Bataan Summer 2008

Bataan Perspectives: Who's Bataan Death March
Remembering and Forgetting the Bataan Death March in Memorials
Miguel Llora

The old Bataan Death March Monument

Figure 2 a1: The old Bataan Death March Monument in Capas, in Tarlac as of 2006

According to Ed Lavin, Colonel, USAF (RET) at Hilbig Park in Rockne Texas on Saturday, November 8, 2008 in observance of Veterans Day:

The events following surrender were far worse than any imagined. What came to be known as the Bataan Death March began almost immediately after the surrendered Bataan defense forces were assembled in the large fields outside of Mariveles. For the Japanese, it was a logistical nightmare. There were far more prisoners than they had anticipated and they had to move them out of the south to the north. Lacking anywhere near enough trucks to transport the 70,000 prisoners of war, a forced march became the only way to move them. The Japanese also lacked food and medicine for their prisoners. Additionally, Japanese military doctrine considered surrender as cowardice, so the treatment of the prisoners was brutal. About 11,700 Americans and as many as 65,000 Filipinos began the 65-mile march from the Bataan Peninsula to San Fernando. Of those, between 600 and 700 Americans and between 5,000 and 10,000 Filipinos died on the march.

Source: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrha/f-hil05a.htm#March

Figure 2 a2: The old Bataan Death March Monument in Capas, in Tarlac as of 2006

The causes of death were many, from malaria and dysentery to starvation and sheer exhaustion. Other deaths were indescribably horrific and violent. Many Filipinos and some Americans were beheaded and both Americans and Filipinos were forced to endure the "sun treatment" where soldiers were forced to look for hours directly toward the sun. Falling out of the march meant death. Prisoners were cruelly taunted by their Japanese captors, who dangled food or water within reach before knocking the men back with a bayonet thrust. One Filipino survivor recalled “In the eyes of the Japanese, we were cowards to have surrendered as they believed that taking your own life was a far better fate. We were beaten, slapped, pushed, tortured and yelled at while we marched. I was struck on the back of the head with the butt of the rifle of one of my captors. I remembered thinking of my mother and how she would suffer if I died. So I balanced as much as I could so as not to fall. Once an American soldier would fall he would be stabbed with the bayonet or shot. Several of my comrades fell from fatigue on top of illness and would not go on. They were immediately killed. All the time I thought I would be next.

Source: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrha/f-hil05a.htm#March

Figure 2 a3: The old Bataan Death March Monument in Capas, in Tarlac as of 2006

The Japanese denied water to their prisoners of war, even though springs were located all along the road. Men driven mad by thirst plunged into disease-infested mud pits, only to be shot or beaten. Those who survived soon came down with any number of diseases, from pellagra to dysentery. Some received food the first night, but it was little more than a ball of rice, at best. Many went without any food or water for the many days it took to complete the march. By the second day, the worn and battered men, many of them marching the dusty roads in their bare feet, began to fall. The march quickly became a matter of survival of the fittest, though there are many accounts of lives being saved by selfless acts. Some of the men were carried into San Fernando by friends and comrades from their units. Upon arrival in San Fernando, the men were packed into cramped boxcars and taken by train to Camp O’Donnell. Those too weak to go further died in the boxcars, overcome by the heat. Survivors were then forcibly marched another five miles to Camp O’Donnell.

Source: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrha/f-hil05a.htm#March

Figure 2 b: The old Bataan Death March Monument in Capas, in Tarlac as of 2007

Camp O’Donnell Memorial Monument

Figure 3 a, b, and c: Camp O’Donnell Memorial Monument:

On April 9, 2003, the former site of Camp O’Donnell internment is contested over by the Philippine government through the official dedication of a 70-meter high obelisk and a memorial wall (Figure 1 and 2). The black marble memorial wall is engraved with the names of the Filipinos and Americans and surrounds the obelisk. In 1999, prior to the 2003 dedication, adjacent to the Capas National Shrine is the Camp O’Donnell Memorial constructed by the Battling Bastards of Bataan as a response to what they perceived to be a lack of recognition for American sacrifice. The picture below are of the Camp O'Donnell Memorial Monument. The memorial was built by the organization known as "The Battling Bastards of Bataan" to honor those American men who died at Camp O'Donnell, while prisoners of the Japanese. The Cement Cross is a replica of the original cement cross built by the POWs. The monument is located adjacent to the Capas National Shrine, in Capas, Tarlac. Camp O'Donnell was the first prison camp for the men who survived the "Death March."

Camp O'Donnell Memorial Monument:

The Story...

According to monument’s co-creator Federico "Fred" Baldassarre, pedagogy and remembering were the major impetus of the Battling Bastards of Bataan to build the Camp O'Donnell Memorial Monument. "We participated in the May, 1999 tour of Bataan and Corregidor, and related sites, such as the O'Donnell and Cabanatuan. When we reached Camp O'Donnell, we found nothing there to note that this was the final destination of the Bataan Death March and it was where over 1,600 young Americans died while in the hands of their Japanese captors. Equally disturbing was the ignorance displayed by our tour guides. We felt it would be a complete disgrace if this location, made sacred by the human sacrifice of so many young men, would slowly be reduced to anonymity as the older generation passes on. We felt a very important piece of history would disappear. American Bataan veterans often say, "Hell is a state of mind, but Camp O'Donnell was the place"" (Personal Communication June 21-22, 2008). Government funding for the American Camp O'Donnell Monument was difficult to secure because the story of Bataan is one episode in American history that many are unwilling to admit, implying that the betrayal of American troops by a series of commanders who abandoned both them and the Filipinos eventually landing both in internment camps (Webster 2). The Camp O'Donnell site, by virtue of its focus on American dead downplays participation of the Philippine Scouts and USAFFE. The subsequent unveiling in 2003 of the Capas National Shrine, conversely, places emphasis on the Filipino participation as a response to the Camp O'Donnell Monument. The question of what to do with Filipino World War II veterans continues to haunt the U.S. and Philippines alike. If the U.S. decides to officially acknowledge the joint efforts, it could set a precedent that would lead to monetary as well as immigration status changes for several Filipino veterans.

Camp O'Donnell Memorial Monument:

The Story...

Despite the lack of support from the American government, the resolve to preserve the legacy of sacrifice outweighed government reluctance to fund the memorial. Both Maj. Richard M. Gordon, commander of the BBB, and James Litton, the Philippine Representative of the BBB sought and were denied financial assistance from the American Battle Monuments Commission. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is a Federal Agency based in Washington DC and like all Federal agencies; it has to function within budgetary and political constraints. The ABMC only spends money on projects which are "fanned by the current political winds" (Baldassarre Personal Communication June 26, 2008). According to Baldassarre, "individuals whom I have met who work for the ABMC are great stewards and they do care a great deal about Bataan, but they are not the ones in [Washington] DC making the decisions on how to spend their money" (Baldassarre Personal Communication June 26, 2008). At the time that Gordon and Litton requested funding Bataan was set aside for more high profile engagements like Normandy or Iwo Jima. It was not only the public funding sources that turned Gordon and Litton down, private sources turned them down as well.

Camp O’Donnell Memorial Monument:

The Story...

Gordon and Litton also requested financial assistance from the other Bataan related organizations: American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, the New Mexico Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, etc. but were turned down. Why? Only slightly over 3,000 Americans from Bataan came home, and due to the PTSD they all suffered from, due to their time in captivity, most of them decided to keep a very low profile, "fearing they would be labeled as kooks or interned in an asylum." (Baldassarre Personal Communication June 26, 2008). With defeat in the forefront and rescue in the background it is not surprising that American veterans of the Philippine engagements are better respected in the Philippines than in the U.S. In the Philippines, April 9 is a National Holiday, "Araw ng Kagitingan" (The Day of Valor). While in the Philippines, every year on April 9, the Philippine President goes up to Mt. Samat, and gives a speech to the Filipino veterans and foreign dignitaries.

The Bataan Death March Memorial at Las Cruces, New Mexico

Figure 4 a, b, c and d: The Bataan Death March Memorial at Las Cruces, New Mexico

The Bataan Death March Memorial at Las Cruces, New Mexico is the only federally funded monument dedicated to the victims of the Bataan Death March. The monument was dedicated in April 2001. In the U.S., with the exception of a smaller and less prestigious commemoration in Las Cruces, New Mexico, there is no parallel recognition for the U.S. veterans. In contrast to the privately funded BBB Camp O’Donnell Monument, there is only one federally funded American monument: The Bataan Death March Memorial - located in Las Cruces New Mexico. The Bataan Death March Memorial embodies the lessons that a Senior Senator from New Mexico was interested in teaching:gallantry, sacrifice, and heroism. In contrast, the same memorial also embodies the private lessons that a concerned citizen was interested in teaching: that the sacrifice of his uncles was not in vain converged in Las Cruces.

The Story...

The narrative of the Las Cruces memorial is a story of the personal triumph of two people: John Joe Baldonado Martinez and Senator Pete Domenici. John Joe Baldonado Martinez felt a void not having served in the military himself. When he signed up for the draft he was classified IIIA, the designation for a married man with a child, which placed him as the sole support at home of his mother and younger sister. Another issue that led to his denial as IIIA was the fact that he came from a family with significant involvement in WWII. According to Martinez, a unit comprised of approximately 2000 New Mexican young men, from all nationalities and backgrounds, from all over New Mexico fought in Bataan. The New Mexico continent included two brothers from Tularosa, New Mexico : Sgt. Juan T. Baldonado Jr. and Pvt. Jose M. (Pepe) Baldonado. The Baldonado brothers are his mother’s brothers. When Martinez explained this to New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici, lamented the fact that, "There were no monuments of any consequence to those gallant men who suffered and died as the first line of defense against the Japanese"(Martinez Personal Communication June 21-22, 2008). According to Martinez, Senator Domenici stated that they definitely needed a monument that actually portrayed these men during the march and how the Philippine soldiers had helped the Americans through this ordeal.

Gallantry, Sacrifice, and The Presence of New Mexico Citizens in Bataan

The design of the monument is important because it sets the stage for the kinds of lessons that Martinez and Domenici wanted to teach: gallantry, sacrifice, and the presence of New Mexico citizens in Bataan. Together Martinez and Domenici "envisioned three men walking and stumbling along that horrendous highway of death" (Martinez Personal Communication 2008). Finally, according to Martinez, "Two American soldiers and one courageous Philippine soldier was our thought" (Personal Communication June 21-22, 2008). In response Senator Domenici queried, "Joe, if we were to put together a plan to federally fund a monument for these men, where should it go? "( Martinez Personal Communication June 21-22, 2008) According to Martinez, he replied that, since so many of the American soldiers captured were from New Mexico and the majority from southern New Mexico and since Las Cruces is centrally located in the southern part of the state, it should go there.

The Challenge...
Senator Domenici's capstone to the conversation was a challenge: "You put the project together and I’ll try to get it federally funded" (Martinez Personal Communication June 21-22, 2008). Martinez counter proposed, "I’ll do it with one proviso that was to have the two faces of the American soldiers, [be] the faces of my Uncles" (Martinez Personal Communication June 21-22, 2008). Martinez also provided insight on state of mind of his uncles – no one cared about what was going on in Bataan. Martinez intimated that delighted over finally being able to do something for his uncles and their comrades who believed they had been let down by their country.

Uncle Pepe, Uncle Juan, and Sgt. Major Gilbert Canuela

Martinez's design considerations are telling because he insisted on the presence of the Filipino soldier. When Martinez and his wife Arlene were touring Washington in 1998, it struck him how the "Bataan" soldiers should be facing on his monument, "With three soldiers, the one on the left with the WW I Helmet, (Uncle Pepe) with eyes of steel is looking down the road watching for guards and any impending danger. The one in the middle (Uncle Juan) being carried is downtrodden and just grateful to be alive and at times almost wishing he wasn't. The one on the right is the Filipino soldier, (The face of Command Sgt. Major Gilbert Canuela) and he's looking over his shoulder to see if any danger is approaching from the rear" (Martinez Personal Communication June 21-22, 2008) (Figure 5 a and b).

Figure 5 a and b:

Close up of Kelli Hester’s statue of Pvt. Jose M. (Pepe) Baldonado (Left), Sgt. Juan T. Baldonado Jr. (Middle), and Filipino Soldier Command Sgt. Major Gilbert Canuela (Right) at Las Cruces, New Mexico.