"It was a Sunday. We were all lined up that morning to go to the chow hall to eat," recalled Lorenzo Banegas, a survivor. "From there we spotted this big cloud of planes and we thought they were our Navy planes that were coming to help with our mission . . . When we saw the big cloud of planes we started waving at them . . . After they approached, they started dropping little black things that I thought were leaflets from the pilots to let us know that they were there to help us. We started running toward where they were dropping the little black things and then we saw they were bombs . . . This was the first day of war for us."
On April 9, 1942, the Bataan Death March began. After gathering 12,000 U.S.
soldiers and 63,000 Filipino soldiers, the Japanese forced them to start
marching. The Death March occurred at the southern tip of
Bataan Peninsula, traveling to Camp O'Donnell (about sixty-five
miles away). The prisoners of war (P.O.W.) traveled on a long dusty road,
carrying nearly no rations or water. Whenever halted for a rest, the P.O.W. were only allowed to drink water out of a dirty stream that was filled with
maggot-filled bloated corpses. Sometimes,when a P.O.W. collapsed due to either exhaustion, dehydration, or starvation, the soldier would be left behind after being killed (for example, by being run over multiple times by trucks or by being beheaded). The death of these men was the entertainment of the Japanese soldiers, because the Japanese despised soldiers who surrender instead of death in war.
The P.O.W.'s traveled by foot until they reached San Fernando, where groups of over a hundred were squeezed into boxcars that were meant for thirty to forty people. Many died after suffering from the heat and suffocation while standing. The boxcars transferred them to Capas, where they were, again, marched by foot to Camp O’ Donnell. At the camp, American and Filipino soldiers were eventually separated, with the Filipino at the southern part of the camp, whereas American soldiers were at the northern part of the camp. Only 54,000 American and Filipino soldiers remained at this point in time.
Seeing that the Japanese provided a low amount of rice and contaminated water for the P.O.W.'s, death rates increased rapidly at Camp O’Donnell, and the death rate of Filipino soldiers was significantly higher than the American soldiers. Later on the Japanese forced the American soldiers to become permanent prisoners, while the Filipino were allowed to return home under the requirements that they go under parole and to aid in the process of turning other Filipinos into loyal servants of Japan.
Finally, on June 6, 1942, the remaining American soldiers were transported to Camp Cabanatuan, where the conditions were slightly better than Camp O’Donnell. There the American soldiers remained there temporarily and were soon transferred by boat to mines, factories, and labor camps in Japan or Japan-occupied areas.
soldiers and 63,000 Filipino soldiers, the Japanese forced them to start
marching. The Death March occurred at the southern tip of
Bataan Peninsula, traveling to Camp O'Donnell (about sixty-five
miles away). The prisoners of war (P.O.W.) traveled on a long dusty road,
carrying nearly no rations or water. Whenever halted for a rest, the P.O.W. were only allowed to drink water out of a dirty stream that was filled with
maggot-filled bloated corpses. Sometimes,when a P.O.W. collapsed due to either exhaustion, dehydration, or starvation, the soldier would be left behind after being killed (for example, by being run over multiple times by trucks or by being beheaded). The death of these men was the entertainment of the Japanese soldiers, because the Japanese despised soldiers who surrender instead of death in war.
The P.O.W.'s traveled by foot until they reached San Fernando, where groups of over a hundred were squeezed into boxcars that were meant for thirty to forty people. Many died after suffering from the heat and suffocation while standing. The boxcars transferred them to Capas, where they were, again, marched by foot to Camp O’ Donnell. At the camp, American and Filipino soldiers were eventually separated, with the Filipino at the southern part of the camp, whereas American soldiers were at the northern part of the camp. Only 54,000 American and Filipino soldiers remained at this point in time.
Seeing that the Japanese provided a low amount of rice and contaminated water for the P.O.W.'s, death rates increased rapidly at Camp O’Donnell, and the death rate of Filipino soldiers was significantly higher than the American soldiers. Later on the Japanese forced the American soldiers to become permanent prisoners, while the Filipino were allowed to return home under the requirements that they go under parole and to aid in the process of turning other Filipinos into loyal servants of Japan.
Finally, on June 6, 1942, the remaining American soldiers were transported to Camp Cabanatuan, where the conditions were slightly better than Camp O’Donnell. There the American soldiers remained there temporarily and were soon transferred by boat to mines, factories, and labor camps in Japan or Japan-occupied areas.