Why The Raid At Cabanatuan

December 7, 1941, Japanese air and naval forces struck multiple areas within the Pacific to include Kota Bharu in British Malaya, Singora in Thailand, Guam, Hong Kong, and the Philippine Islands. One of the prominent attacks targeted Pearl Harbor, marking the United States declaration of war against Japan, in which the United States entered World War II. The capture of the Philippine Islands served as a crucial effort to the Empire of Japan in ensuring the control of the Southwest Pacific during World War II. The Philippine Islands served as a natural barrier between Japan and resources found in East and Southeast Asia. Hence, the impact of the defense of the Philippines Island in Bataan served in effectively delaying Japan’s conquest of South Asia.

Slowly but surely the American soldiers made progress and secured some of the airfields because by the beginning of March, two thirds of the island was captured by American soldiers because they had a strong Marine base and were able to push the Japanese back.

On December 7, 1941, two waves of Japanese air fleets bombed the United States naval base known as Pearl Harbor. They destroyed and damaged eleven US battle ships, one hundred

Conditions were terrible but there were still loyal soldiers who stayed with. In doc c Dr. Waldo states “ I am sick, discontented, and out of humor, poor food, hard lodging, cold weather, fatigue, nasty cloths, nasty cookery, vomit half my time, smoked out of my senses, I can’t endure it.”

On December 7, 1941, early in the morning Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. Nobody expected this. Japanese planes destroyed approximately 20 American naval vessels, and nearly 300 airplanes. 2000 American people were killed, and more than 100 injured.

Four years before the attack on Hiroshima, on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was attacked by Japanese troops (Doc. A). This devastating event took the lives

The first attack against the U.S. done by the Japanese was the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor just before 8 a.m., it was devastating. The Japanese fighter planes destroyed around 20 naval ships and eight of them were some of the United State’s biggest battleships. The Japanese didn’t just destroy vessels, they also managed to destroy around 300 airplanes. The amount of American soldier’s lives lost was heart-rending, there were over 2,000 Soldiers and Sailors lost from the American fleet. There were also more than 1,000 wounded or critically injured on that horrifying day. The day of the Pearl Harbor attacks became known as “a date which will live in infamy”, and this day was only the beginning. This was only the midpoint of Japan’s attacks, the second half was the Bataan Death March.

The military had a unique plan created by General MacArthur “to island-hop all the way to Japan, capturing each of those islands as they went” (Page 55). In Sioux Code Talkers of World War II, Page explains all the different islands throughout the world that the United States had to take back from the Axis Powers like New Guinea, Leyte, Luzon, and the Philippines. The United States also saved many people that had been captured by the Axis Powers. The Santo Tomas Internment Camp in the Philippines was a huge victory when they were able to save all the people captured within being deprived of food, water, and shelter; “Go to Manila, Go around the nips, bounce off the Nips, but go to Manila, MacArthur insisted” (Page 77). The United States traveled from island to island fighting the Axis Powers and saving innocent people from dying.

This POW camp was not registered with the Red Cross, so, they did not receive care packages. Finally, they barely had any food, and combined with intense exercise, it was nearly impossible to survive.

Around 8:00 am on December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (United States Naval base in Hawaii), dropping bombs on it and killing nearly 3,500 people. Pearl Harbor was a turning point for The United States. The day after Pearl Harbor, The United States officially declared war on Japan

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 very few people knew what was in stored for this day. The attack on Pearl Harbor was one of the most tragic events in American History. It was surprise attack to most individuals, but a foreseeable aerial attack to some. The Japanese had at least eight primary targets during the attack. The USS Pennsylvania or (BB-38), USS Arizona (BB-30) which was a very tragic loss.

The prisoners of the Cabanatuan Prison are in grave danger as the US 6th Army is advancing and the Japanese are in full retrograde; it is with this in mind that we are planning this raid. The prison camp is behind enemy lines, approximately 30 miles from Guimba, and currently flooded with the withdrawing Japanese forces. The camp is being used as a transit point as they retreat to the north and east. Daylight hours are when you find the largest troop concentrations; the current TTP is for Japanese forces to move during the night. Additionally, a projected force of about 800 Japanese with tanks and heavy weapons are templated at Cabu. The Terrain leading up to the Camp has vegetation and easily traversable roads; we have the support of the local population to help us in the recovery efforts. As the US rangers approach the camp, the last mile will be treacherous because all vegetation has been cleared and the forecasted moon and light data is not favorable. Once we start to evacuate the US Prisoners we will be faced with soldiers who have been on reduced rations for the last few years, medical estimates suggest that we can expect 7-10% (35/500) of the prisoners to be non-ambulatory. The remainder will be debilitated from malnutrition and disease, making their movement slow at best.

The Japanese military strike on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7th, 1941. The attack cost the U.S. 18 ships and 347 planes, and 2403 lives were lost. (Lord 219-220). On September 18th, 1931, the

Next, all of these reasons eventually became the attack known as Pearl Harbor that occurred on December 7, 1941. 353 Japanese planes started a 2 hour barrage that killed nearly 2500 American

The Battan Death March first started after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and started to take over a large amount of Southeastern Asia. But before the Death March started, the actual Battle of Battan started December 10th, 1941. It was between the United States, the Philippines, and Japan. The Death March lasted for a total of 3 months and 2 days during 1942 (January 7th – April 9th) in the Battan Peninsula near the Manila Bay in Luzon island, Philippines. The main generals of the U.S and the Philippines, Douglas MacArthur and Vincent Lim decided to take their solders to the Battan Peninsula to protect the island from being damaged. From there, Japan knew they had to figure out what to do with all the soldiers, but the large amount caught