America remembers Bataan's 75th anniversary

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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.)

RELATED: 

Legacy of the 'Battling Bastards of Bataan'

Bataan to be included in California history textbooks

75th Ann'y of WWII; Philippine chapter to be included in California history textbooks

The story of how Sgt. Jose Calugas of the Philippine Scouts, a U.S. Army unit, earned the U.S. Medal of Honor may be included in California's new textbooks.

YEARS BEFORE last month's passage of AB2016, which mandated the teaching of ethnic studies in California schools, AB199 was passed in the state legislature to require teaching the role of Filipinos and Filipino/Americans played in World War II.

Although approved by the state legislature in 2011, it was not until July of this year that State Board of Education approved the curriculum that would teach this largely ignored topic in California classrooms because of the tendency of most U.S. school books to view history through an Eurocentric persepctive.

In 2014, the Bataan Legacy Historical Society (BLHS) started working with the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) of the California Department of Education to implement AB199. 

RELATED: Ethnic studies mandated for California schools

With the support of State Superintendent Tom Torlakson, BLHS was able to expand the scope of the proposed curriculum framework to include World War II in the Philippines. On May 19, 2016, the IQC’s History Social Sciences Committee approved all of the recommendations made by BLHS.

Torlakson is married to Mae Cendana Torlakson, who is seeking to become California's first Filipina/American Assembly member in this November's election.

Chapter 16 of the 11th Grade U.S. History will include the following: 

• The Philippine Commonwealth; the creation of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) comprised of Americans and a majority of Filipinos;
• the disruption of the timetable of the Imperial Japanese Army by the USAFFE Forces despite suffering from massive disease and starvation and fighting without any air support; 
• The Bataan Death March and the thousands of casualties; the role of the Filipino and American guerrillas during the liberation; 
• The American soldiers who were transported in hell ships to labor camps in Asia; 
• The Battles of Leyte Gulf;
• The destruction of Manila during a month-long battle to liberate the city, which resulted in a death toll comparable to that of the Tokyo firebombing or the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and inflicted more damage than the Luftwaffe bombing of London.

After the WWII Battle of Manila, there was almost nothing left to liberate

RELATED: 

• Details announced for Filipino WWII vets reuniting with families
•  A shameful anniversary for the U.S. Congress
•  Memorial Day - Another try to pass the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act

It is believed that this will  be the first time that the Filipino role in fighting WWII in the Philippines will be taught to high school students in the United States.

California’s new history curriculum framework has the potential to act as a model for teaching this seminal point of WWII history in the U.S. BLHS has formed a curriculum steering committee to create a sample curriculum template that schools can use to implement Chapter 16 of the Grade 11 U.S. History.

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