[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 129 (Sunday, October 10, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NEW MEXICO BATAAN DEATH MARCH VETERANS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 7, 2004

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
New Mexico's Bataan Death March veterans.
  Last night, two units based in New Mexico that were part of the 
Bataan Death March were awarded the 2004 Citizen Patriot Unit Award by 
the Reserve Forces Policy Board, a senior board within the Office of 
the Secretary of Defense. Two of my constituents were able to represent 
the 44 survivors of the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery units of the 
New Mexico National Guard at the awards ceremony. They are Colonel 
Vicente Ojinaga, of Santa Fe, and Staff Sergeant Ernest Montoya, of 
Albuquerque.
  Colonel Ojinaga and Staff Sergeant Montoya participated in one of the 
darkest hours of World War II. The defense of the Philippines in World 
War II was courageous and heroic, and the battle at Bataan was long and 
desperate. Outnumbered, short-supplied, diseased, starving and 
exhausted U.S. and Filipino soldiers surrendered on April 9, 1942. They 
were alone and the last to lay down their arms. What ensued has been 
called one of the most savage and brutal events of World War II.
  Of the some 78,000 Prisoners of War who marched 65 miles and were 
then imprisoned, 1,800 were members of New Mexico's 200th and 515th 
Coast Artillery. Of these 1,800 New Mexicans, one-half did not survive 
during the inhuman ordeals. Of those who survived, one-third died 
during the first year after returning home.
  I want to say to these two courageous and honored soldiers that few 
will ever be able to comprehend the magnitude of the extreme illness, 
starvation, loneliness, abuse and humiliation that you and your fellow 
soldiers endured. We will also never, ever be able to thank you enough 
for what you did to protect the very freedoms we enjoy today.

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