.com ^ | 4/10/2005 | Discovery Channel

[kellynla]

The day after the surrender of the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese, the 75,000 Filipino and American troops captured on the Bataan Peninsula begin a forced march to a prison camp near Cabanatuan. During this infamous trek, known as the "Bataan Death March," the prisoners were forced to march 85 miles in six days, with only one meal of rice during the entire journey. By the end of the march, which was punctuated with atrocities committed by the Japanese guards, hundreds of Americans and many more Filipinos had died.

The day after Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines began. Within a month, the Japanese had captured Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and the U.S. and Filipino defenders of Luzon were forced to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula. For the next three months, the combined U.S.-Filipino army, under the command of U.S. General Jonathan Wainwright, held out impressively despite a lack of naval and air support. Finally, on April 7, with his army crippled by starvation and disease, Wainwright began withdrawing as many troops as possible to the island fortress of Corregidor in Manila Bay. However, two days later, 75,000 Allied troops were trapped by the Japanese and forced to surrender. The next day, the Bataan Death March began. Of those who survived to reach the Japanese prison camp near Cabanatuan, few lived to celebrate U.S. General Douglas MacArthur's liberation of Luzon in 1945.

In the Philippines, homage is paid to the victims of the Bataan Death March every April on Bataan Day, a national holiday that sees large groups of Filipinos solemnly rewalking parts of the death route.

[kellynla]

Never Forget! Semper Fi, Kelly

[kellynla]

[kellynla]

The Bataan Death March began at Mariveles on April 10, 1942. Any troops who fell behind were executed. Japanese troops beat soldiers randomly, and denied the POWs food and water for many days. One of their tortures was known as the sun treatment. The Philippines in April is very hot. Therefore, the POWs were forced to sit in the sun without any shade, helmets, or water. Anyone who dared ask for water was executed. On the rare occasion they were given any food, it was only a handful of contaminated rice. When the prisoners were allowed to sleep for a few hours at night, they were packed into enclosures so tight that they could barely move. Those who lived collapsed on the dead bodies of their comrades. For only a brief part of the march would POWs be packed into railroad cars and allowed to ride. Those who did not die in the suffocating boxcars were forced to march about seven more miles until they reached their camp. It took the POWs over a week to reach their destination. (49) Those on Corregidor would suffer the same fate as their fellow soldiers on Bataan did as they too were transferred to Bataan.

[Issaquahking]

BUMP TO THE TOP!

[kellynla]

Ping

[JOE43270]

Neither will I Kellynla. They are part of what makes America what She is.

[UltraKonservativen]

My son just completed the Bataan Death March memorial 26.5 mile walk in the New Mexico desert with his ROTC team. It's a great event with all sorts of military units and civilians participating (around 4000 entries).
The walk commemorates the Death March and a few survivors of the 1942 horror still attend. Tough guys.
These survivors call themselves the BATTLING BASTARDS OF BATAAN and their motto is NO MAMA, NO PAPA, NO UNCLE SAM.

Does anyone know the meaning/history behind their motto?

[MinuteGal]

Several decades ago, a man I had the pleasure and honor of knowing and working with was one of the few survivors of the Bataan Death March.

Even as an older person, "Bud" was a big, strong guy, tough as nails, so I can see how he made it out alive.

He was a staunch conservative and he and his wife, myself and a few others formed the conservative Taproot organization in the western Chicago suburbs. Taproot is still flourishing today, and some of its members are freepers.

Bud never talked much about his experience in Bataan. Knowing the horrific details I can see why. He and Audrey moved to the northwest coast, I believe, and I lost touch. I'll bet he's still alive and kicking and sawing down redwoods with one hand. He'll always be a hero to me.

Bud, this one's for you....salute!

Leni

[DTogo]

It's sad that our soldiers, and the Brits in Singapore, weren't warned ahead of time what awaited those who surrendered to the medieval Samurai battle tactics of the Imperial Japanese Army, and shame on MacArthur for abandoning his men. But Japan eventually got paid back - in spades.

At least our two countries can put the past in the past and maturely cooperate today, without demonstrating outside each other's embassies or throwing rocks in the other's department store windows.

Japan * ping * (kono risuto ni hairitai ka detai wo shirasete kudasai : let me know if you want on or off this list)

[kellynla]

A Requiem to the Battling Bastards of Bataan: No Mama, No Papa, No Uncle Sam

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"The defeat and capitulation of the Luzon force was largely a medical defeat caused by the general principle of attrition without replenishment."

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The statement aptly describes the base cause for the surrender of the Force and the resultant high death rate of the participants. From the outset of the campaign on Bataan Peninsula, the dwindling of food, medical, and ordnance stocks could foretell the eventual result of defeat and capitulation. At the time of entry into Bataan food rations, already reduced significantly from the beginning of hostilities, were further reduced. Continual movement of troops into positions on the Peninsula resulted in inadequate mess facilities and haphazard distribution of field rations to troops actively engaged in restraining further advance of the enemy and those setting up emplacements for use as fall back positions.

The military plan for defense of Luzon leaned heavily on retaining control of the city of manila and entry into Manila Bay. The Bay entry was guarded by the fortress of Corregidor and the fortified Islands to the East of Corregidor. The West flank was secured by occupation of the Bataan Peninsula, which lay between Manila Bay and Subic Bay. This plan called for a retreat from the main part of Luzon into the Bataan Peninsula and thus hold the integrity of the Bay and the city. Since control of the Peninsula was paramount to success, and entry into the Peninsula was limited to water entry across Manila Bay and road access via the land connection to the Peninsula, stockpiling of food, medical supplies, ordnance and quartermaster supplies in appropriate bunkers should have been a routine practice during peacetime. This was not the case! The movement of supplies to the Peninsula did not begin until two weeks after the start of hostilities. By that time troops, and their equipment, and hordes of civilians, and their possessions, competed with trucks moving all categories of supplies onto the Peninsula whose only access was a single country blacktop road. Supplies were sent by water across Manila Bay and these fared better than the land routes even though all movement had to be made at night because of the threat of enemy air power.

Annex number 5 is part of the General Staff material used by Gen. King for his Luzon Force report to Gen. Wainwright. This G-4 document describes the general supply situation for the campaign on Bataan Peninsula. Examination of this report sows the extensive deterioration of subsistence materials available to those actively engaged in holding the peninsula, to safeguard the West flank of Corregidor. It demonstrates how available rations dwindled from half ration at the beginning of the Bataan Peninsula Campaign to the on-eighth rations available at the capitulation. Annex 5 is an addendum to this summary. There are many reasons for the deplorable deficiency in quality and quantity of available rations as follows:

1. Serious delay in moving supplies into Bataan as outlined in Rainbow Plan.

2. Inability of Political and Military leaders to solve disputes with local rice conglomerates prevented the movement of much needed foodstuffs into Bataan.

3. Allowing civilian followers to populated the Bataan Peninsula. This resulted in a hug overload on available rations, because politics dictated that civilians be cared for first. It was strongly rumored, on Bataan, that the Filipino civilians were discarding canned salmon when salmon was unavailable to troops.

4. Lack of cold storage facilities required immediate consumption of animals slaughtered for food.

5. Deplorable hygiene facilities coupled with high number of flies and mosquitoes spread Dysentery, Diarrhea, Malaria, and Dengue throughout the populace.

6. During the dry season, many fresh water sources dried up. Water had to be hauled from Artesian wells or boiled for safety. All streams became polluted with dead animal carcasses.

Disease and malnutrition were rampant at the time of the surrender, April 9. The two field hospitals, near Little Bagiuo, had been filled to overflowing for months. New patients were reporting by many hundreds per day, the majority suffered from Malaria and Dengue, then fatigue, malnutrition, dehydration, and the onset of beriberi. The Bataan Peninsula was well known for the prevalence of the Malaria and Dengue carrying mosquitoes, yet medicines for treatment of, and daily prophylaxis for, these tropical debilitating diseases were inadequate at the outset of the Bataan campaign and their availability diminished at a faster rate than foodstuffs. By the middle of March, Quinine in tablet form disappeared from issue, so Quinine in powdered and liquid form was used for a short period, before disappearing entirely. All echelons of the military were afflicted with these problems. An exercise normally accomplished by one individual required two or three people to finish.

The March out of Bataan was made up of numerous groups ranging in size from a few hundred to more than a thousand. Each marching group had rotating guards accompanying them. These guards groups changed often, probably handed off to a different unit by sector. For the first few days, prisoners were subjected to searches at any time, often more than once per day. The group I marched with totaled about one thousand at the beginning, but varied with passing areas. For instance upon passing Hospital #2, most of the Filipino patients fell in with the column on crutches, canes, and dragging bloody bandages. The conquering troops provided no food or water for the first five days of the march. This occurred on the stop just before San Fernando, Pampanga Province. Water is always a great concern to troops on a march.

Although most of the flat land route had numerous Artesian wells operating, the Japanese guards prevented marchers from using them. The guards, at times, played games on the marchers, when one guard would encourage a prisoner to go for water, he and the other guards would use the prisoners for target practice. On two occasions, when we stopped for the night, we were allowed to use the wells. It was the dry season, the sun was hot and the average temperature was 105 degrees, during the day. Some of the prisoners were without headgear. The road had been trampled for months by feet, vehicular traffic, and tracked vehicles, so that five or six inches of dust was disturbed every time a foot dropped. The dust was suffocating and caked on clothing and skin. The situation called for liquid, but none was available to us. The lack of water was more critical than the lack of food. A person can feed on his flesh, but there is no substituted for water under dehydration conditions.

Many beatings were administered on the march. The shooting of straying prisoners was quite popular. Samurai swords were used to chop and slash on occasion, usually when an officer wanted to make a point in our treatment. The most frequent brutality was using the bayonet on those unable to maintain the pace of the march. When a marcher, unable to continue, dropped to the rear of the column, he was bayoneted and left lying on the road or booted off the road into the ditches. These bodies were left to lie there to decompose. At night, bodies were scraped from the road with tracked vehicles.

Obviously, I am not a fan of the Japanese, but in the interest of ensuring complete historical accuracy, the following conditions must be examined. The United States government, in all their pronouncements concerning the Bataan Death March, has placed full responsibility on the Japanese Army. The terrible treatment the Japanese fostered on the remnants of the Luzon Force should have given cause for the Allies to mete out the severest of punishment on those responsible for these horrible misdeeds. Responsibility, for the physical condition of the troops of the Luzon Force at the time of surrender, belongs to the United States government. It was their responsibility to provide properly to the well being of their troops. The Japanese fully expected their captives to be capable of marching the length of the Bataan Peninsula. A 90-Kilometer slow shuffling march in 7 to 9 days should have been a snap for any military person. Instead, the Luzon Force was in such a deplorable condition at the surrender that marching this route was an unbearable task for all but a few captives. With only one road available to negotiate the length of the Peninsula, and the Japanese months behind schedule, hard pressed to continue the advance against Corregidor, it was necessary to clear the captives from the area of combat as quickly as possible. This, and using the marching prisoners as shields for Artillery fire against Corregidor, led to the hasty movement of captives with little regard to their weakened condition.

The food stores available to the Luzon Force, and its predecessor, was totally without the fresh fruits and vegetables necessary for the body to fend off the maladies of Pellagra and Scurvy. The majority of the deaths at Camp O'Donnell, (more than 1,500 of the 9,300 who reached the camp and remained until 3 June 1942 died at the camp), were caused by "Inanition", a term used to describe the "loss of will to live". This is the same condition observed in captives dying of Pellagra, and especially in the Delirium phase of Pellagra. This places the responsibility of the inability of the United States government to provide a diet suitable of the prevention of these conditions. Additionally, most of the deaths occurring in the first three months following the movement of the Bataan survivors from Camp O'Donnell to Cabanatuan Camps were from Pellagra. The G-4 and Surgeon of Luzon Report:Annex#5

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The author of this piece is Paul Reuter. A life member of AXPOW. He states the following, "The National Archives and Defense Department Military History writings give scant coverage of the intolerable conditions existing during the battle for control of the Bataan Peninsula. My aim in writing this piece is to ensure that a somewhat limited but true historical accounting of these conditions is documented."

http://home.pacbell.net/fbaldie/requiem.html

[pageonetoo]

I was thinking of Bataan while reading about the Chinese riots against the Japanese.

WE look to the japanese as friends, but they have never really been our friends. They are in competition with us. They are indebted to us. They used our resources to win the economic war. They still think they are superior.

I rarely agree with the Chinese, but the Japanese have never repented for their CRIMES... Maybe we should join the protests...

What is the difference between a kamikazi and an ROP "suicide bomber"? It is still madness!

We have nothing for which to apologize... We just did not finish the job! Destroy the enemy, don't rebuild and re-arm him!

[jamaksin]

And to this day, one wonders why there was never any investigation into DugOut Doug's performance in the Philippines on December 7, 1941 ... ?

[kellynla]

"The Battling Bastards of Bataan,
No Mama, No Papa, No Uncle Sam,
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces,
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces,
And nobody gives a damn!"


by Frank Hewlett, 1942.

[UltraKonservativen]

Wow! Great info. THANKS.

[backhoe]

An old, old post:

Recalling Past Wars- the Bataan Death March, the Fall of Corregidor...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

There has been plenty written about MacArthur and his exit from the PI. Suggest "American Caesar" by William Manchester published in 1978, 14 years after MacArthur's death.
The book also covers what a poor job the US did in supporting the troops in the Philippines. IE: When the Japanese invaded, the US and Filipino troops had surplus WW I mortar shells to fire back. Fewer than a third actually fired.

[kellynla]

Thanks for the links.

[AmericanInTokyo]

The Red Chinese Communists are encouraging even greater crowds and lawlessness as I speak.

The TV video I saw showed them with the Red Flags streaming, and one carried a picture of Chairman Mao.

Two Japanese foreign exchange students have been injured, seriously, in Shanghai just today.

The Little Red Guards must be happy about their mob rule tactics in the last few days. Just like they were set upon, like wasps, the US Embassy in 2001 when their aircraft brought down our aircraft over Hainan, and WE 'refused to apologize'. Bastards.

[backhoe]

Thank you- we need to remember this stuff.

[Americanexpat]

NO Mama, No Papa, No Uncle Sam.

More or less it means they felt they were alone and abandoned by the the government when no one came to help them with ships and reinforcements.