Why is bataan death march important

Those who survived faced the hardships of prisoner of war camps and the brutality of their Japanese captors. The POWs would not see freedom until when U.

In , U. These soldiers would be impacted by the poor conditions of the camps and the mistreatment by their Japanese captors. About one-third of the prisoners died from health complications after they were freed. Others were wounded or killed when unmarked enemy ships transporting prisoners of war to Japan were sunk by U. During the Bataan Death March, approximately 10, men died. Of these men, 1, were American and 9, were Filipino. This had a huge impact on New Mexico families.

Of the 1, th and th Coast Artillery men identified, men were to never return home, losing their lives in battle, in prisons, or after liberation.

Although researchers still debate the numbers, it is reasonable to conclude that several thousand Filipinos and several hundred Americans were killed on the march, with as many as 30, dying of disease within weeks after entering captivity.

American prisoners use improvised litters to carry comrades too weak to walk along the road. The U. Propaganda poster featuring the Bataan Death march and Japanese mistreatment of U. When U. MacArthur took great risks to liberate prisoner of war camps before the Japanese could kill their captives. In one notorious incident in the province of Palawan on December 14, , Japanese soldiers murdered U.

After the war the Japanese commander in the Philippines during the fall of Bataan, General Masaharu Homma, was tried for war crimes, convicted, and executed by firing squad. The American people would do well to remember their own history when it comes to the just treatment of prisoners of war, lest we commit actions that, like the Bataan Death March, serve to enrage the enemy, motivate his supporters, and turn world opinion against us. The abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in and statements made in the recent presidential campaign seemingly condoning the use of torture against detainees suggests we may have already forgotten.

Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Stanton Foundation. Skip to main content. The Ohio State University. Department of History. Home Topics Africa. The day after Japan bombed the U. Within a month, the Japanese had captured Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and the American and Filipino defenders of Luzon the island on which Manila is located were forced to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula.

For the next three months, the combined U. Finally, on April 9, with his forces crippled by starvation and disease, U. General Edward King Jr. The surrendered Filipinos and Americans soon were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to march some 65 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando. The men were divided into groups of approximately , and the march typically took each group around five days to complete. The exact figures are unknown, but it is believed that thousands of troops died because of the brutality of their captors, who starved and beat the marchers, and bayoneted those too weak to walk.

Survivors were taken by rail from San Fernando to prisoner-of-war camps, where thousands more died from disease, mistreatment and starvation. America avenged its defeat in the Philippines with the invasion of the island of Leyte in October General Douglas MacArthur , who in had famously promised to return to the Philippines, made good on his word. Unfortunately, about five ships were sunk by the American navy, and about 10, POWs lost their lives at sea as a result.

For more on the hell ships, read here. The hell ships arrived in different places, but many were destined for labor camps in Japan. At these labor camps, the POWs sometimes engaged in acts of sabotage, bending the fins of bombs and stealing food, explain Rogers and Bartlit. The cruel treatments continued as punishments included forcing two POWs to strike each other in the face until both were bloody, as well as beheadings with samurai swords.

Following the Japanese surrender, the remaining POWs received aid as planes dropped medicine and food. Eventually they would return to the US in hospital ships, where they were permitted to eat anything they wanted. According to Rogers and Bartlit, in one navy ship, they were served rice. The POWs promptly protested and threw rice all over the ship. He was extradited to the Philippines for the Manila war crime tribunals. He was indicted on 48 counts of violating international rules of war, including responsibility for the Death March.

Although he denied involvement, he was found guilty and executed. For more on his trial, read here. In , America signed the Peace Treaty with Japan, which included a provision waiving claims of former POWs against the Japanese government, according to historian Kinue Tokudome in an article regarding the survivors of Bataan.

Seeking justice, Bataan survivors then filed lawsuits against the Japanese companies that ran the labor camps under a newly created California law in that allowed compensation for WWII labor victims, describes Tokudome. Both the American and Japanese government sided against them, citing the Peace Treaty again. Eventually, all of the lawsuits were dismissed. Most of the POWs at that point were in their 80s and 90s, which added to the urgency.

Finally in , Tenney met with the Japanese Embassy. The POWs continued to fight for apologies from the Japanese companies that ran the labor camps as well. In , in a historical moment, one of the companies that used POWs in labor camps, Mitsubishi Materials Company, apologized in a speech at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

They were the only company to apologize. The Bataan Death March is remembered both in movies and memorials.