Re: Bataan Memorial Death March

Date: March 12, 2004

"From Alamogordo News

Bataan memorial march returns after year off
By Christopher Schurtz/For the Daily News

In many ways, it’s the polar opposite of the historic event it commemorates, though most participants describe it as the most challenging physical experience they’ve ever endured.

Ellis Neel/Daily News LONGER THAN I THOUGHT—U.S. Army Sgt. Lance Warren, center, from Ft. Gillem, Ga., shows his colors and looks for water at the eight-mile point during the 2002 Bataan Memorial Death March Sunday, April 14, 2002, at White Sands Missile Range. More than 4,000 marchers from 43 states and five countries took part in the event.

This Sunday, thousands of active duty military, national guardsmen and reservists, as well as hundreds of civilians, will gather for the Bataan Memorial March, a rugged 26.2-mile trek through some of White Sands Missile Range’s least-friendly terrain.

Many of the 3,125 marchers will come for the athletic challenge, while others, including family members, march to honor WWII Bataan Death March survivors.

Last year, the march was canceled when many of the medical support teams were sent to Iraq or elsewhere, hampering the event’s safety.

This year, the N.M. Disaster Medical Assistance Team will provide much of the medical support.

‘Absolute chaos’
Mary Beth Reinhart, march coordinator, said the year off last year has made it “harder to remember all the things we need to look for.”

Planners have also for the first time held fast to their March registration deadline; Reinhart said “it’s absolute chaos” with a number of people calling who missed the deadline.

But she said the logistics of the event, which was capped at 4,000 after the large numbers at 2002’s march, require firm planning. In the past, organizers have let teams register up until the day before the march.

Teams from at least 43 states, Germany and Canada will participate, as well as representatives from Great Britain, Germany and Australia who are stationed in the United States.

Several American teams from military bases in Iceland and South Korea will also be taking part, and Monte Marlin of the White Sands Public Affairs Office said there are several military teams whose members have served in Iraq.

All the way from Iceland
For the joint Air Force-Navy team from the U.S. Naval Base in Keflavik, Iceland, the march will mostly be about meeting new standards of combat fitness, said Chief Master Sgt. Everett Smith of the U.S. Air Force 85th Group.

Smith said his team started training in earnest in January, braving biting 40 mph winds and blinding sleet. He said the team was able to recreate some of the geographical obstacles in the march — especially the mile or so of deep sand around mile 20 — with the low hills and black volcanic sand in Iceland.

But he and his team, used to sea level, are expecting to struggle with elevation and the heat. They’re not necessarily expecting to win, he said.

“Our main goal is to make it to the finish line. We’ve come here to represent our base,” Smith said. “We’re not just doing this as a competition; there is a bigger significance to this.”

That significance comes home to marchers as they compare their experience with the original march.

History remembered
Memorial marchers are greeted every couple of miles by water stops, manned by teams of volunteers shouting words of encouragement as they hand out cups of Gatorade and orange slices.

There is also plenty of medical support for marchers, treating blistered feet, dehydration and other march-related injuries. Families and friends march in what is often a light-hearted, but reflective, experience.

Needless to say, the Bataan Death March was nothing like that.

The same day Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, Dec. 7, 1941, the Philippines, then an American territory, was also attacked.

The well-fortified and battle-hardened Japanese 14th Army overwhelmed the poorly supplied American forces on Bataan and Corregidor, and by April, the surrender of Bataan was imminent.

Most of the more than 70,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war were in the south of Bataan and were quickly assembled by the Japanese for the 60-mile forced march to the north.

Thousands died on the march due to starvation, exhaustion, brutal treatment and torture by their captors. Thousands more died in forced labor camps or later on one of the “hell ships” that transported the POWs to camps in Japan, Korea or China.

Of the almost 1,800 New Mexico guardsmen and hundreds of other New Mexico civilians or regular military who went to the Philippines in the summer of 1941, fewer than 800 came home.

Of the 2,263 New Mexicans who died in WWII, a third died in Japanese prison camps or hell ships, according to local historian Eva Jane Matson’s book “It Tolled For New Mexico.”

‘God willing, I’ll be there’
Las Cruces resident and Bataan veteran Weldon Hamilton said Wednesday he plans to be at the Bataan seminars Saturday at White Sands and throughout the day Sunday, as he’s done for past marches.

A number of his fellow Bataan survivors will also be there — 23 Bataan vets have told march planners to expect them — but other past stalwarts, like Las Crucen Ward Redshaw, won’t make it due to illness.

Hamilton said for all Bataan vets, who struggled for decades with shame, trauma and a lack of awareness among Americans about their ordeal, watching thousands of young soldiers marching in their honor “is just fantastic.”

“I tell you, it’s really an ego-trip. I probably shouldn’t say that, but it really does feel fantastic to see all of us recognized that way,” Hamilton said.

Bataan vet David O. Tellez, who received a Bronze Star and the Prisoner of War medal in a ceremony Wednesday, said he’ll also be there, probably to once again sit at his water stop halfway through the march, shaking hands with marchers.

“God willing, I’ll be there,” Tellez said.

Humble beginnings
The first memorial march was in 1989, after a small group of New Mexico State University Army ROTC cadets headed by Ray Pickering approached commanders about doing a commemorative march, in large part due to the battalion being named the Bataan Battalion.

In 1992, the event was moved to WSMR and with support from the New Mexico National Guard and WSMR began to grow steadily.

Now in it’s 15th year, it is one of the largest military athletic events in the world, and the largest competitive athletic event in the state.

Hundreds of competitive runners and athletes have competed in the memorial march due to its legitimate athletic challenges, hoping to beat either a rival team or be the first to cross the finish line.

But most participants take part not with the illusion they will win, but with the hope they will finish at all.

Mayfield High School JRROTC commander Col. Mike Stone said the four teams of cadets that will march Sunday range from the highly-competitive, win-oriented to those who he hopes “will just get to the finish line.”

Stone said teams from Mayfield have competed for years, ever since a group of Mayfield cadets convinced march organizers those under 18 could compete safely. Since then, it’s been open to most age groups.

“This area has a lot of Bataan veterans; it’s kind of a big thing in this town, with the memorial highway, the monument (at Veterans Park). I guess it’s just a given that we care about it,” Stone said.


Christopher Schurtz is a reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News, a sister newspaper of the Alamogordo Daily News. He can be reached at cschurtz@lcsun-news.com.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Today
• 7 p.m. — Doña Ana Historical Society, talk on Bataan March survivor Albert Fall Chase, killed on a hell ship in 1944.

Friday
• 1 to 8 p.m. — Marchers pick up packets, vehicle pass and timing chip, WSMR Community Center, Bldg. 460 on Flagler Street.

Saturday
• 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. — In-processing continues, WSMR Community Center.
• 2:30 to 4 p.m. — History of Bataan seminar, NMSU Army ROTC Bataan Battalion, Post Theater, Bldg. 254, Rock Island Ave.
• TBA — Educational march at WSMR, a 1- to 2-mile course for children and light walkers, NMSU ROTC Bataan Battalion.

Sunday
• 5:45 a.m. — Opening ceremony, Frontier Club parking lot. Officials recommend marchers head to post no earlier than 3 a.m.
• 4 p.m. — Awards ceremony, Frontier Club.

Survival list
• All participants for Sunday’s 15th annual Bataan Memorial Death March must complete registration and pick up packets at the White Sands Missile Range Community Center — located on Flagler Street at WSMR — from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, or from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. Saturday.
• No registrations or packet pick-up will be conducted Sunday.
• At registration, marchers will receive a vehicle pass that will be valid for Sunday only. The pass should be prominently displayed in the vehicle only when entering the White Sands gate, and should not be displayed away from the main post.
• There will be increased security at White Sands this weekend. Everyone entering WSMR should be prepared to provide a photo ID at the main gate. All vehicles are subject to search.
• Range officials encourage people to allow themselves extra time to drive to WSMR from Las Cruces. Motorists should be prepared for lines at the main gate.
• Spectators will not be allowed on the 26.2-mile course during the march. The safest and most comfortable place for spectators is at the start/finish line, in front of the Frontier Club.
• Throughout the course of the day, organizers expect to go through 96,000 cups, 6,000 oranges, 10,000 bananas, 74 cases of Gatorade mix equaling 2,664 gallons of liquid, and 12,000 gallons of water; 150 portable latrines will be set up along the march.
• For more information, call 678-1134.

© 2004 Alamogordo News, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper."