Posted on 04/02/2009 3:10:11 PM PDT by Dubya
LAS CRUCES, N.M., April 2, 2009 – The resounding boom of cannon fire broke the sound of thousands of participants talking as they waited in anticipation March 29 for the start of the 2009 Bataan Memorial Death March.
This year, the 26.2-mile event at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., included more than 5,300 participants from 50 states and eight countries, including the Philippines, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom.
While individuals marched for their own reasons, they all came together for the same purpose: to honor the soldiers, who were part of the Bataan Death March during World War II.
The Bataan Death March occurred in 1942 after the Japanese attacked the Bataan peninsula in the Philippines, where American and Filipino soldiers were stationed. After three months of fighting the Japanese with insufficient weapons and dwindling supplies, the American and Filipino soldiers were ordered to surrender April 9, 1942.
The Japanese forced the soldiers to march more than 60 miles with nearly no food or water. The prisoners were subjected to heinous acts of torture and many were killed or perished while marching. Some of the soldiers who survived the march spent the next three years in Japanese prisoner of war camps until freed in 1945.
The opening ceremony for the march included a roll call of the New Mexico National Guard survivors, who were members of the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery units.
One by one, the names of those living and deceased were called out as a reminder of what’s called America’s “Greatest Generation.”
Some of the Bataan survivors lined up along the starting line and shook hands with the racers as a show of gratitude to those who were marching in their honor.
Young and old marched side by side on the rugged terrain with runners, military personnel carrying rucksacks weighing at least 35 pounds, and wounded warriors marching on prosthetic limbs.
Each participant was determined to finish the march and could be heard inspiring others no matter how much their body ached and feet hurt.
Tabitha Baker recalled the moment she crossed the finish line. “The proudest moment was … seeing the survivors waiting there to commemorate the participants for completing the march. As I shook the survivor’s hand I said, ‘It is an honor to meet you.’ He looked at me, held my hand and answered, ‘No, it is an honor to meet you.’
“It is amazing to see these men … have so much pride and admiration for the soldiers of today.”
As each year passes, there are fewer living Bataan veterans, but the responsibility to keep the memory alive will never perish.
(Army Staff Sgt. Anna Doo serves with the New Mexico National Guard.)
Pinging you to this outstanding thread, Ronnie. Thank you, Dubya.
Wisconsin Army National Guard Soldiers...ROCK! :)
Thanks very much for posting the info regarding Sgt.Siffleet.
.
NEVER FORGET
.
American Veterans sharing their heroic stories with all...
...of their selflessly bringing more FREEDOM, and thus more LOVE, to the world:
The FREEDOM Committee of Orange County
.
NEVER FORGET
.
Thanks. My great uncle John died of starvation during the Bataan Death March. RIP.
Thanks. MacArthur should get a lot of the blame for that one. I've read both sides of the arguments, but his decision not to fall back to Bataan immediately, as per Plan Orange, was one a major factor. Everybody knew that we'd be at war with Japan** but Mac didn't do anything to build roads/defences on the peninsula. Then, after his disastrous retreat from the Lingayen beaches, he abandoned TONS of badly-needed food that would have let the troops survive a couple of more months.
Bataan surrendered April 9 - two months later, on June 7 we broke the back of the Jap Navy at Midway. Plan Orange was that as soon as war broke out, the troops were to hole up in Bataan and wait for the Navy. With the navy badly damaged at Pearl Harbor, that altered the timetable, but had those troops been fed right and held out longer, who knows?
For a sea-going version of Bataan, check out "The Asiatic Fleet" Except for the heavy cruiser Houston, the whole fleet was obsolete - and it was sent up against the world's third largest navy. Halfway down the page is a list of ships - only the subs, a badly-damaged WWI light cruiser, and a handful of the destroyers got out, everything else was sunk or scuttled.
**Back in the mid-'50s I worked with a gal who lost her husband at Bataan. She was on a ship that carried the troops over there in early '41. She said that as they went through the Panama Canal, people on the docks would yell "SUCKERS", as it was obvious war was coming.
Probably more that you wanted to know, but your reply caused me to get on my soapbox. :-)
I am watching “We Were Soldiers” on TNT. I often think of you, Rick Rescorla, and every other brave person who stood up for us.
Thank you—and I will never, ever forget.
.
Thank you for your kindness, Protect the Bill of Rights.
And for your LOVE of FREEDOM, as well.
http://www.Freerepublic.com/~aloharonnie/
.
AR
.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.