Bataan Death March

[18ncs]

Someone on a call-in sports show just mentioned that 79 years ago it was getting started. 4/8/1942

We had a friend Bert Bank who was a survivor. A friend of a friend, Glen Frazier, was also a survivor. Bert died maybe ten years ago and Glen within the past couple of years. I remember Bert’s funeral was sometime in the Summer and it was hot! I had on a dark blue suit but thought if Bert was on the March the least I could do would be to stand in the open for his service. Well the service was long one and I thought I would pass out before it ended and almost did.
Prayers for all of that generation.

What happened to Mark (1369) who used to post the Bataan March ruck threads?

[Texas Grown]

I had a friend I used to ride bicycles with that survived that. Andy De'Asenzo. He was also an Mech engineer. And accomplished violinist. He lived to be 92 YOA. Raod a bike till he was 90. Always had a smile on his face, except when the World Trade Center got hit. We were about to go ride that morning when that happened.


You survive something like that, and the rest of life is a piece of cake.

[DUKFVR]

God Bless those that were there. Greatest Generation.

[AggieArcher]

Great piece on Glen Frazier in Ken Burn’s PBS series “The War”. Dude was a tough SOB.

[Phillip Fields]

In 1968 I was in the hospital at Wilford Hall, Lackland AFB. One of the men in the ward was a survivor of Bataan. He was always hiding food because he was terrified he wouldn't have enough to eat. The experience had left him with many scars, both physical and mental.

[Dusty Britches]

We need to get these stories out for the younger generation to hear and learn from.

[Leverhunter]

We need to get these stories out for the younger generation to hear and learn from.

Very true. They need a lesson in reality.

[TMC50]

https://bataanmarch.com/about-bataan/

this is a pretty cool read. I wrote a paper on the march when I was in high school. Very eye opening

[locolobo]

Wife is from The Philippines and We visit fairly often. We have visited Corregidor and Bataan both. It made my heart hurt to stand on those grounds where so much evil lived. She was as surprised to hear the American side of the story as I was to learn the Filippino side. As always, there is more to any story than is in the history books. Then there is the Visayas, where Mc Arthur "returned" to. We have yet to explore that story.

[UncertainHunter]

If y'all are curious about an East Texas Vet's experience in the first Philippines Campaign, the Bataan Death March, and as a POW of the Japanese this is a good oral history. There is a transcription if you prefer reading and don't feel like listening. It is about 2 hours long but worth the listen if you have the time.

https://digital.sfasu.edu/digital/collection/OH/id/1286