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Migration of Doom Bataan Death March |
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SOURCE http://www.icu.com/marconi/reports/nhd1.htm Marc Pimentel, Junior Division Research Paper "Because death became commonplace, it is the horror of what it took to survive that is remembered. Little is forgotten, yet much is not spoken of. . ." -Donald Knox 1 The cruelty of the Japanese forces in the invasion of the Philippines during WWII forced the migration during Bataan Death March that ended the lives of many Allied and Filipino soldiers. Out of the 78,000 soldiers forced to march, only about 54,000 reached the camp. All official records were burned or buried during the capture, so we will never know exactly how many American and Filipino troops died on the Bataan Death March. From the beginning of the United States' involvement in WWII, the American forces in the Phillippines were unprepared. In Bataan, there were about 78,000 Allied soldiers. 68,000 of them were Filipino and the remaining 12,000 were Americans. They only had a small number of planes and tanks, because the Japanese had bombed most of the bombers while they were still on the airfield at the very beginning of the war. The loss of seventeen B-17's and fifty-three P-40's quickly gave the Japanese air superiority. Most of the Filipino soldiers were civilians and were unequipped for war because many of them had WWI style rifles and only five-and-a-half months of training. Their uniforms consisted of a coconut helmet, blue denim fatigues, canvas shoes, and a light pack. 2 On December 10, 1941, the Japanese started their invasion of the Philippines.At the time, the US was about to grant the Philippines its independence, so they only had a few troops stationed there. General Douglas MacArthur was appointed to command the Fil-American forces in the Philippines. After heavy losses in Manila, MacArthur and his soldiers abandoned Manila and retreated to the Bataan Peninsula in late December. The Bataan peninsula is located to the West of Manila and is important because it has access to Corregidor, a small island that blocks the Manila Bay. Control of this island alows complete power over Manila Bay. They set up defensive lines and held the Bataan peninsula for a little less than three months. As the three months went by, the isolated US troops were running short on food and medicine while the Japanese were on the other side and were resting. The Japanese were also probably waiting for the American and Filipino soldiers to run out of food and become weak. The American soldiers were down to half rations (1,000 calories) and then quarter rations and many of them were sick with malaria and malnutrition. "The Bataan Force went out as it would have wished, fighting to the end its flickering, forlorn hope. No army has done so much with so little, and nothing become it more than its last hour of trial and agony. . ." - General MacArthur 3 In March 1942, the US government sent MacArthur to Australia. It was at this time he said his famous words, "I shall return." By saying these words, the troops began to lose hope because their leader was abandoning them. They were all left to die on the rock called Bataan. General Edward King was left behind to command the soldiers of Bataan. After three months of defending Bataan, King surrendered the weakened US and Filipino soldiers to the Japanese on April 9, 1942. He did this in direct disobedience to his orders from Wainwright, the general in charge of the Philippines. Wainwright wanted to pull off a counter-attack against the Japanese, but that would be like suicide because of the sickness of the troops on Bataan. General Homma Masharu was in control of the Japanese Bataan campaign. All of the other Japanese generals were finished fighting in the Philippines. Masharu was the only one who wasn't. He had thousands of enemy captives and was short on time to dispose of them. His plan was to march the prisoners north from Mariveles to San Fernando, and then send them on a train to Camp O'Donnell. It was a 60 mile walk from Mariveles to San Fernando. When General Edward King surrendered, he said that he could move the Americans on trucks, but the Japanese refused. "To them King was a worthless white general who had surrendered his worthless troops." 4 "I always wondered when I was going to die. . . When I went to bed I never knew if I was going to wake up. When I woke up I never knew if I was going to see the sunset that night. . . In other words, I was always toned up for any goddamn thing." -Corporal Wayne Lewis 5 In 1929, the Geneva Convention Relating to the Treatment of POW's was held. Many, countries signed it, but Japan did not. The Japanese believed that it is better for a soldier to die than being taken prisoner, so there was no need for the Geneva Convention. This enabled the Japanese to treat their prisoners with brutal hostility. General Masharu ordered that the Americans be treated with respect, but that obviously did not happen. As the starving, sick, and tired troops made their way to Mariveles, the Japanese soldiers repeatedly beat them and denied them food or water. Many of the soldiers died from dehydration and heat exhaustion while they were marching. Sgt. Charles Cook said, "You didn't dare stop to get water. They'd bayonet you if you tried." 6 When the local people tried to give the men food or help them, they would be shot. The same thing happened when the soldiers tried to help each other. Sometimes, the Japanese would take out their swords and start butchering the prisoners. Someone was keeping track of how many heads he saw on the side of the road. It was two heads chopped off per mile. That only counts for decapitations! "Our spirits rose. We were going to ride instead of more marching. In a few minutes we all wished we had continued to march. . ." -Corporal Hubert Gater 7 When the exhausted troops finally got to the railway, they were loaded up into the cars. The cars were meant for forty people, but the Japanese somehow squeezed one hundred of them in there. Sgt. Nicholas Fryzuik said, "When they closed the doors it was like suffocating. It was hotter than a sonovabitch. . . Another guy behind me began to holler and scream. He couldn't breathe. . . I wiggled as best I could and got by the goddamn door and forced it open a little." 8 It was like a sardine can and some people didn't even get to touch the floor; their friends were holding them up. Private Robert Brown said, ". . . Everybody had dysentery. There were no toilets. . .people were going crazy. . . It was a nightmare." 9 People just died on the spot from the stink and disease in the cars. "A Japanese officer gave us a little talk about what we could expect. He told us that Americans were dogs, and that they were going to be treated like dogs. . . That's when I began to realize we had big problems." -1st Sergeant Turner 10 The beaten and weary troops finally made it to Camp O'Donnell. The Bataan Death March ended here. At the beginning of the campaign, there were 78,000 men on Bataan, and now there were only 54,000. Everyone was searched for Japanese items. The Japanese thought that anything Japanese found on the Americans must have come off of a dead Japanese soldier. Corporal Hubert Gater said, "A Japanese officer closely examined the possessions of each man. . . Captain Schultz, had a Jap fan. They were charged with robbing dead Jap soldiers after battle. Of course this was a lie." 11 There were only three almost working water taps for the 54,000 soldiers. Baths were forbidden because it was a waste of water. At least one person died every 45 minutes. Sgt. Forrest Knox said, "The Filipinos were dying like flies. . . their bodies went by in an endless column. It never ended. Day and night the bodies were carried to the cemetery. . ." 12 In the end, one out of every six people who survived the "March" died in the camp. No American would ever find out about what happened in Bataan until January 28, 1944, when it appeared in the newspaper. The headline was, "5,200 Americans, Many More Filipinos Die of Starvation, Torture After Bataan. . ." 13 That was almost two years after this atrocity happened. The American government found out about the Bataan Death March in April 1943, when a small group of Americans escaped from a camp in Davao. The impact of the Bataan Death March was felt on both sides of the world. The Bataan Death March has strengthened relationships between the U.S., the Philippines and Japan but it has also created a chasm between them. These countries are the United States, the Philippines, and Japan. The relationship of the Americans and Filipinos was strengthened by the Bataan Death March. The Americans and Filipinos viewed each other as equals and friends. This is because they fought together side by side against the Japanese. Both of them suffered great amounts of pain together from one oppressor. This created a bond between America and the Philippines. According to Mr. Dennis O'Leary, "[The] Japanese have not come to terms with killing forty percent of the prisoners." 14 This lack of acknowledgment leaves a thorn in the side of the foreign relations between the Fil-Americans and the Japanese. The relations between the US and Japan have been weakened in the past because of the Bataan Death March, but things are changing. Many people and war veterans have a prejudice against the Japanese because of what they did in World War II. The wounds are starting to heal. There now is economic acceptance of Japan. One example of this is the acceptance of having Japanese languages courses in school and learning about Japanese culture. Another example is the acceptance and popularity of Japanese sushi bars in the United States. There is still bitterness between the Filipinos and the Japanese, but like the situation between America and Japan, the wounds are healing. The older generation who experienced the war is still angry at the Japanese, but the newer generation does not feel that way towards them. This is because a long time has passed since the Bataan Death March and people forgive and forget over the years. Even to this day, there are special events that commemorate the Bataan Death March. On April 20, 1997, there was a "Bataan Memorial Death March" 15 at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This is the biggest military memorial march in the country. In this memorial march, a team of people are supposed to wear full gear and 35 pound bag of weights walking through desert land. Also, there is a "Bataan Road"in Orangeburg, New York. 16 It probably was named after Bataan from the Bataan Death March. This shows that the American people still acknowledge and remember the Bataan Death March.
In conclusion, the Bataan Death March during WWII forced the migration
of thousands of Fil-American soldiers and killed more than 10,000 of
them. The Bataan Death March also had a lasting impact on the countries
involved in the march. As a result of the Bataan Death March, foreign
relations between those countries were strengthened and weakened. Over
time, the people forgave and forgot the atrocities of the war and the
gap between the Allies and Japan started to close.
1 Donald Knox, Death March: The Survivors of Bataan (New York: Harcourt
Brace Inc, 1981) xi.
Bibliography Primary Sources Knox, Donald. Death March: The Survivors of Bataan. New York: Harcourt Brace Inc, 1981. History of the Bataan Death March told through the words of Bataan Death March survivors. I used this for specific details of the experiences and for an understanding of the feelings and hardships that the survivors had. "Oct. 24, 1996 -- Bataan Memorial Death March scheduled for 4/20/97." [http://www.wsmr.army.mil/paopage/Pages/961024.htm] October 24, 1996. Downloaded 27 Oct. 1997. [available as of Dec. 1st, 2000] Actual Internet advertisement for the Bataan Memorial Death March from White Sands Missile Range. This was used for the impact section explaining an event that honors the Bataan Death March. "Survivors' Statements on Japanese Abuse of Prisoners on Bataan." New York Times 28 Jan. 1944: 6. Actual reports of witnesses of Bataan Death March. This article was useful for more background and for actual experiences of soldiers on the Bataan Death March. This was also for little details concerning the conditions on the Bataan Death March. Whitman, W. John. Bataan: Our Last Ditch. New York: Hippocrene Books Inc., 1990 Lengthy story of the Bataan Campaign combining actual quotes and narration. An excerpt from a speech by General MacArthur was used in the background section to add more feeling and to make the report come "alive." Young, J. Donald. The Battle of Bataan. Jefferson: McFarland and Company Inc., 1992.
History of the 90 day siege and surrender of Filipino and US troops.
Maps included. I used a small poem from this book to add more detail and
emphasis on describing the Philippine army.
Daws, Gavan. Prisoners of the Japanese. New York: William Morrow and
Company Inc., 1994.
Knox, Donald. Death March: The Survivors of Bataan. New York: Harcourt Brace Inc, 1981.
History of the Bataan Death March told through the words of Bataan Death
March survivors. I read this book to see the atmosphere and attitudes of
the people on the Bataan Death March.
Telephone interview with son of a Bataan Death March survivor. He grew up listening to the war stories of his father. This was very useful in that he confirmed my observations in the "Impact" section of the report. He also referred me to a book entitled, Bataan: Our Last Ditch. "The Bataan Death March." [http://www.neta.com/~1stboks/bataan.htm] Downloaded 27 Oct. 1997. [no longer available] A short and brief overview of the Bataan Death March outlining the major phases of the march. This was like a checklist for me in writing this paper. There were also multiple statistics listed here. Weinberg, L. Gerhard. A World At Arms. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 313- 315. Brief overview of the Japanese/American fighting in Southeast Asia. The book was researched for information for my report to help understand the circumstances under which the Bataan Death March started. Whitman, W. John. Bataan: Our Last Ditch. New York: Hippocrene Books Inc., 1990
Lengthy story of the Bataan Campaign combining actual quotes and
narration. Very useful in gathering statistics and quotes.
Newspaper article written about sufferings of prisoners on the Bataan Death March. Photo copied and read this newspaper for a secondhand account of the Bataan Death March and for seeing what the people and the media at that time thought about the Bataan Death March. Young, J. Donald. The Battle of Bataan. Jefferson: McFarland and Company Inc., 1992. History of the 90 day siege and surrender of Filipino and US troops. Maps included. I used this for learning how the Fil-American Forces were cornered into the Bataan peninsula and what they did during the time they held Bataan. |
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