April is rich in her bloody anniversaries -- the centennial of the U.S. entry into World War I (April 6) and the 75th anniversary of the start of the Bataan Death March (April 9).
Bataan is a beautiful peninsula between the West Philippine Sea and the Manila Bay.
We drove to Mount Samat in Pilar recently to see the National Shrine and Museum dedicated to the Death March.
The 1942 invasion of Luzon came on the heels of the Pearl Harbor attack. With few provisions or ammo, Bataan held out for three months. Filipino and American soldiers regrouped at Mount Samat, their last stronghold and the scene of one the most vicious fights during the Battle of Bataan.
The inscription at the memorial reads: “of 2,000 enemy troops committed to these battles only 34 wounded soldiers returned to their lines.”
On Good Friday 1942, the horrific Japanese bombardment set the mountain forest afire. Troops burned alive in their foxholes.
On April 9 about 78,000 sick and starving soldiers surrendered -- about 66,500 Filipinos and 11,800 Americans. It was the largest surrender of U.S. soldiers in our history.
They commenced the Death March. Precise numbers are difficult to come by. About 54,000 survived. Some 16,700 Filipinos and 7,600 American died.
Aside from rare instances of kindness by Japanese officers and those Japanese soldiers who spoke English, the march was one of relentless brutality.
Torture, beatings, theft, knocking teeth out for gold fillings. Some men were buried alive.
The Japanese massacred Filipino soldiers wholesale.
They forced prisoners to sit in sweltering direct sunlight. Those who asked for water were shot dead.
Some men were told to strip naked or sit within sight of fresh, cool water. Guards bayoneted those who fell or succumbed to fatigue. Trucks ran over others.
The Death March was a war crime if there ever was one.
Driving up Mount Samat proved positively eerie. The mountain’s elevation is nearly 1,787 feet and the road up is steep and narrow with very sharp curves. The January day we navigated it was so foggy it reminded me of being at sea on the North Atlantic.
People walked along the road, barely visible. Lush jungle enclosed both sides of the roadway.
The shrine’s colonnade with its marble finish, altar, blue chandeliers and stained glass mural is similar to the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu (Punchbowl) but much smaller.
The splendid views, however, are comparable to those from Punchbowl Crater. On a clear day you can see Manila Bay and the island of Corregidor.
The Memorial Cross is made of steel and concrete with an elevator and a viewing gallery. The marble exterior’s bas relief sculptures depict historical figures and events.
A fine museum offers photos, documents and weapons displays.
On the way back down, the fog cleared and we saw green rice fields, mango groves, rows of coconut palms, rivers, azure tipped mountains and Manila Bay’s blue, shining water in the distance
The Japanese officer responsible for the Death March, Gen. Masaharu Homma, was known for leniency in his dealings with the Filipino people.
After the war he was convicted as a war criminal in a most controversial trial and then faced a firing squad in Los Baños, Laguna.
At his trial, Homma testified that he was so busy with plans for the Corregidor assault that he was not involved in the prisoners’ treatment and believed his officers were properly handling the matter.
He said he did not learn of the atrocities until after the war, even though his headquarters was 500 feet from the route of the march.
The Allies were not in a forgiving mood.
The execution site is known as the General Homma Memorial Monument. It is very difficult to find.
Los Banos residents and tricycle drivers are happy to offer directions. I recommend paying a tricycle driver to take you there.
As an inscription at the Mount Samat Shrine says: Our Mission is to Remember.
