Uncovering the Causes of the Bataan Death March
On January 1942, the Japanese seized the peninsula of Bataan, cutting off American and Filipino soldiers, both under the command of the United States, from help and supplies. After ninety-nine days of fighting, more than 76,000 men surrendered and were forced to walk to Camp O’Donnell, a prison camp approximately sixty-six miles away.1 This was the first time in American history that an entire army had to surrender to an enemy.2 The Bataan Death March lasted from April 9, 1942 to May 1, 1942. The march was infamous for the 20,000 meaningless deaths that were caused by harsh conditions, malnourishment, the tropical heat, and the deliberate and merciless brutality of the Japanese Imperial Army. The propagandized behavior of most Japanese soldiers and the 14th Army’s failure to implement a workable plan to remove the prisoners from Bataan were the main contributors that turned the march into a chaos of human rights violations.
The culture of the Japanese Army was dramatically changed by Japanese Army leaders who justified cruelty by taking advantage of ancient Japanese concepts. Japanese Army leaders saw an advantage in having every soldier fight to the death and put together the Senjin Kun, or “Ethics in Battle.” The manual used ideas that could be traced back to the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868) and emphasized the shame of surrender. According to the Senjin Kun, being captured was a fate worse than death because it not only permanently disgraced the soldier, but also his entire family. The Army leaders used the samurai’s Bushido, or “the way of the warrior,” code as an excuse to abuse its own soldiers. Ancient ideas like Seppuku and Junsbi promoted a ritual suicide when dishonor to...
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"Samurai and Bushido." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
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Young, Donald J. The Battle of Bataan: A Complete History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2009. Print.
King, Rosemary. "O'Brien's 'How to Tell a True War Story.'" The Explicator. 57.3 (1999): 182. Expanded Academic ASAP.
In conclusion, while books, photos, movies and other historical documentation can portray information or a message about wartime events, they will never be able to produce the feelings of those that were personally involved in wars have experienced. Yet, it is incorrect to criticize these writers. The information they reveal is still very important historical information. Even if a reader or viewer of this media cannot feel exactly the same emotions as those involved, they still often experience an emotional connection to the events being depicted. This is important, not only for the historical knowledge gained about wars, but also to understand the nature and futility of their occurrence.
Gailey, Harry. The War in the Pacific: From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay. Novato: Presidio, 1995.
19 February 1945 marked the beginning of one of the fiercest and bloodiest; and more decisively, the most strategically important battles fought during World War II. A total of 6,821 U.S. Marines had lost their lives, along with 19,217 wounded over the five-week span of the battle for Iwo Jima. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island, only 212 were taken prisoners. “Iwo Jima was the only battle by the U.S. Marine Corps in which the overall American casualties (killed and wounded) exceeded those of the Japanese, although Japanese combat deaths were thrice those of the Americans throughout the battle (O'Brien, 1987).”
Hynes, Samuel Lynn. "What Happened in Nam." The soldiers' tale: bearing witness to modern war. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: A. Lane, 1997. 177-222. Print.
O’Brien, Tim. “How to Tell a True War Story.” The Things They Carried. Boston and New York: Mariner Books, 2009. 64-81. Print.
World War II was a horrific time in not only in the United States, but throughout the entire world. There were horrendous things going on in Europe at this time. World War II began in 1939. The Battle of Midway had a great impact on World War II. The Battle of Midway was a battle between America and Japan; Germany was not involved in this. By examining why Japan attempted to take control over Midway, Japan’s plan, and the battle itself, a connection can be made to The Battle of Midway and its effects on World War II. The Battle of Midway was a huge part in World War II.
Leahy, Stephen M. "The Historical Battle over Dispatching American Troops." USA Today (Farmingdale). July 1999: 10-12. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 May. 2014.
King, Rosemary. "O'Brien's 'How to Tell a True War Story.'" The Explicator. 57.3 (1999): 182. Expanded Academic ASAP.
23 .Roger Daniel, Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in the World War II 1993, Hill and Yang.
O’Brien, Tim. “How to Tell a True War Story.” The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Print.
During the relatively peaceful Tokugawa period, the samurai were not as occupied with waging war as they had been in the past, and as such they had begun devoting their time to other things. The samurai spent more time in intellectual and artistic pursuits, and thanks in part to Tsunetomo himself, the culture of Bushido flourished. Bushido became a formal ideology and was pieced together by the samurai at the time (specifically Tsunetomo), similar to how chivalry had been formalized in Europe. Bushido was becoming a properly formalized code of conduct, a philosophy of loyalty, detachment and honor in death, where death is more highly revered than victory. Bushido is one of East Asia’s most influential schools of thought. What would Sun Tzu, the Chinese author of The Art of War, think of this death-oriented military ethos?
Cantrell, Robert L., and Lionel Giles. Understanding Sun Tzu on the art of war the oldest military treatise in the world. Arlington, VA: Center For Advantage, 2003. Print.
O’Brien, Tim. “How To Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2003. p. 420-429.
Stories about war and implements of such can be observed throughout the course of Japanese history. This shows the prevalence of martial training and the profession of arms as a tradition that has not faded since ancient times (Friday and Humitake 13).