The battle has been lost. We have been ordered to surrender. We don’t give up. We are Americans. We fight. Losing isn’t an option! How can this be real?
Line up. Lay down your weapons and possessions in front of you. Empty your pockets. Word coming down the line to us is that they are killing anyone that have Japanese souvenirs and money. Get rid of it before they get to me. Being physically searched and slapped and kicked. They move down the line. POW being beaten in the head to get his gold fillings from his teeth. Another soldier can’t get his gold wedding ring off. They cut off his hand. Line up. There are 100 POWs to every 4 guards.
Moving forward. It is incredibly hot and humid. March, march, march. It is endless. Seeing POWs sitting naked in the full sun. Some have been shot. March, march, march. Day after day. How many miles have we gone? What day is it? Hearing random gunshots. Someone asked for water. Stopping. Guards must be tired. POW medics are trying to help those who are hurt. They have no supplies to use. Guards walking around randomly beating and bayoneting prisoners.
Get up. Line up. Forward, march. Our march has turned to a trudge. Concentrate, one foot in front of the other. Very little food or water. Heard there are a few guards who are compassionate and sharing their food and cigarettes. Train station in sight. Finally, some relief from marching. Disappointment. We are crammed into the WWI era boxcars like sardines. Standing room only. No room to move. 110 degrees, no ventilation. It’s like an oven. Mess yourself where you stand. The sounds, the smells…. We are in this boxcar all day long for an hour-long trip. Unload, line up, trudge forward. Trucks driving over the top of POWs that have fallen. Passing by bodies that are hog tied with wire and beheaded.
More miles pass, more days. Our numbers are dwindling. POW camp ahead. Dysentery and other disease running rampant from our overcrowding. We are tired. We are starving, wounded, and sick.
@75,000 American and Filipino were ordered to surrender.
@ 54,000 made it to camp.
Over 60 miles marched.
April 9-17, 1942
April 12, 1942, Pontingan River Massacre
Remember Bataan
Erin Hensel, Auxiliary President