BATTLE OF BATAAN

 


In April 9, 1942, the battle of Bataan ended. Lieutenant Normando Ildefonso Reyes informed the Philippines and the world, the message that Captain Salvador P. Lopez prepared from Malinta Tunnel in Corregidor, “Bataan has fallen”. The battle of Bataan lasted 93 days or four months after USAFFE retreated to Bataan. What followed afterwards is the March of 76, 000 prisoners of war and was known as the Bataan Death March.

 Because of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, there were no ships capable of delivering reinforcements to Bataan. The Japanese navy blockaded Bataan and nearby Corregidor, preventing any food, ammunition, or medicine from reaching the troops. Without supplies, they couldn’t hold out for long. As medical supplies ran out, diseases ravaged the Allied ranks, confining 10, 000 men to the two open- air jungle hospitals for wounds and illnesses and less than half of the remaining forces is considered capable of battling or effective in combat. The Japanese commenced its final assault in Bataan. Starving Allied soldiers fought as best as they could but they were no match for the Japanese and eventually surrendered on April 9. 

 In Bataan Death March, all those who fell, attempted to scape or stopped to drink water at a roadside spigot or puddle were shot or bayoneted. Even the civilians who tried to give water or food to the prisoners are also chased off or killed. The exact numbers of those killed by the Japanese remain unknown as they kept no record, but it is estimated between 7, 000 and 10, 000.

 At Camp O’ Donnell, the conditions of the prisoners got worst; little running water, sparse food and no medical care plus the intolerable heat. Diseases swept through the crowd of prisoners and died at a rate of 400 men per day. By the time Camp O’Donnell closed in January 1943, 26, 000 of 50, 000 Filipino POWs had died. 

 Their sacrifices will forever be remembered. Past and modern Heroes sacrificed something for their country. So don’t let these sacrifices be wasted and continue to love and improve the place where we belong.

References:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Battle-of-Bataan

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/araw-ng-kagitingan-2013/the-fall-of-bataan/

https://www.uso.org/stories/122-surrender-at-bataan-led-to-one-of-the-worst-atrocities-in-modern-warfare

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/08/523124519/ceremony-in-san-francisco-marks-the-75th-anniversary-of-the-bataan-death-march

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