The Bataan Death March
1939-1945
The Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was from 1939 - 1945. It was a march that the roughly 75,000 Filipino and American soldiers were forced to make. It was a terrible and tasking 65 mile march to prison camps. Many people died due to harsh heat and cruel treatment. This became known as The Bataan Death March.
The day after being invaded at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the attack on the Philippines began. The Japanese captured the capital of the Philippines forcing the US-Filipino army to retreat to the Bataan peninsula. On April 9th the US General Edward King Jr (1884 - 1958) decided to surrender due to his troops being in critical shape, nearly dead.
This is where the horrible death march begins. The surrendered troops were split up into groups of roughly 100 and forced to march 65 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando. It was a nearly 5 day trip. Many people died because the Japanese would starve, beat, and bayonet the ones too weak to carry on. When finally at the prisoner-of-war camps many more died due to disease, famine, being treated like garbage sometimes even worse.