Bataan Death March

Matt StewartScott Minor

Bataan Death March-

• U.S. troops surrendered to Japanese forces– 70,000 survivors taken as POWs

• Survivors forced to march to prison camps– 10,000 died during march

General Douglas MacArthur

• General of the American Troops at the time of capture

• His troops were short on supplies• Ordered to evacuate to Australia

Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma

• Commander of the Japanese troops• Able to easily break through American line• Ordered 20,500 troops to defend Bataan

peninsula

POWs

• Captive soldiers were searched by Japanese• Any prisoner found with Japanese souvenirs

was immediately executed because they were believed to have killed a Japanese soldier

• Soldiers own property was confiscated

Where?

• Marched from Mariveles (on the tip of Bataan) to Camp O’Donnell

• 70 mile march• Only suppose to require couple days• Weakened condition of troops made it last

longer• Many men died in route

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Cruelty Americans Faced

• Sun Treatment– Forced to sit in sun w/ no shade, helmets, or

water• Given little, if any food• Little sleep– Tightly packed sleeping quarters

Camp O'Donnell

• About 2,200 Americans and 27,000 Filipinos died at Camp O'Donnell

• Destination of the death march

Causes of Death

• Faced very harsh conditions• Dehydration (No water)• Beaten to death• Shot for no reason• Starvation• Diseases

Overall

• The Bataan Death March was one of the most brutal killings during WWII

Works Cited• "The American Experience | MacArthur | Capture and Death March."

PBS. 08 May 2009 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/sfeature/bataan_capture.html>.

• "Bataan Death March." History web pages. 08 May 2009 <http://history.sandiego.edu/GEN/st/~ehimchak/death_march.html>.

• "Bataan Death March." Travel and History. 08 May 2009 <http://www.u-

s-history.com/pages/h1737.html>. • Boyer, Paul, and Sterling Stuckey. "New Challenges." American Nation in

the Modern Era. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005. 531-32.