Bataan Death March Research Paper

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The Bataan Death March was a brutal journey through torture and death, the captives were beaten, shot, beheaded, and were forced to walk 66 miles. The Bataan Death March, which was started on December 7, 1941, happened shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Bataan Death March had been significant in many ways. The Bataan Death March started when nearly 70,000 Americans and Filipinos were captured and made Prisoners Of War by the Japanese. The prisoners were forced to march 55 miles, on the travel they were beaten with sticks, kicked, and badly abused. Each time someone would fall down, they would be shot. Only 54,000 made it to camp.

On December 7, 1941, Japan then attacked Pearl Harbor. The American Pacific Naval Fleet suffered heavy …show more content…

Later during March, General King and his staff determined the Filipino-American forces in Bataan could only fight a percent of efficiency due to disease, insufficient, ammunition and basic supplies, and fatigue. On April 9, 1942, General King surrendered his forces on Bataan, after the Japanese broke through the last main line of resistance. The Filipino-American soldiers were assembled in various parts in Bataan by the Japanese, but mostly assembled in Mariveles, the southern most tip of the Peninsula. American trucks were available to transport the prisoners but the Japanese decided to march the Defenders of Bataan to their destinations.

This march was to be known as the “Death March.” The “Death March” was actually a series of marches, which had lasted five to nine days. The distance a captive had to march was determined by where on the trail the captive had begun the …show more content…

At San Fernando, the prisoners were placed into train-cars, made for cargo, and railed to Capas, Tarlac, a distance of around 24 miles. Dozens died standing up in the railroad cars, as the cars were so cramped there was no room for the dead to fall. They were, then, marched another six miles to their final destination, Camp O'Donnell. Several thousand men died on the "Death March". Many died, because they were not in any physical condition to undertake such a march. Once on the march, they were not given any food or water. Japanese soldiers killed many of them through various means. Also, POWs were repeatedly beaten and treated inhumanely, as they marched. Approximately, 1,600 Americans died in the first forty days in Camp O'Donnell. Almost 20,000 Filipinos died in their first four months of captivity in the same camp. The healthier prisoners took turns burying their comrades into mass graves, where soon enough, they would be buried, days or weeks later. Camp O'Donnell did not have the sanitation sub-structure or water supply necessary to hold such a large amount of men. Many died from diseases they had since Bataan. Many caught new diseases while at the Camp. There was little medicine available to the prisoners. Their inadequate diets also contributed to the high death rate. Diseases like dysentery, from insufficient safe drinking water, and Beri-Beri, from

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