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Ambassador Speaks to Last 73 American Survivors of the MarchThe Japanese ambassador to the United States apologized in person today to the 73 surviving POWs of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines in April 1942 during World War II. "We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people including prisoners of war, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan peninsula the Corregidor Island, Philippines and other places," Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki said at the last convention of the American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor POWs of the Japanese during World...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, May 11, 2009 – Eighty-six soldiers and civilians stationed here “joined” efforts with Minnesota National Guard soldiers in Minnesota to participate in the 12th Annual Bataan Memorial March yesterday. A soldier marches through Iraq’s desert heat during the Bataan Memorial March held on Contingency Operating Base Basra, May 10, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Eric Jungels   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The event honors veterans who were victims of the Bataan Death March, a war crime in which 78,000 servicemembers were forced to march more than 55 miles from the Bataan...

April 10, 1942 Bataan Death March begins 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...

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....

Concord's town flag will be lowered to half-staff today in honor of Henry John Wilayto, a survivor of the 1942 Bataan Death March during World War II, who died Feb. 28 at his Concord home of leukemia. He was 92.

On the flight deck of the amphibious ship Bataan, the hybrid aircraft known as the V-22 Osprey has taken roost. Lined up on the deck with its wings folded, the tilt-rotor aircraft hides its unique gift - it lifts off and hovers like a helicopter and flies like a plane.Almost 20 years after its first test flight, and a decade since two fatal crashes grounded it, the Osprey is poised for its first full deployment with a Navy amphibious group.Marines and sailors are now training with about 10 Ospreys aboard the Norfolk-based Bataan, off the coast of North Carolina, doing...

Charles Dragich survived the fighting in the Philippines, the Bataan Death March, a "hell ship," two bouts of malaria, near starvation, an air raid and slave labor.He emerged from a Japanese prisoner of war camp in 1945 at half his normal weight of 160 pounds, then promptly re-enlisted. He wore the uniform of the Army, and later the Air Force, for 26 years, retiring in 1964 as a chief master sergeant.Rather improbably and inexplicably, Dragich left the military without any decorations for fighting and surviving one of World War II’s most inhumane episodes — a forced 65-mile march in which...

My great uncle was captured in the Philippines by the Japanese during World War II, and died during the Bataan Death March. As far as I remember, I cannot recall anyone in my family saying that he was awarded the Purple Heart. If he was never awarded the Purple Heart, would he be eligible? If he did get it, how can I find out?

On this date in 1942, General Wainwright surrendered the American forces on Corregidor. Those men (my father among them), and a small number of nurses began their captivity at the hands of the Japanese army.My respects to the Americans and Filipinos who were The Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor.

My uncle, Weldon Hamilton, passed away last night. I thought the FR community would like to hear about this man who gave so much of himself for our country. He was captured in the Phillipines. He was on the Bataan Death March. He was beaten, he was starved, he worked forced labor in their mines, he was transported on their prison ships. He saw the bomb explode on Nagasaki and watched his comrades be executed. He was held in Japan for years. When he came home, he worked for years to make people aware of the sacrifice our soldiers made,...

3/31/2008 - CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) -- "Sand, hills and pain," an elderly marcher said, describing the 26.2 mile Bataan Memorial Death March, held March 30 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The annual march, in its 19th year, honored the men and women forced to march 60 miles by Japanese soldiers, and in thousands of instances died, in the Bataan Death March during World War II. More than 4,400 Airmen, Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and civilians participated in the march and experienced, in small part, what many thousands of American and Filipino soldiers went through after surrendering to...

A Tremendous Movie. It's been edited to remove the R rating, but you don't have to see all the blood to be shown what our men went through. From director John Dahl comes the stirring true story of one of the most spectacular rescue missions ever to take place in American history: "the great raid on Cabanatuan," the daring exploit that would liberate more than 500 U.S. Prisoners of War in the face of overwhelming odds. A gripping depiction of human resilience, the film vividly brings to life the personal courage and audacious heroism that allowed a small but stoic...

Japan's embattled defense minister resigned Tuesday over his comments suggesting the 1945 atomic bombings Hiroshima and Nagasaki were inevitable, news reports said. Fumio Kyuma had come under intense criticism from survivors of the bombing following the comments made over the weekend. He had apologized. Broadcaster NHK and NTV carried news of the resignation.

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...

Sixty-five years ago, William Onufry threw his rifle into the sea and marched 65 miles to the tip of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. After four months of fighting a relentless Japanese attack, Onufry and the remaining 12,000 American troops on the island were ordered to surrender on April 9, 1942. Hunger had weakened the men, and many were sick with dysentery or malaria. But the Japanese ordered them to march. Those who stepped out of line to find food or water were beaten. Stragglers were shot. The Bataan Death March claimed the lives of at least 600 Americans...

In 1942, Arthur Rice suffered through the Bataan Death March, 65 miles of heat, dehydration and abuse that claimed the lives of many of his fellow U.S. soldiers. He then toughed out years of forced labor as a Japanese prisoner of war. "My dad was such a survivor," said Jennyne Bilsky, 59, Rice's eldest child. "We always thought he had nine lives." Rice, an Air Force master sergeant, died in his Austin home Sunday morning. He was 89.

Bataan Memorial Death March draws thousands By Monte Marlin More than 3,800 people, both military and civilian, representing all 50 states plus the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Korea participated in the 2006 Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. on March 26. Mike Smith WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (Army News Service, March 29, 2006) – The 2006 Annual Bataan Memorial Death March was conducted March 26 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The event drew nearly 3,900 service members and civilians to the Army test range in southern New Mexico. Marchers represented all 50 states...

NEW MEXICO (Army News Service, March 28, 2006) – Almost 62 miles and 64 years later, Clifford “Smokey” Martinez received the Purple Heart March 26 at the 2006 Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range for wounds he received as a prisoner of war during World War II. WSMR Director Thomas R. Berard presented Smokey with the Purple Heart before close to 3,900 participants and thousands of spectators in a closing ceremony. “This award is 64 years overdue, but how appropriate to be able to present it on this magnificent occasion,” Berard said. Smokey, a Bataan Death March...

Essay Contest on POWs of the Japanese US-JAPAN DIALOGUE ON POWS, INC., a California non-profit organization, is pleased to announce that it will hold its first essay writing contest. The purpose of this contest is to promote understanding and dialogue among/between college students in Japan and the United States on the history of American POWs of the Japanese during WWII. We look forward to receiving many submissions from both countries. Two winners, one from Japan and the other from the United States, will win a free trip to Phoenix, Arizona, where the annual convention of American Defenders of Bataan and...

Admirals, I made a day trip to the Gulf Coast this weekend to visit with and thank our Sailors for the extraordinary work they are doing in the recovery and relief effort. I spent time at the Seabee base in Gulfport, NSA New Orleans and NAS/JRB New Orleans, as well as aboard HARRY S TRUMAN, BATAAN, TORTUGA and IWO JIMA. It was at once both a grim and an incredibly uplifting experience. Some of my impressions: