Posted on 04/14/2007 6:39:12 AM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — Threatening rain clouds and blustery winds didn’t stop 18 students from embarking on a 14-mile trek Friday.
Seventh- and eight-grade students of First Baptist Christian Academy tackled the 14 mile walk to commemorate soldiers of the Bataan Death March, part of a World War II history segment the students have been studying. Led by their eight-grade teacher, retired Army Lt. Col. Dave Davenport, the students have been preparing for the walk every Friday for the past few weeks.
“We started out by walking two miles, then kept increasing it so we could get ready for this,” said seventh grader Katie Hawks. “Then we went eight, 10 and 12 miles. Now we’re doing the 14-mile walk.” Squinting into the wind, Hawks talked about the walk and why she believes it’s important to honor the men of the historic Bataan March.
“This walk is a time to stop and really think about how the soldiers suffered and died,” she said. “My family knows someone who was on the Bataan Death March and he survived. It was a terrible experience, one he’ll never forget. So I think it’s important that we take this seriously and really think about what those American soldiers went through and how they sacrificed their lives for our country.”
Eighth-grader Susan Veney-Malcou, along with classmate Kaitlyn Wilson did a presentation about the Bataan March. Veney-Malcou discussed some of the things she learned through her research. The march, she said, was a war crime that involved the forcible transfer of prisoners of war by Japanese forces in the Philippines in 1942. The march occurred after Filipino and U.S. soldiers formally surrendered to the Japanese army on April 9, 1942. At the hands of Japanese soldiers, the prisoners were subjected to widespread abuse, which resulted in a high number of fatalities. The starving, disease stricken Filipino and U.S. prisoners were forced to march as much as two-thirds of the 90 miles that separated Bataan from their destination, Camp O’Donnell.
“The prisoners were beaten and were not given food or water, even though it was extremely hot,” Veney-Malcou said. “They were already starving before they surrendered and started the march. During the march, if they went too slow or got too far behind, they were executed or left to die.”
The soldiers suffered from heat, malaria, dehydration and dysentery.
About 54,000 of the 72,000 prisoners reached the Camp O’Donnell destination.
She also talked about Hellships, the unmarked Japanese freighters used to transport the American prisoners.
“Because the United States army didn’t know the ships were carrying Americans, they blew them up,” the eighth grader said. “A lot of American prisoners were killed on the Hellships.”
After the presentation by Veney-Malcou and Wilson, students were deeply moved by the horrible ordeal the soldiers endured. So when Davenport suggested a commemorative walk in their honor, the students supported the idea.
“I’ve participated in a commemorative marathon in the past, so I asked my students if they’d be interested in our own version of a march,” the teacher said.
Along with Davenport’s eight grade class, seventh grade teacher Lisa Gorski and her students went on the 14-mile march. Ninth grader Isacc Gorski, a Buena High School student and son of Lisa Gorski, missed school to walk with his mother’s seventh grade class.
“I think it’s great that the students are learning about the Bataan March and are honoring the soldiers who were involved and who lost their lives,” Isacc Groski said. “I really didn’t know much about this piece of history before this.”
Eighth grade student Arianne Trapp said that she’s pleased her teacher organized the walk. “It’s worth it to take the time out of class to walk and recognize everything the soldiers went through,” she said.
Zack Fitzmaurice, another eight grader, agreed. “We were given a presentation by Susan and Kaitlyn and it was pretty interesting,” he said. “We learned a lot of details about the march that we probably wouldn’t have learned. I think it’s cool that Mr. Davenport takes the time to do this and honor the soldiers.”
Sean Whitman, also in the eighth grade, said he had never heard about the march before his classmates’ presentation. “This has been a really great learning experience for us to see what the soldiers went through,” he said. “This walk is a good way to commemorate the soldiers. I’m glad we’re doing it.”
Other than being a little cold, seventh grader Chris Young said that he was happy his class decided to join the eighth graders. “I think this is a good way to think about what those soldiers went through.
They really suffered. The Japanese made the American soldiers walk miles and miles with no food or water and so many of them collapsed and died. What we’re doing today is nothing compared to what they went through.”
The students walked five laps around a vacant field behind First Baptist Christian Academy, about 1.5 miles each, and then walked to the Mall at Sierra Vista for lunch, about 3.5 miles. Following lunch, they walked back to school, for a total of 14 miles.
A number of parents and school staff also walked with the students. Some of the adult participants included: School administrator Dave Howe; Louis Veney, hailed as the eighth grade class’ adopted grandfather; Bryan Kolodetsky; and Holly Whitman.
herald/review reporter Dana Cole can be reached at 515-4618 or by e-mail at dana.cole@svherald.com.
Bataan Bump
First of all. Very cool story.
Secondlyly, how can editors miss “seventh and *eight* grade” students? The mistake was made twice in the same paragraph.
Irony
;-)
This is a great story. Sadly, children today know little, if anything, of what happened to US and other allied POWs of the Japanese during WWII. Some one-third of them failed to survive their captivity. On the other hand, children today know all about political correctness and self-esteem
My Grandpa survived the Bataan death march but he never spoke of it. Never, not even once.
My maternal great uncle, one of the first of his family to be born in the U.S. (his family was Polish), died in the Bataan death march. Interestingly enough, my mother ended up marrying my Filipino father almost 36 years later.
Oh, I know that. In fact, I have a relative on my father’s side that fought in the Filipino resistance. One of my favorite movies is “The Great Raid.”
A good story. Kudos to the teachers and students of the First Baptist Christian Academy.
It’s deplorable that the NEA-run Public School System will not teach about heroic events in American history.
My father survived the Bataan Death March and then was a POW for over 3 years in the Phillipines. He was one of the 520 men liberated in “the Great Raid” -—— weighing 89 lbs (and was 6 ft tall) at the time of liberation. He was a true hero who never waivered in his love and respect for this country. He would be a sad man today with the left’s lack of resolve
the headline writer doesnt realize that when Star Trek fans read the headline they all went “HUH?!”
yikes, great minds, I had not scrolled down far enough.
There were two gentlemen in my locale who were there.
The only way I know it now was because another gentleman told me.
I also knew one of Merrill’s Marauders, and didn’t know this fact about him until after his death, when another fellow that knew him then informed me.
These men made history, and were the most modest men I knew.
I have always had the greatest respect for these men, and I have been lucky to know some of them, even though I didn’t know these things about them at the time.
They were good men, and had a great impact on my life.
God bless your father!
Unortunately this would never have happened in a public school. It’s up to the parents to teach this history to their children. What passes for history in many public schools today is really trash. Another example of the dumbing down of our society.
It’s always infuriated me that Abu Graib was deemed torture. It demeans what these men and those who experienced the Holocaust went thru.
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