(APRIL, 09, 2022) Today is the 80th anniversary of the surrender of Bataan and the beginning of the Bataan Death March, two seminal events in American history.
(APRIL, 09, 2022) Today is the 80th anniversary of the surrender of Bataan and the beginning of the Bataan Death March, two seminal events in American history. The horrors of today's war in Ukraine recall some of the atrocities committed by the Japanese empire during World War II. Pvt. Lester Tenney of Illinois’ 192nd Tank Battalion felt lucky. The Japanese officer’s sword missed his head and neck. Although he was left with a large gash on his shoulder, medics could quickly sew it up and he was soon back on the dusty road up the Bataan Peninsula. To fall behind or to falter guaranteed death. Like the civilians of Ukraine’s besieged cities, the surrendered soldiers and civilians on the Bataan Death March were defenseless and at the barbarous mercy of the invaders. It began eighty years ago today, on April 9, 1942. The Bataan Death March is remembered as one of the greatest war crimes of World War II. The Japanese commanders involved were prosecuted for crimes against humanity or for...