World War 2?

Question

Do anybody know anything about the Bataan Death Marches??

Answer 1

The Bataan Death March (aka The Death March of Bataan) was a war crime involving the forcible transfer of prisoners of war, with wide-ranging abuse and high fatalities, by Japanese forces in the Philippines, in 1942, after the three-month Battle of Bataan, which was part of the Battle of the Philippines (1941-42), during World War II. In Japanese, it is known as Batān Shi no Kōshin meaning the same. 10,000 of the 75,000 POWs died.
Approximately 75,000 Filipino and United States soldiers, commanded by Major General Jonathan Wainwright formally surrendered to the Japanese, under General Masaharu Homma, on April 9, 1942, which required Japan to accept emaciated captives who outnumbered them. The next day, the prisoners were forced to begin a week-long journey about 160 kilometers to the north, to Camp O'Donnell, a prison camp in Tarlac province. They marched most of that distance, although for a small distance they were transported packed into railroad cars.

Prisoners of war were beaten randomly, and then were denied food and water for several days. The Japanese tortured many to death. Those who fell behind were executed through various means: shot, beheaded or bayonetted. The commonly-used Japanese "sun treatment" forced a captive to sit silently in the humid April sun without water or even the shade of his helmet.

Meanwhile, Allied forces elsewhere in the Philippines fought on, and the column of prisoners marching from Bataan was accidentally shelled by US guns defending Corregidor to screen the Japanese artillery movements. Packed into boxcars to travel from San Fernando to Capas, the number of prisoners was further diminished by malaria, heat, dehydration and dysentery.

Camps O'Donnell and Cabanatuan
Prisoners on a burial detail at Camp O'Donnell.About 10,000 perished while others were able to escape; approximately 54,000 reached Camp O'Donnell. The problems persisted there. On June 6, 1942 the Filipino soldiers were granted amnesty and released, while the American prisoners were moved to another camp at Cabanatuan. Many of the survivors were later sent to prison camps in Japan, Korea, and Manchuria in prisoner transports known as "Hell Ships." The 500 POWs who still resided at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp were freed in January 1945 in The Great Raid

War crimes trial

After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Homma was convicted by an Allied commission of war crimes, including the atrocities of the death march out of Bataan, and the atrocities at Camp O'Donnell and Cabanatuan that followed, and executed (killed) on April 3, 1946 outside Manila.
The Philippines
Every year, the captured soldiers are honored on Araw ng Kagitingan ("Day of Valor") (9 April), also known as the "Bataan Day", which is a Philippine national holiday. There is a shrine in Bataan commemorating this event. In Capas, Tarlac there is also the Capas National Shrine built in the grounds surrounding Camp O'Donnell.

New Mexico
The Bataan Death March is commemorated every year at White Sands Missile Range just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico. The march which covers 26.2 miles via paved road and sandy trails allows 4000 entrants from many military units both International and the United States armed services. Several of the few remaining Bataan prisoners await the competitors to congratulate them on their success of the grueling march, however the real thanks comes from the participants to those who actually endured the actual march and encampment at Cabanatuan.

Answer 2

NO I don't know anything about the Bataan Death Marches, but God is hoping that this isn't world war 2.

Answer 3

yes i had a good friend who is deceased now that was one of the soldiers that was abandoned on the island and had to eat rice rats worms and anything he could find to stay alive..when rescued he was skin and bones..i worked with him at the fire department and he paced the floor a lot of nights when he couldnt sleep..believe me all the men on our shift slept with one eye open..just before he died after retirement he patroled his property with a rifel and didnt even let his friends visit..in his last days he thought the japs were coming to get him

Answer 4

There was a very good book on this topic which was released five years ago:

Ghost Soldiers - by Hampton Sides

Answer 5

Yes my Dad was in the Philipines as a Sea Bee. Try www.history.com they will give you audio/visual as well.
Happy New Year.

Answer 6

That wacky wizard from Wikipedia says...Follow the link below.

Answer 7

Yes....which is why I hate MacArthur

Research it...it will bother you for years

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March

Answer 9

good for u....keep up the good work!!

Answer 10

you can find it at history.com

:> peace