America remembers Bataan's 75th anniversary

MY-RIGHT-EYE-PHOTO

Hundreds of marchers in White Sands, New Mexico trekked 26 miles (the Bataan Death March was 65 miles) last month to remember the thousands of American and Filipino POW's who were part of the infamous Bataan Death March. The Bataan Memorial Death March is a challenging march through the high desert terrain of the White Sands Missile Range. The memorial march is conducted in honor of the heroic service members who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II, sacrificing their freedom, health, and, in many cases, their very lives.

  World War II's Battle of Bataan in the Philippines may be recorded as a defeat for the U.S. Armed Forces of the
Far East, but it was a victory for the human spirit. Thousands of POW's died in the one of WWII's greatest atrocities - the Bataan Death March.

THIS COMING WEEKEND, April 8 and 9, will be the 75th anniversary of the Fall of Bataan. Ceremonies will be held in the Philippines and across the United States to remember one of the darkest events of WWII.

“It is particularly significant this year because very few people actually know the story of Bataan and being the 75th anniversary, there are very few survivors left to tell the story. This could be one of the last times that the community can honor these men and recognize their bravery,” says Lyn Rolf III, director of programs at the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

“It was perhaps the second most consequential event of World War II after Pearl Harbor, but even the people in the Philippines do not know the history of the Bataan. It is so important to educate people about Bataan and to honor those who survived,” says Robert Hansen, a member of the board of directors of the Bataan Legacy Historical Society and the grandson of a Bataan survivor.

In San Francisco, the Bataan Legacy Historical Society is partnering with the Presideo Trust, the National Park Service, and a host of other organizations to mark the somber occasion, to remember the men and women who sacrificed their lives, survived the brutalities of war and the few who still are alive from that battle where Filipino and American soldiers fought against the Japanese Imperial Army in the first major land battle of World War II that involved U.S. forces.

Click here for the program. Please note that you must RSVP to attend the indoor ceremonies. (See flyer for information.)

Legendary jazz musician Joe Bataan will be the guest of honor in Organgeburg, New York.

At the commemoration, Bataan told lohud.com he'll be singing a solo rendition of the Lord’s Prayer and will be part of the performance of the national anthem.

He said he'll be thinking of his father, Pio Nitollano, who came to the United States in the 1930s but never had an opportunity to return to the Philippines.

"I got a strange feeling that this is going to make me cry, because it will make me remember my father and what he went through," Bataan said. "He never got to go back."

OTHER OBSERVANCES (Some events may already have been held.):

• Los Angeles, California
• Asheville, North Carolina
• Orangeburg, New York
• Las Cruces, New Mexico
• Pittsburg, California

(Add to this list by emailing a link to an event at dioknoed@gmail.com.)

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Legacy of the 'Battling Bastards of Bataan'

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Legacy of the "Battling Bastards of Bataan"

The plaque honoring my father, along with similar plaques for the other survivors of Bataan, hang in a San Francisco Bay Area Filipino-American social hall.

LAST NIGHT, April 8, one of my grandnieces lit a candle in memory of my father and about 80 other survivors of the Bataan Death March who had decided to make this California community their piece of the American Dream.

Twenty years ago, there would have been a score of survivors honored. Today, there are none. But their memory lives on in little ceremonies across the United States.

Three generations after the events of World War II, young Filipino Americans are being reminded about their great grandparents. My grandniece never met my father, but she is connected to him as part of the long story of immigration.

Thousands of American and Filipinos POWs died during the Bataan Death March.

The Filipino/American soldiers made up what is often called the second wave of Filipino immigration to the United States. 

While the First Wave, farmworkers and students of the 1920s are slowly finding their way into the history books especially in ethnic studies in various colleges; and the Third Wave, those who came as a result of the 1965 Immigration Reform Act, are being addressed by contemporary social programs and affirmative action policies; the historic role of the Second Wave is being forgotten as the soldiers grow older and pass away.

Outgunned and without any air support, the U.S. forces fought for months longer than anyone expected. The reinforcements and supplies, including food, that were expected never arrived. They were abandoned by the strategists back in the U.S. The poem below became their rallying cry: 

"No Mama, no Papa, no Uncle Sam; We're the Battling Bastards of Bataan."

The battles of Bataan and Corregidor, which fell a month later, resulted in the surrender of 75,000 to 80,000 American and Filipino soldiers on April 9, 1942. It was the largest surrender of U.S. military personnel in history. The U.S. force that surrendered was made up of over 65,000 Filipinos and 12,000 American non-Filipinos.

The prolonged battle delayed the Japanese war machine and forced them to rethink their strategy. It gave the allies time to regroup and reinforce defenses in Malaysia and Australia.

The infamous Bataan Death March that followed the surrender saw thousands of the malnourished, wounded and disease ridden troops perish during the forced march of 40 miles in the tropical heat with little food and water.

They may not have met their great grandfathers
but the young girls are aware of the debt they
owe them. 

But what is little noted in the history books is the critical role the Filipinos who survived and were part of US units such as the Philippine Scouts when they immigrated to the United States.

Once here, they wanted a piece of the American Dream. Most importantly, they were able to bring their families with them. Their children went to U.S. schools and their wives entered the work force.  Despite housing discrimination laws and  practices that prevented them from buying in certain neighborhoods or communities, they helped established  stable Filipino/American middle-class.

Prior to WWII, Filipinos in America was largely a bachelor society. The general image of Filipinos in the U.S. was as farmworkers, servants, waiters, domestic help and primarily male. Racist laws limited the immigration of Filipino women, prevented Filipinos and other Asians from buying homes and marrying people of other races in order to start families.

The Filipino image underwent a massive change with the post-WWII immigration of Filipino American soldiers and sailors. The survivors of Bataan and Corregidor were joined by the 1st and 2nd Filipino regiments of the U.S. Army made up of Filipino volunteers who were already in the U.S. Because of the role Filipinos played in the war as U.S. allies, Filipinos became allies, heroes, saviors and comrades-in-arms. In short, it was difficult to not see them as human beings.

Helping change the perception of Filipinos were the thousands of U.S. military personnel who fought along side the Filipinos who proved themselves in battle, whose loyalty was unquestionable and whose belief in America and democracy could not be denied. 

It is fitting and important that the accomplishments and sacrifices of the Bataan and Corregidor survivors, most of whom have passed away, are still remembered and honored by their children's children's children, their living legacy.

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