The Bataan Death March

Araw ng Kagitingan, (Day of Valor in English) used to be known as Bataan Day. It is a holiday to commemorate the day Bataan fell to Japanese forces during World War II. Now it commemorates both the Fall of Bataan and the Fall of Corregidor.

The Battle of Bataan happened during the World War II, began on January 6, 1942 and ended on April 9, 1942 as the Bataan troops surrendered. After the Filipino and American Bataan troops surrendered to the Japanese troops, the Bataan Death March happened. Most of the prisoners(Bataan troops) began the long walk in Mariveles, at the tip of Bataan, and had to march the full 66 miles to the rail head; others joined along the way. The Japanese brutalized their captives during the march north to the trains that would take them to a prison camp. They beat them incessantly, sometimes to move them along, sometimes just for sport. Most of the POW’s were then forced to march to Tarlac in what is now known as the Bataan Death March. Thousands of Filipino, Chinese-Filipino, and American soldiers and civilians died from dehydration, heat prostration, untreated wounds, and executions for attempting to escape the march.

No one knows how many people died as a result of the march and subsequent detention. Approximately 500 Americans and 2,5
00 Filipino soldiers were killed along the path of the main march. Perhaps 26,000 Filipino soldiers and 1,500 Americans died of famine and sickness at Camp O'Donnell. Only roughly 15,000 of the 22,000 Americans captured by Japanese forces on the Bataan Peninsula returned to the United States, indicating a fatality rate of more than 30%.

Now the Philippine government commemorates the day we fell into Japanese hands. In 1961, the Congress declared every April 9 as a holiday to remember those who have suffered during World War II.

Filipinos in Bataan, as well as Americans, fought as hard as they could for our country's democracy. After all, they sought to fight for the country's liberation, dedicating their life to freeing the country during World War II, and Filipinos demonstrated their nationalism or love for the country by battling for the country's democracy. Many Filipinos have fought and died for the nation's democracy in the past, sacrificing their lives to free the country from foreign countries' invasions and occupation. We are currently living in freedom thanks to our forefathers, the Filipinos, and we must make good use of it.