[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 40 (Friday, April 12, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH

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                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 11, 2002

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, this week marks the 60th 
anniversary of the infamous Bataan Death March, in which thousands of 
American and Filipino soldiers lost their lives in one of the most 
brutal episodes of World War II.
  On December 22, 1941, the Japanese Army landed in northern Luzon in 
the Philippines and began to push southward toward Manila. At first, 
General Douglas MacArthur was inclined to confront the Japanese on the 
beaches, but without air support the U.S. Navy's small Asiatic fleet 
was in no position to challenge Japan at sea. While the U.S. regulars 
and Philippine Scouts were excellent troops, they were severely 
outnumbered and would have had no air support.
  Giving up his initial strategy of defeating the enemy on the beaches, 
General MacArthur instead decided to withdraw to the Bataan Peninsula 
and pursue a strategy of defense and delay, by shortening his lines and 
using the mountainous, jungle-covered terrain to his advantage. He 
hoped they could hold out long enough for a relief force to be mounted 
from the United States.
  By March 1942, however, it was clear that help from the United States 
would not arrive in time. Lacking sufficient food and ammunition, and 
wracked by dysentery and malaria, nevertheless the American-Filipino 
force bravely continued to fight.
  In March, President Roosevelt ordered General MacArthur to leave the 
Philippines and escape to Australia, handing over his command to Lt. 
Gen. Jonathan Wainwright and to Maj. Gen. Edward King.
  On April 9, 1942, with food, supplies and ammunition virtually gone, 
after four months of gallant resistance, the exhausted and starving 
U.S. troops in Bataan were forced to surrender.
  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the courageous defense of Bataan had a 
shockingly tragic end. Marching their prisoners toward camps in 
northern Luzon, the Japanese denied food and water to the sick and 
starving American and Filipino soldiers for more than a week. When the 
weakest prisoners began to straggle, Japanese guards shot or bayoneted 
them and threw their bodies to the side of the road. Even those 
soldiers who were healthy when the March started became ill with 
dysentery and malaria along this long road.
  It is estimated by some historians that Japanese guards may have 
killed more than 600 Americans and 10,000 Filipino prisoners during 
this long and brutal March, and that more than 1,500 American and 
25,000 Filipino soldiers may have lost their lives after reaching their 
destination.
  Meanwhile, General Wainwright and his troops on the small, fortified 
island of Corregidor in Manila Bay had been able to continue resisting 
for another month, despite being under constant Japanese artillery and 
air bombardment. But on May 6, 1942, after Japanese troops stormed 
ashore on the island, General Wainwright agreed to surrender Corregidor 
and all other U.S. troops on the Philippine islands. And by May 9, 
1942, the battle for the Philippines had ended, though there remained 
some Americans and Filipinos who escaped to the mountains and continued 
to wage a guerrilla war against the Japanese.
  Mr. Speaker, this week, on the 60th Anniversary of the Bataan Death 
March, there remain thousands of surviving American and Filipino 
veterans who continue to bear the scars, both physical and emotional, 
of that war crime. All of the courageous soldiers who fought, 
persevered or perished on the Island of Philippines at Bataan and 
Corregidor played a distinctive and vital role in World War II. Their 
stories, and the full history of the Bataan Death March must never be 
forgotten.
  Inscribed on a monument in Corregidor, there is a poem by an unknown 
poet that pays homage to these brave soldiers: ``Sleep my sons, your 
duty done. For Freedom's light has come. Sleep in the Silent Depths of 
the sea or in your bed of hallowed sod. Until you hear at dawn the low 
clear reveille of God.''
  Mr. Speaker, I call on all Americans who cherish liberty and freedom 
to join us this week in respectful recognition of the brave United 
States and Filipino soldiers who served in the Philippines during this 
fateful event.




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