Memorial Day, May 25, 2026

 Ode for Memorial Day

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

1869

Done are the toils and the wearisome marches,

    Done is the summons of bugle and drum.

Softly and sweetly the sky overarches,

    Shelt’ring a land where Rebellion is dumb.

Dark were the days of the country’s derangement,

    Sad were the hours when the conflict was on,

But through the gloom of fraternal estrangement

    God sent his light, and we welcome the dawn.

O’er the expanse of our mighty dominions,

    Sweeping away to the uttermost parts,

Peace, the wide-flying, on untiring pinions,

    Bringeth her message of joy to our hearts.

Ah, but this joy which our minds cannot measure,

    What did it cost for our fathers to gain!

Bought at the price of the heart’s dearest treasure,

    Born out of travail and sorrow and pain;

Born in the battle where fleet Death was flying,

    Slaying with sabre-stroke bloody and fell;

Born where the heroes and martyrs were dying,

    Torn by the fury of bullet and shell.

Ah, but the day is past: silent the rattle,

    And the confusion that followed the fight.

Peace to the heroes who died in the battle,

    Martyrs to truth and the crowning of Right!

Out of the blood of a conflict fraternal,

    Out of the dust and the dimness of death,

Burst into blossoms of glory eternal

    Flowers that sweeten the world with their breath.

Flowers of charity, peace, and devotion

    Bloom in the hearts that are empty of strife;

Love that is boundless and broad as the ocean

    Leaps into beauty and fullness of life.

So, with the singing of paeans and chorals,

    And with the flag flashing high in the sun,

Place on the graves of our heroes the laurels

    Which their unfaltering valor has won!

🇺🇸

The annual proclamation of the president of the United States

May 22, 2026

Remembering April 9, 1942

April 9 is a little recognized American commemoration to recognize members of the U.S. Armed Forces who became POWs. It was created in the 1980s primarily to honor the American fighting men and women on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines who were surrendered on April 9, 1942. The infamous Bataan Death March up the peninsula to a squalid, unfinished POW Camp began by the end of the day. Thousands died en route, thousands more died in the camp. 

By law, the President issues a proclamation remembering the sacrifice of all Americans who became POWs. Look for it.

So take a moment on Thursday to remember a sweltering day in the tropics marked by an earthquake when thousands of starving, sick, and dispirited American and Filipino troops were surrendered by their commanding generals to the merciless invading Japanese forces. 

Here are some ceremonies to join:

83RD ANNIVERSARY WREATH LAYING CEREMONY MEMORIALIZING THE FALL OF BATAAN. Thursday, April 9, 2026, 10:00am (CDT), IN PERSON ONLY, Brainerd National Guard Armory, 1115 Wright Street Brainerd, MN. Sponsor: 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 194th Armor Regiment, Minnesota National Guard. To: Remember Company A of the 194th Tank Battalion that bravely fought the invading Japanese in the Philippines at the beginning of World War II in the Battle of Bataan. American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered on April 9, 1942 after running out of ammunition, food and medical supplies. The surrender was followed by the infamous Bataan Death March to Camp O’Donnell. Thousands died. It is believed that of the 64 National Guardsmen who left Brainerd and served on Bataan, three were killed in action and 29 died as POWs with only 32 surviving to return home.Those who survived endured over three years of brutal captivity and slave labor. Keynote Speaker: John Erickson, historian of POWs of Japan. https://www.brainerdvfw.org/bataan.html 

DAY OF VALOR [ARAW NG KAGITINGAN] CEREMONY. Thursday, April 9, 2026, 11:00am-Noon (EDT), Military Women's Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Sponsor: Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP). Remembers the valor and suffering of the thousands of American and Filipino troops and civilians who were on the Bataan Peninsula when it was surrendered to invading Japanese forces on April 9, 1942. https://filvetrep.org/ 

COMMEMORATION OF THE 84TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF BATAAN. Thursday, April 9, 2026, 11:00am-Noon (MDT), Bataan Memorial Building, 407 Galisteo Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Reception to follow at The New Mexico Military Museum, 1050 Old Pecos Trail​, Santa Fe, NM. Sponsor: Adjutant General of the State of New Mexico. The ceremony is also followed by the opening of Last of the 200th: Valdemar DeHerrera that honors his life and legacy. https://eanmng.org/2026/03/29/nm-national-guards-84th-anniversary-fall-of-bataan-ceremony/​ 

BATAAN DEATH MARCH 84TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION. SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2026, 9:45am to 12:20pm (PDT). Sponsor: Bataan Legacy Historical Society.  SAN FRANCISCO NATIONAL CEMETERY, One Lincoln Blvd., San Francisco, California. With special honors to the WWII Nurses and the quest for their Congressional Gold Medal. AGENDA  

2026 BATAAN MEMORIAL DEATH MARCH ON THE POTOMAC. Saturday, April 12, 2026, 10:00am (EDT), Start and end at Fort Hunt Park, Virginia, Pavilion 1 along the Potomac River near Washington, DC. Sponsor: Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP). Marchers can choose to do 3, 6, or 14 miles. It is not a race, it is a commemoration honoring those who suffered the infamous 100 mile march and train trip up the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines to the death camp O’Donnell. The March began shortly after General King surrendered the American and Filipino troops on April 9, 1042 to General Homma and the invading Imperial Japanese forces. Race Registration closes April 10, 2026. 

*BOOK TALK: DAUNTLESS: THE 1ST & 2ND FILIPINO INFANTRY REGIMENTS, UNITED STATES ARMY (2023). 4/16, 6:30pm (EDT), IN PERSON ONLY. Quezon Hall, Annex Chancery Building, 1617 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Speaker: author Marie Vallejo. https://philippineembassy-dc.org/special-book-presentation-dauntless-by-marie-vallejo/  

PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/4bSh8mz 

15th ANNUAL CHESAPEAKE BATAAN DEATH MARCH MEMORIAL WALK. 4/18, Registration begins at 6:00am (EDT), Dismal Swamp Canal Trail, Chesapeake, VA. Closing Ceremony at Noon. Sponsor: SSG Jonathan Kilian Dozier Memorial VFW Post 2894

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064849921506&ref=embed_page# 

WEBSITE: https://walkchesapeake.wixsite.com/chesapeakebataan

Another way to commemorate Flag Day

 

June 14, 1943. “It Was Worth It, Abe.” … so that … “freedom … shall not perish from the earth …” A fighting Coast Guardsman, who gave his right arm in battle pays Memorial Day tribute at the Lincoln shrine in Washington, DC. He is Coast Guardsman Thomas Sortino (d.1977) of Chicago, who participated in the North African invasion. Photograph by U.S. Coast Guard.

POW Group Testifies to Congress

STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD

to the

Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and House Veterans' Affairs Committee

 

Joint Hearing

 

To Receive Legislative Presentations of Veterans Service Organizations

 

By

Jan Thompson

President

American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society

 

13 March 2024

 

AMERICAN DEFENDERS OF THE PACIFIC

TIME FOR A CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL

&

MEMORIALS IN JAPAN

 

 

Chairmen Tester and Bost, Ranking Members Moran and Takano, and Members of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, thank you for allowing us to describe how Congress can meet the concerns of veterans of World War II in the Pacific.

 

The American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) was founded in January 1946 at the Fort Devens, Massachusetts hospital by former POWs of Imperial Japan. The ADBC represented the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Pacific who participated in the early resistance to, and defensive battles against, the armed forces of Imperial Japan from December 8, 1941 to June 9, 1942. Nearly all the survivors endured four years of merciless imprisonment by Imperial Japan throughout the Empire.

 

Our Memorial Society now represents their families and descendants, as well as scholars, researchers, and archivists. Our goal is to preserve the history of the American POW experience in the Pacific and to teach future generations of the POWs’ sacrifice, courage, determination, and faith—the essence of the American spirit.

 

Background

 

The common perception of an American POW of Imperial Japan is as a casualty of the infamous Bataan Death March 82 years ago next month. The fall of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines and the start of the March, April 9, 1942, is National Former POW Recognition Day and is recognized with a Presidential Proclamation.

 

In fact, Americans—Marines, sailors, and merchant marines in China and Japan—became POWs of Imperial Japan starting with the first day of the War on December 8, 1941. Over the following months, Americans unprepared for war in outposts throughout the Pacific were surrendered en masse often after furious, unaided battles—Wake Island, Guam, Java, Sunda Strait, Luzon, Corregidor, Mindanao, Kiska, Attu—against the invading Japanese.

 

As POWs, the Americans were subject to torture, abuse, starvation, and neglect. Significantly, they were used as slave laborers for Japan’s military and private industry. The men toiled on the Thai-Burma Death Railway; built airfields with their bare hands—such as at what is now the Antonio Bautista Air Base on Palawan, Philippines; died constructing military projects such as the Soto Dam in Nagasaki Prefecture; and slaved in Japanese corporate mines, mills, and factories. For example, Nippon Steel, which is now attempting to purchase U.S. Steel, used more than 6,000 American and Allied POWs as forced labor with ten percent dying in the process.

 

I testify today to encourage a greater effort to remember and to advocate for these American men and women who gave their all under desperate conditions and who demonstrated determination and resourcefulness against a ruthless enemy. And all this against the backdrop of a long-decided U.S. and British policy to prioritize the war in Europe. The result was that thousands of these soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen became POWs of Japan and suffered some of the War’s worst consequences. One-third did not return home.

 

Our asks

To ensure that the sacrifices and unique history of our fighting men and women in the Pacific during 1941 and 1942 are not forgotten I ask Congress to:

 

1. Award the Congressional Gold Medal collectively to the American defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, as defined in U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich’s and Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez’s forthcoming bill. This group represents every U.S. state, territory, tribe, and military service. It is the most diverse World War II Congressional Gold Medal cohort.

 

2. Call on Nippon Steel and other Japanese companies to acknowledge their history of using American and Allied POWs as slave laborers and to establish an educational foundation to support research and learning about the POW experience in Imperial Japan. Respect for the sacrifices of American veterans should be fundamental to Nippon Steel’s acquisition of a U.S. company. It is the only way that trust can be established.

3. Ask the Government of Japan, to create two central government-funded memorials in Japan, as none exist, to the Allied POWs of WWII. One would be in Tokyo and the other at the Port of Moji on Kyushu, Japan where most of the “hellships”–floating dungeons where POWs were denied air, space, light, sanitation, water, and food–first arrived in Japan to unload their sick and dying human cargo. Currently, the only monuments at Moji are to Japanese war horses, Japanese soldiers, and bananas.

 

4. Instruct the U.S. Department of State to prepare a report for Congress on the history and funding of the 2010-2023 “Japan/POW Friendship Program.” The report should include (i) how other Allied POW reconciliation programs initiated by the Government of Japan in 1995 compare both in funding and programming with the one for the Americans; (ii) how the U.S. program compares with its “kakehashi” people exchange programs in the United States funded by the Government of Japan starting in 2015; and (iii) a breakdown of the budgets of these various exchange programs and the types and ages of participants.

 

5. Ask the Government of Japan to reestablish and institutionalize the “Japan/POW Friendship Program.” Inaugurated in 2010 as a reconciliation visit to Japan for former U.S. POWs and family members, it was modeled after ones initiated in 1995 for British, Dutch, and Australian POWs. Japan ended the visitation program for Americans in 2023. Instead of stopping reconciliation efforts, Japan should transform the American POW program into a permanent educational, remembrance, and exchange initiative that encompasses history, justice, and democratic resilience.

 

6. Ask the Government of Japan to publish in Japanese, English and other Allied languages on the website of the Foreign Ministry of Japan the 2009 Cabinet Decision making a formal apology to all the prisoners of war of Japan and the text of Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki’s May 30, 2009 speech to the final convention of the ADBC offering an apology to the POWs.

 

7. Ask the Government of Japan to honor its 2015 written promise to include the “full history” of Japan’s UNESCO World Industrial Heritage properties of the Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining. Despite the government’s written commitments to UNESCO, the history of POW slave labor at many of the Heritage sites is not included at those locations or at the Tokyo Information Center. Two of these locations are owned by Nippon Steel.

 

High price of freedom

By June 1942, most of the estimated 27,000 Americans ultimately held as military POWs of Imperial Japan had been surrendered. By the War’s end, roughly 12,000 Americans POWs had died in Japan’s squalid POW camps, in the fetid holds of “hellships,” or in slave labor camps owned by Japanese companies. This was a death rate of 40 percent. In contrast, 1.5 percent of Americans in Nazi POW camps died putting the mortality rate for POWs of Japan as 20 times greater.

Eighty-three years after the start of the War in the Pacific, it is time to recognize the Americans who fought the impossible and endured the unimaginable in the war against tyranny and fascism in Asia. The American men and women in the early months of the war in the Pacific fought with limited and outdated weapons and no hope of reinforcement or resupply.

 

Current and future generations can be inspired by their “victory from within.” As President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in August 1943, when the outcome of WWII was still uncertain, “The story of the fighting on Bataan and Corregidor—and, indeed, everywhere in the Philippines–will be remembered so long as men continue to respect bravery, and devotion, and determination.”

 

In return for their sacrifices and service, they ask that their government keep its moral obligation to them. They do not want their history ignored or exploited. What they want most is to have their government stand by them to ensure that they will be remembered, that our Japanese allies respect them, and that their American history is preserved accurately.

 

Ms. Jan Thompson

President, American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor Memorial Society

Daughter of PhM2c Robert E. Thompson USN, USS Canopus (AS-9)

Survivor of the hellships Oryoku Maru, Enoura Maru, and the Brazil Maru

Survivor of the POW Camps Bilibid (Philippines), Fukuoka 3B (Japan), & Mukden (China)

 

See previous testimony to the Veterans’ Affairs Committees for a fuller background

on the history and efforts of the ADBC-MS.

https://www.adbcmemorialsociety.org/

Who Bombed Pearl Harbor

On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his famous "day in infamy" speech describing Imperial Japan's "dastardly attack" on Pearl Harbor and condemning Tokyo's "surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area."

Immediately following the speech, the U.S. Senate declared war on Japan. A state of war with Germany was declared December 11, hours after Germany had declared war on the United States.

There was no official, national remembrance of the tragedy at Pearl Harbor until 1994. The 103rd Congress passed a joint resolution in 1994 designating December 7, 1993, as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day." President Bill Clinton signed it into law (Public Law 103-308) on August 23rd. The law states: December 7 of each year is designated as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day" and the President is authorized and requested— (1) to issue annually a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities; and (2) to urge all Federal agencies, and interested organizations, groups, and individuals, to fly the flag of the United States at halfstaff" each December 7 in honor of the individuals who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.

Historians will wonder why the law identifies the nonexistent Japanese "Air Force" as the aggressor and is not specific about the number of casualties at Pearl Harbor. At the time, Japan did not have an independent Air Force. It was the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service that attacked Hawaii. In addition, unlike in President Roosevelt's speech, there is no mention of Japan's other lightning strikes throughout the Pacific on December 7th. These attacks famously destroyed the American Asiatic Fleet and the Army's Far East Air Force while cutting off U.S. outposts in the Pacific from the mainland and resuplly.

The Proclamations
The first proclamation was issued by President Clinton on November 29, 1994, 53 years after the Pearl Harbor attack. His 1994 proclamation, as all that followed, did little to enlighten Americans about the day's history. Notably, it began the "tradition" of not identifying who "attacked" U.S. Forces in Hawaii that day. All that we learn is that the attack "involved America in a worldwide battle against the forces of fascism and oppression."

In an examination of the 30 Pearl Harbor Presidential proclamations made since 1994, 11 have no mention of Japan. In other words, the "enemy" who attacked the American territory is not identified. It could have been any of the Axis powers. Thailand had a modern, able air force, albeit no aircraft carriers.

President George W. Bush (43) recognized Japan in only two of his eight Pearl Harbor Day commemorative statements. His administration had a close relationship with Japan and notably squashed a joint congressional resolution remembering the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII and the defeat of Japan. President Biden, who lost his uncle and a cousin to the Japanese, has mentioned Japan in only one of his three statements. Here is the link to this year's Proclamation. (I have a memo outlining all 30 statements. If interested, email me.)

California Governor Gavin Newson's 2023 Pearl Harbor Day proclamation clearly mentions Japan. His grandfather, Arthur Menzies, was a soldier on Corregidor with the 60th Coast Artillery Regiment (AntiAircraft) K Battery and endured a hellship and nearly four years in Japanese POW Camps. He was not on the Bataan Death March as some reports say. Sadly, while experiencing a flashback in 1973, he threatened to kill Newsom's mother and her twin sister. When he realized that they were not Japanese prison guards, he turned the gun on himself.

Missing
I have not found any member of congress, even members of the Veterans Affairs Committees in the House and Senate who have publicly remembered Pearl Harbor Day. If you find one, please tell me.

Also missing in the proclamations is mention of all the other attacks Japan made that day throughout the Pacific, especially against the American territories of Wake Island, Guam, Midway, and Howland Island. I leave to my loyal readers to figure out how many other Americans died that day in battle (tell me if you run the numbers). President Roosevelt, in contrast, was quite clear in his speech to Congress that December 7th was a day of multiple Japanese attacks in the Asia-Pacific (territories in continental Asia were bombed as well as islands in the Pacific).

To be sure, Pearl Harbor saw the greatest number of casualties and Medal of Honor (MoH) honorees among the American territories in the Pacific attacked that day. For their actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 15 sailors in the U.S. Navy (from seven ships and one Naval Air Station) and 1 Marine were awarded Medals of Honor. The 16 recipients held a wide range of ranks, from seaman to rear admiral. Eleven (69%) received their awards posthumously.

The first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II was killed on Midway, December 7, 1941. First Lieutenant George H. Cannon, USMC, from Michigan, remained at his post until all of his wounded men were evacuated, though severely wounded himself. His selfless action and concern for his men was an inspiration.

When war began, the American Embassy rushed to burn documents before the Kempeitai arrested and interned them. Niles W. Bond was a consular officer in Yokohama, Japan from 1940-1942 and was there during the attack on Pearl Harbor. His accounts of the time make interesting reading.

December 14, 1944, Palawan Massacre

Plaza Cuartel Park
main square next to
the Palawan Survivors
Memorial (POW Camp 10A).
Palawan

It was not rain that dampened their skin. It was airplane fuel. Buckets of it were tossed on the 150 emaciated POWs hunched down in narrow air raid trenches. The Japanese guards quickly followed with torches to light the men on fire.

The trench with the officers was the first to be set ablaze. The POWs in two other trenches tried to escape. But if grenades did not stop them, then the machine guns that had been positioned outside did. Wounded survivors were tortured by having their fingers and toes set afire. Their begging to be shot provoked more laughter from their tormentors.

If a man somehow made it past all the attacks, he was hunted down and killed. Of the 30-some who tried to escape the conflagration, only 11 actually were able to swim across the bay to be rescued by Filipino guerillas.

Such was the December 14th afternoon at Puerto Princesa, on the Philippine island of Palawan facing the South China Sea. The POWs had been there since August 1942. They were Marines, soldiers, tankers, and airmen captured months before when Bataan and Corregidor fell.

With only hand tools and one wheelbarrow they cleared the jungle and broke up the coral to build an airfield for the Imperial Japanese Army. Today, the airstrip they constructed rests below the Antonio Bautista Air Base, an important anchor of the U.S.-Philippines alliance and focal point for joint maneuvers with Japan.

It may be by coincidence that the Japanese selected December 14th to murder the POWs. And maybe not. For on December 14, 1799, George Washington died at his Mt. Vernon home after five decades of service to his country.

To learn more about the Palawan Massacre read Last Man Out or As Good as Dead.

Most important, please leave a tribute or a flower at the Find A Grave site for the Palawan Massacre. Most of the men are buried in a mass grave at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Missouri. Click here for the virtual memorial.


Never Forget

The Czechs on Bataan

Czechoslovak courage: Volunteerism in World War II

The Philippine Star 

– Article submitted by the Embassy of the Czech Republic

April 9, 2022 

In line with the Day of the Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan celebrated today, programs to honor the heroic defense and valiant fight of the men and women of war are conducted. Aside from the Filipino and American soldiers, the Embassy of the Czech Republic also pays tribute to the Czechoslovak nationals who volunteered to defend the Philippines during the Second World War.

This story of the Czechoslovak defenders of Bataan is unique, though unknown. Since they were nationals of Czechoslovakia, which at that time was under Nazi protectorate, the Japanese forces had guaranteed their safety. Nonetheless, they still chose to offer their service and therefore, were considered as the only nationals to serve in the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) from countries occupied by the Nazi forces. In the words of Karel Aster, one of the Czech defenders of Bataan who passed in 2019, “Fighting for the Philippines at that time was like fighting for the liberty of Czechoslovakia.”

This period in the history of the Czech Republic and the Philippines leaves an indelible mark on Czech-Philippine relations. The courageous decision to fight for the liberty of a country that was not their own was captured not only in the shrine dedicated to them in Capas, Tarlac but also in the headstones and walls of the missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

With more than 16,000 graves of military dead and approximately 36,000 names on the Walls of the Missing, the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is the largest of its kind. In the vastness of its lands, measuring 152 acres, lie the immense stories of the Second World War. These stories are the subject of an educational tour hosted by the erudite guide, Vicente Paolo Lim IV.

During the visit of the members of the Embassy of the Czech Republic led by Ambassador Jana Šedivá, Mr. Lim introduced that the stronghold in Bataan from Jan. 7, 1942 to April 9, 1942 delayed the Japanese forces from advancing in the Pacific, eventually leading to Allies’ victory in World War II.

He also shared the importance of the role played by the Czechoslovak volunteers during the war. For one, they were in charge of supply and logistics, and included in their responsibilities was to retrieve the rice-milling equipment in Abucay line, exposing them to 36-hour enemy fire. This rice-mill equipment was significant in increasing the ration of food for the US forces. Thus, Jan Bžoch, Pavel (Paul) Fuchs, Leo Hermann, Fred Lenk, Otto Hirsch and Arnošt Morávek earned the American Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian distinction of the US.

Among those who volunteered, two of the graves are found at the Manila American Cemetery: Leo Hermann and Pavel (Paul) Fuchs. Each of them carried unique experiences during the war. Based on archival records, Hermann died as a prisoner of war in the Japanese concentration camp, Fukuoka, on April 2, 1945. Meanwhile, Fuchs passed in Camp O’Donnell on May 25, 1942 due to dysentery. Aside from the Czechoslovaks who volunteered for the Allied forces during the war, another grave of an American soldier of Czech origin was visited. Charles Stejskal was assigned as an infantry replacement to M Company, 172nd Infantry 43rd Infantry Division who participated in the Lingayen Gulf invasion and other subsequent operations. He was killed on Jan. 24, 1945 near the town of Rosario in Northern Luzon.

The Czechoslovak volunteers experienced various horrors in the war – from encounters with artillery fire; the infamous death march; prisoner of war camps and the hell ships where lives were lost, and in all these stories the common theme of horror and desperation is evident.

Mr. Lim is the great-grandson of a Philippine war hero, Brigadier General Vicente Lim, who heroically laid down his life for his country. For him, the dedication to tell the stories of World War II is a personal mission in order to serve as a reminder of the havoc of wars.

Similar to the story of Czechoslovak volunteers, Brig. Gen. Lim dedicated his life to defend the Philippines from foreign powers. His tactical mind and strength in strategy helped in the stronghold of Bataan. It was also in Bataan that the Czechoslovak volunteers and Brig. Gen. Lim fought together; while the Czechoslovak volunteers were dismantling and retrieving the rice mill, Brig. Gen. Lim was with the 41st Infantry Division, commanding the frontline for defence. With Mr. Lim’s personal affiliation with the story of Bataan through his great-grandfather, it has become important for him to tell the story of the past so that people will learn from it and not commit the same errors.

The visit to the cemetery was also very personal for Ambassador Šedivá. With the ongoing war in Europe when Ukraine is facing an unprovoked invasion from Russia, it is timely to remember the history and lessons of previous World Wars.

“It is important that we recall the lessons of the past – that there are no victors in wars, and civilians, especially women and children, remain to be at risk the most. While the war seems far from our door, we will all be affected in one way or another, regardless of where we are,” remarked Ambassador Šedivá.

The Czech Republic, as one of the countries that have previously been occupied by foreign invaders, remains steadfast in its commitment to remember the past and to stand for those whose liberty is challenged. In celebration of the Day of the Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan, the Embassy of the Czech Republic recalls the past and remembers those who laid down their lives for freedom.

And, in the continuing fight and worsening situation in Ukraine, it encourages the public to continue to call on all parties of the conflict to fully respect international law, and to avoid repeating the horrors of the past. 

Remembering the Bataan Death March

Eighty years ago this week, the men and women on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines were fighting against all odds.

Four months of combat starting when Japan attacked the Philippines within hours of bombing Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 and three months of starvation diet, air and artillery bombardment, and disease had taken their toll.  The U.S.-British Europe-first war policy combined with Japan's control of the sea and air was fundamental to the failure of supply and reinforcement.

In the early morning hours of April 9th, the new (March 11) commanding general of Am-Fil forces on the Bataan Peninsula, Major General Edward P. King Jr., decided that his troops would face slaughter if they tried to continue to fight. Fully aware that the 9th was the anniversary of the South's 1865 surrender at Appomattox, he ordered the men and women under his command—against General Douglas MacArthur’s orders—to surrender. Thus, 78,000 troops (66,000 Filipinos and 12,000 Americans were taken captive by Imperial Japan. Possibly 10,000 were in two field hospitals at the time. This is the largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender.

Focused on saving his exhausted and ailing troops, General King could not imagine the horrors that surrender would hold. The same day as surrender, the Japanese put the survivors on what has become known as the Bataan Death March (BDM). It is estimated at maybe 2,000 either swam the three shark-infested, mined miles to the Fortress Island of Corregidor (NB: no one on Corregidor was on the BDM) or disappeared into the jungle. Those who made it to Corregidor became immediately members of the 4th Marines fighting shore defense. Corregidor was surrendered May 6th.

During the infamous Bataan Death March the Japanese neglected the sick and killed the wounded; denied the POWs food, water, and medical care; and abused, robbed, and tortured them.  These acts were both capricious and systematic. They became a constant for every POW of Imperial Japan. Thousands died. The first leg of the BDM March was 65 miles from the port of Mariveles at the southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula up the East Road to a train terminal at San Fernando. There the men were stuffed standing one hundred at a time into unventilated box cars for a 24 mile ride north to Capas. There the survivors--many died standing--were forced to walk another four miles to an unfinished Philippine Army training camp that was Japan's first POW camp on the Islands, Camp O'Donnell. With only two spigots for water, the camp was quickly compared with the Confederacy's Andersonville prison camp. Most of the deaths from the March happened here or at its successor camp Cabanatuan.

Survivors of the March endured three and a half years of death camps, brutal labor, and unimaginable indignities and injury. Many were taken to Japan aboard hell ships to be slave laborers for Japanese companies. More than half the Americans taken prisoner on Bataan died before war’s end. The death rate for American POWs of Japan was 40%, whereas for those in Nazi POW camps it was less than 2%.

Thus, April 9th, are the 80th anniversaries of the fall of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines and the start of the Bataan Death March. The BDM is one the greatest war crimes of World War II. So seminal in American history were these events that Bataan is part of the American lexicon as a metaphor for a tortuous undertaking and is the origin for this week’s National Former POW Recognition Day.

If you want your congressperson or two senators to remember this eventful day, I urge you to contact them immediately and ask why they are going into recess on Thursday without offering any statements or attending any memorial events. A Tweet will not do. Here is American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society Jan Thompson' s testimony last month to the House and Senate Veterans Committees., https://www.veterans.senate.gov/services/files/592D704A-75C7-4392-BF1A-523B0ABB814B

The Japanese have not forgotten. They arranged and have leaked the fact that the Speaker of the House of Representatives and a large delegation of members of congress will meet with the Japanese PM in Tokyo on April 9th.

If you want to participate in a memorial event, here is a list of what I could find. 

1. FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 11:00 am. World War II Memorial, Washington, DC.

Hosted by The Philippine Embassy 

Annual ceremony at the National WWII Memorial by the Pacific Victory Arch at the Southern Fountain Coping by the engravings of the words “Bataan” and “Corregidor” 

https://www.nps.gov/wwii/index.htm 

https://www.wwiimemorialfriends.org/ 

The Philippine Ambassador and Filipino military officials attend. Helping organize the event is Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP) that is headed by General Tony Taguba, who is best known for his investigation of the war crimes at Abu Ghraib prison. 

On April 2nd, FilVetsREPs hosted a memorial walk/run at The Marina on Daingerfield Island in Alexandria, Virginia.

Contact: Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project

5002 Halley Farm Ct.

Alexandria, VA 22309

info@filvetrep.org 

2. SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 11:30 am, USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum  Alameda, CA.

Hosted by Bataan Legacy Historical Society, the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society and the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society

Remembrance and Reconciliation, Bataan Death March 80th and honoring those on the three ship hellship voyage to Japan from December 1944 to January 1945. Planes from the USS Hornet bombed two of the ships, killing over 600 POWs. These men included Amb Walter Mondale's first cousin and the Smothers Brothers' father. Of the 1,600 men who boarded the Oryoku Maru in Manila on December 13, 1944, less than 300 survived the war. The event is organized by the Filipino American organization, Bataan Legacy Historical Society. 

>Governor Gavin Newsom has been invited. His maternal grandfather Arthur Menzies was with 60th Coast Artillery Regiment on Corregidor. He was a POW who was taken by hellship to Japan where he was a slave laborer for Nippon Steel mining coal. Menzies committed sucide in front of his twin daughters in 1973 when Newsom was 6. 

Contact: Cecilia I. Gaerlan, Executive Director,

Bataan Legacy History Society

(510) 520-8540, cecilia@bataanlegacy.org 

http://www.bataanlegacy.org/index.html 

3. SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1:00pm Symbolic March, 2:00 pm Program, Dominican College, Orangeburg, NY

Hosted by the Philippine American Cultural Foundation

 

Remember Bataan. Symbolic March on Bataan Road at  the site of the former Fort Shanks, followed by a formal program at Dominican College. 

WATCH the Symposium via Live-Stream, starting at 4:00 pm EDT, HERE.

Program HERE.

Gathering for March at 12:30pm at Tappan Zee High School, Dutch Hill Rd., Orangeburg, NY,

Program at Dominican College, Hennessy Center, 495 Western Hwy S, Blauvelt, NY 10913

Camp Shanks was built when the story of Bataan was still fresh in everyone’s memory. Two intersecting streets at the camp were named Bataan Road and Victory Road. This was to remind the troops departing for Europe that if they could emulate the courage, fortitude and spirit of men on Bataan and Corregidor victory would be achieved.

 

Contact: Jerome Kleiman, Executive Director

Philippine American Cultural Foundation 

 (845) 641-4217

 jeromekleiman@att.net

 

4. MARCH 20th – 27th. White Sands, New Mexico

Hosted by the White Sands Missile Range and the New Mexico National Guard

Annual Memorial Death March organized since 1989

The past two years has been held as a virtual only event.

The March has grown from 100 to almost 10,000 in the last in-person event.A number of Senators would join.

Contact: White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs Office  

FMWR-Bataan P.O. Box 400

White Sands Missile Range, NM  88002

https://bataanmarch.com/

usarmy.wsmr.atec.list.pao@mail.mil  

5.  SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2022, Noon (Closing Ceremony), Chesapeake, Virginia

Hosted by the VFW, SSG Jonathan Kilian Dozier Memorial Post 2894

Annual Bataan Death March Memorial Walk held at the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail,

1113 George Washington Hwy, Chesapeake, VA 23323

The event consists of three different walks starting at 7:00 am of various distances as well as a memorial ceremony dedicated to the survivors and other veterans. The event is open to all.

https://walkchesapeake.wixsite.com/chesapeakebataan

Contact: LTC Carl M. Dozier, AUS, Ret.  Gold Star Father, bulldoziero5@gmail.com,

VFW Post 2894 commander or 

Jose Vazquez, (757) 362-4227, jose@latinopridestore.com or walk.chesapeake@gmail.com 

6. SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 10:00 am, Wreath Laying Ceremony, Brainerd, Minnesota

Hosted by the Brainerd National Guard 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 194th Armor Regiment 

Annual ceremony at the Brainerd Training and Community Center (National Guard Armory), 1115 Wright St., Brainerd, MN 56401

The ceremony be livestreamed on the following Facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/194thRegimentBataan 

https://www.facebook.com/194Armor/ 

On September 22nd there is a Memorial Death March run. 

Contact: (651) 268-8113, 194regiment@gmail.com 

Event contacts: Capt Michael Popp, (651) 268-8681

Sgt First Class Jade Caponi, (651) 268-8123,  jade.a.caponi.mil@army.mil     

Battalion Commander, Lt Col Jacob Hegestad 

7. SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, Rededication of Bataan Memorial Park, Fort Bayard, New Mexico

Hosted by several community organizations

Annual festival and commemoration. This year’s event will take place between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. https://www.grantcountycommunityfoundation.org/fiscal-sponsees-2-1

https://www.facebook.com/events/711559393170557/?active_tab=discussion 

Contact: Ms. Liz Lopez, (575) 574-2964, egarcia3264@gmail.com 

8. SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 6:00 am, Bataan Death March Commemoration

Valdosta, Georgia

Hosted by Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office

First held in 2021. The course is broken up into three legs, each 8.7 miles long, Marchers can cover one or two legs or complete the whole course.

 

Contact: Lt Rob Picciotti,  lcsobdmt2022@gmail.com with the subject line “BATAAN MARCH.” $20 fee.

 

9. INDEFINITELY POSTPONED, Bataan Memorial Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Honoring New Mexico's 200th and 515th Coast Artillery men, defenders of Luzon, Bataan and Corregidor

https://www.krqe.com/interactives/map-new-mexico-veterans-monuments-and-memorials/ 

https://www.cabq.gov/parksandrecreation/parks/prescription-trails/87106/bataan-park 

 

Contact: (505) 226-4899, bataan.nm@gmail.com 

10. SATURDAY, MAY 7, 10:00am-Noon, Bataan & Corregidor Commemoration

Hosted by the ADBC Museum, Education & Research Center, Wellsburg, West Virginia

Memorial service followed by lunch at the ADBC Museum, Education & Research Center,

Contact: Mr. James S. Brockman, Curator

945 Main Street, Wellsburg, WV  26070, (304) 737-7295, jim.brockman@wvlc.lib.wv.us 

https://adbcmuseum.com/ 

  

11. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2022. Maywood Bataan Day, Maywood, Illinois

Maywood Bataan Day Organization

Every Third Sunday in September. Begun in 1942, by the American Bataan Clan (ABC)m it is the oldest continual ceremony honoring the men of Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion who fought on Bataan. The town had the greatest number of soldiers from one town on the Bataan Death March. 

One of the featured speakers at the first rally was Illinois Governor Green (1941 – 1949), who remarked, “…the heroism of the men who defended Bataan and Corregidor and our other outposts will endure forever, giving new inspiration and new courage to free men everywhere”.

 

Contact: Col Richard A Mcmahon, Jr., President, ramcmahon1@aol.com 

https://mbdo.org/