Bataan Day

Just before dawn on April 9, 1942, General Edward Edward King, Jr. surrendered more than 75,000 Filipino and almost 12,000 American soldiers to the Japanese, following the Allied defeat during the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. The exhausted men were stripped of their belongings, many were beaten, and most were forced to march 90 miles through the tropical jungle to Camp O’Donnell, a United States prison camp that had been captured by the Japanese. It was a brutal trek and thousands died en route of dehydration, heat exhaustion, starvation, and disease. By many estimates, between 25 and 28 percent of the men died during what has come to be known as the Bataan Death March.

To honor these men, April 9 is a national holiday in the Philippines. The day is called “araw ng Kagitingnan” (Day of Valor) there.

^{(National Archives Photo)}