Bataan Death March Remembered (soldier, civilian, military, crimes)

[jeffdoorgunner]

There are not many of these guys left. Amazing any lived through it.

https://www.military.com/history/ben...army_180416.nl

[msgsing]

Yup. It’s amazing any of them survived. They had been on short rations for months. Many were wounded with little or no medical care.

[theoldnorthstate]

Yes it was bad

[JBtwinz]

There was a tremendous amount of courage displayed by those gentlemen. My father and uncles saw a lot of action in the Pacific during WWII and they have since passed on and although I have the memories of their stories and a few pictures, this passing of a generation that fought wars on two fronts have just about all left us.

I am so happy to see stories like this as hopefully those who gave so much will always be remembered and honored. Although many suffered it is part of history that never should be forgotten.

[johngolf]

In the 60's, when I was a teenager, I worked with a fellow that had been on the march. All I remember about Frank, was that he was a nice guy.

[jeffdoorgunner]

Originally Posted by johngolf

In the 60's, when I was a teenager, I worked with a fellow that had been on the march. All I remember about Frank, was that he was a nice guy.

Its amazing,I have a survivor that lives about 4 blocks from me. I went to a DAV meeting here a couple of years ago and he was there. I so wanted to talk to him and shake his hand but didn't..... for once I was at a lose for words..........

[Rocko20]

Between the the Bataan death march and Nanking Massacre (among many other war crimes), no one can convince me there wasn't a three way tie between Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Imperial Japan on who committed the most WW2 atrocities.

People think america dropping the bomb on Japan was extreme, they don't realize that Japan would've done it dozens of times to their enemies if they got their hands on it.

Reading about Japanese war crimes will disturb you, it's very hard to read. They did not believe POWs were human nor did they treat them with basic Geneva convention protections.

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by Rocko20

Between the the Bataan death march and Nanking Massacre (among many other war crimes), no one can convince me there wasn't a three way tie between Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Imperial Japan on who committed the most WW2 atrocities.

People think america dropping the bomb on Japan was extreme, they don't realize that Japan would've done it dozens of times to their enemies if they got their hands on it.

Reading about Japanese war crimes will disturb you, it's very hard to read. They did not believe POWs were human nor did they treat them with basic Geneva convention protections.

Fairly unknown is that Japan planned on executing all POWs starting August 22, 1945. They had already conditioned prisoners to be marched out of the compound in small groups. They wanted every last soldier available for the invasion they knew was coming. Every POW that left Japan alive did so because we dropped those two atomic bombs. That alone makes their use worth it, regardless of the number of enemy casualties.

[Rocko20]

Originally Posted by AlaskaErik

Fairly unknown is that Japan planned on executing all POWs starting August 22, 1945. They had already conditioned prisoners to be marched out of the compound in small groups. They wanted every last soldier available for the invasion they knew was coming. Every POW that left Japan alive did so because we dropped those two atomic bombs. That alone makes their use worth it, regardless of the number of enemy casualties.

I agree. One can even argue that they didn't want to surrender after the bombs, and that it also took the invasion of the Soviet Union from the north (which was largely unprotected like the south) to finally realize it was all over.

Another sad case in history where a county abused its military might with no regard to the treatment of civilians or POWs.

[Chava61]

One of my great-uncles survived the Bataan Death March but later died as a POW after being transferred to a second Japanese POW camp. My great-uncle's remains are unaccounted for.