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The Battan Death March: The Most Significant Events In American History

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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 …show more content…

Some soldiers couldn’t fit on the trains so those who couldn’t, were forced to march the full distance. Everyone had to keep up with a specific speed and they would get beaten if they didn’t. The Bataan Death March was a very significant event in American history. It was a huge loss for us, but it was also the biggest surrender in history. All the soldiers of war (SOWs) that were under the Japanese were basically used as slaves, treated in very poor conditions, and fed very little amounts of food. They were also given very little amounts of clothing so the weather affected them tremendously. The prisoners suffered tremendously from the lack of food and water, being forced to walk in the heat for long periods of times without stopping, causing most not to survive. These prisoners were thirsty and exhausted, and those who tried stealing the smallest bit of water were shot. Two-thirds of the prisoners would die from the horrendous conditions. Some were even beaten to death if they didn’t keep up with the marching speed. In total, there was 10,000 men – 1,000 American and 9,000 Filipino soldiers that ended up dying during this

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