Across the United States, and in the Philippines there exist dozens of memorials, such as monuments, plaques and schools, dedicated to the U.S. and Filipino prisoners who suffered or died during the Bataan Death March. There is also a wide variety of commemorative events held to honor the victims, include holidays, athletic events such as marathons, and memorial ceremonies held at military cemeteries.
Every year on April 9, the captured soldiers are honored on Araw ng Kagitingan ("Day of Valour"), also known as the "Bataan Day", which is a national holiday in the Philippines. Beginning in 1962, the Boy Scouts of America Far East Council troops from Clark Air Base, Subic Bay and Sangley Naval Stations would join with Boy Scouts of the Philippines troops to reenact this march along the initial route in Bataan taken by the Prisoners of War, who were American and Filipino soldiers, sailors, airmen, and civilians.[1] The original Death March was approximately 100km (100miles) in length, depending upon where in Bataan the POWs started.
The Sacrifices of the Fall of Bataan and Corregidor are commemorated at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, Honolulu, Hawaii every year. On April 9, 2009, Philippines Secretary of National Defense, Hon. Gilberto C. Teodoro gave the "Araw ng Kagitingan Address" (Day of Valor Address) and led in a wreath laying ceremony, attended by US Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, Filipino World War II veterans, Hawaii government officials, members of the Consular Corps, the U.S. Pacific Command and the Filipino-American community in Honolulu. The Philippine Consul General in Honolulu, Hon. Ariel Y. Abadilla, organized the ceremony.
The Bataan Death March is commemorated every year in March since 1993 at the White Sands Missile Range, northeast of Las Cruces, New Mexico, with a trail marathon known as the Bataan Memorial Death March. The full marathon and 15miles run covers paved road and sandy trails, and is regarded by Marathon Guide as one of the top 30 marathons in the U.S.[2] [3]
Over 6,300 marchers (2011)[4] participate in both the marathon and the 15.4miles run (only the marathon is timed), with members of military units of the U.S. and foreign armed forces participating. Many civilians also participate, usually running in the full marathon, which is timed with awards (but not certified by USA Track and Field). Several of the few surviving Bataan prisoners usually await the competitors to congratulate them on completing the grueling march.[5]
Company A, 194th Armored Regiment, was deployed to the Philippines in autumn, 1941. To commemorate the military and civilian prisoners who were forced to march from Bataan to Camp O’Donnell, an annual Bataan Memorial March is organized by the 194th Armor Regiment of the Minnesota Army National Guard and held at Brainerd, MN. The march is open to anyone with both 10- and 20-mile distances. The march has different categories, consisting of teams, individuals, light pack, or a heavy pack. A closing ceremony is held to award the finishers and pay tribute to the survivors and their many comrades who perished on the death march.
The City of Chesapeake hosts an annual march commemorating the Bataan Death March at the Great Dismal Swamp state park. Sailors and Marines from the USS Bataan, a Wasp class aircraft carrier home ported in nearby Norfolk, participate and volunteer in this commemorative event. [6]
Since 1942, this small western suburb of Chicago has marked the second Sunday in September as "Maywood Bataan Day." The residents were then calling attention to the over 100 Maywood National Guard troops who were taken prisoner when American forces surrendered at Bataan on April 9, 1942. These men endured the death march, prison camps, "Hell ships," and eventual slave labour in Japan itself. The men were part of Company B, 192nd Tank Battalion. The original Maywood Bataan Day drew more than 100,000 spectators, dozens of marching bands, and celebrities including the Mayor Ed Kelley of Chicago and movie and radio stars. Today's celebration is much smaller, but still draws several hundred. The memorial is supported by the village of Maywood, Illinois and a non-profit group, the Maywood Bataan Day Organization that had in 1999 the local park dedicated as the Veterans Memorial Park. Ironically, the Memorial Park in Maywood is bordered by commuter rail track that now runs trains by Nippon Sharyo, a Japanese rail car manufacturer that used Maywood POWs as wartime slave labor.[7]
Veterans of the death march held regularly scheduled conventions after World War II. The last convention, attended by 73 survivors from the march, was held on May 29, 2009, in San Antonio, Texas. At the convention, Japanese ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki apologized to the assembled attendees for his country "having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people, including prisoners of war, those who have undergone tragic experiences."[8]
Bataan Legacy Historical Society was created as a response to the lack of information on the Filipino defenders of Bataan. Bataan Legacy Historical Society continues to collaborate with organizations across the United States and the Philippines so that World War II in the Philippines can be learned by generations to come. To facilitate learning, lesson plans can be downloaded from the organization's website. The first Bataan Legacy presentation took place on April 9, 2012, during the 70th Anniversary of the Fall of Bataan. Since 2016 BLHS—in collaboration with Memorare Manila 1945, the Philippine Consulate General and the San Francisco Main Public Library—has hosted an annual conference in San Francisco, California. Speakers from the Philippines and across the United States gathered together to educate the public about the Filipino and American soldiers and civilians who suffered and sacrificed so much during WWII.
In 2012 film producer Jan Thompson created a film documentary on the Death March, POW camps, and Japanese hell ships titled Never the Same: The Prisoner-of-War Experience. The film reproduced scenes of the camps and ships, showed drawings and writings of the prisoners, and featured Loretta Swit as the narrator.[9] [10]