Bataan Death March

Written by: HM2 Joshua Dancel

The Bataan Death March was one of the darkest hours of the Alliance between the United States of America and the Philippines during World War II. About 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Imperial Army of Japan after the Fall of Bataan in 1942 were forced to march 60 miles from the Bataan peninsula prison camps to concentration camps in Capaz, Tarlac without food and just one sip of water. Under the sweltering summer heat, the prisoners were mercilessly murdered along the 60-mile hump. Anyone who complained, was too weak to march or helped those who could not walk or stopped were all summarily beheaded, shot, had throats cut, or were run over by trucks that were travelling behind them. For the next five days, bodies of American and Filipino soldiers littered the dirt road as testimonies to the brutal cruelty of the Japanese Imperial soldiers. It was estimated that out of the 75,000 prisoners, only about 54,000 made it their destination alive.

So as not to forget their ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom and democracy, Expeditionary Medical Faciltiy Kuwait warriors participated in the first Bataan Memorial Death March in Camp Arafjan on 21 March 2010 carrying 35 pound packs and marching 12.5 miles.