Posted on 03/25/2015 6:13:37 AM PDT by pabianice
For the eighth time, Bataan Death March survivor Col. Ben Skardon finished his 8.5-mile memorial trek through a course at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
Skardon, 97, was flanked by more than thirty supporters from "Ben's Brigade," a group of friends and family who have marched with him in past memorial marches. They wore Clemson University orange in honor of Skardon's alma mater.
At one point, Skardon showed off his class ring from 1938, which he kept hidden from his Japanese captors. The infamous march saw tens of thousands American and Filipino soldiers taken as prisoners of war by Japanese forces in World War II. On April 9, 1942, the prisoners were forced to march for days through scorching heat and jungles. Hundreds - if not thousands - of prisoners died on the way to their final destination, Camp O'Donnell. The exact number is unknown.
After the war, Japanese commander Lt. Gen. Homma Masaharu was held responsible for the march and tried in Manila during January and February 1946. He was executed for war crimes in April of that year.
Skardon was greeted at the end of the march by Uuli Dunn. Dunn, whose husband designed the White Sands course, has greeted Skardon at the end of all eight marches.
He looks great for 97! There’s a guy who has a true appreciation for his freedoms and liberties. God love him!
Hat Tip to Leo Harmon who survived the Bataan Death March and his best friend B.J. who did not.
Amazing! He does look wonderful...hope I look half that good when I’m 97!
Truly inspiring. Such men can never be defeated.
New Mexico PING!
Just knowing that such men equal to the greatest heroes of antiquity still walk the Earth gives me hope.
Several years ago I was involved on the support side of the event and saw one of the survivors trucking along; it might have been the same guy.
I remember some survivors of Bataan when I was a kid in NM. OI later read that it was mostly NM soldiers that were in the Philippines in 1941.
Amazing man. God bless him.
I remember some survivors of Bataan when I was a kid in NM. OI later read that it was mostly NM soldiers that were in the Philippines in 1941
I, too remember two Bataan Death March survivors when growing up in northern New Mexico. All of us kids were taught their story and we respected and honored them.
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