THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH by

mkilian — 2016-02-01 19:39:43 UTC

Rocky's Background

mkilian — 2016-02-01 19:50:38 UTC

Damon "Rocky" Gause was a Major in the American Army during World War II. He was a dive-bomber pilot stationed in Manila in December 1941. Cause, along with his entire regiment, was captured when the Philippines fell to the Japanese army and had come to the decision to either be a prisoner of war to run.

What was the Bataan Death March?

mkilian — 2016-02-01 21:50:37 UTC

The Japanese captured 76,000 prisoners when the Allied garrison, under the command of Maj. Gen. Edward P. King, surrendered. The half-starved and diseased Allied soldiers were led by their Japanese victors on a brutal march, which became known as the Bataan Death March, to prisoner-of-war camps.
The total number of Allied soldiers who died on the march is unknown, although it appears that several thousand succumbed to disease. Historians estimate that somewhere between 3,000 and 10,000 Allied soldiers were killed outright by their captors during the march.

The Journey from the Philippines to Australia

mkilian — 2016-02-01 22:16:53 UTC

Gause and Osborne sailed on a leaky, old fishing boat for almost 160 days without nearly enough food or water. They escaped the Japanese, sharks, and even a typhoon.

what was the bataan death march

mkilian — 2016-02-05 15:36:50 UTC

video

mkilian — 2016-02-08 13:47:12 UTC

American prisoners of war in the Philippines use improvised litters to carry their comrades who, from the lack of food or water on the march from Bataan, fell along the road. When American and Filipino armies were defeated on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese led their Allied prisoners on a brutal march (which became known as the Bataan Death March) to prisoner-of-war (POW) camps.

mkilian — 2016-02-08 13:48:48 UTC

American and Filipino soldiers, defeated by the Japanese, rest during their brutal march under Japanese command to POW camps.

Bataan Memorial in New Mexico

mkilian — 2016-02-15 18:45:05 UTC

Where, every year there is a 26-mile marathon commemorating the Bataan Death March, held at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA, sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

mkilian — 2016-02-15 18:48:16 UTC

Another memorial along the main highway in the Bataan Peninsula, Philippines

mkilian — 2016-02-15 19:01:05 UTC