There were many events leading up to the Bataan Death March. The start of it was in the Philippines. Just one day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor they invaded the Philippines. The U.S army and the Filipino army joined forces for 3 months following what happened. On April 7th U.S General Wainwright revoked troops to Manila Bay. The soldiers were suffering from starvation and diseases. On December 22 43,000 imperial Japanese troops stepped foot on the island of Luzon. When the main Philippine island of Luzon was surrendered the Japanese the Bataan death march started on April 9th 1942. The Japanese forced about 75000 Americans and Filipinos to walk 85 miles in 6 days. The Japanese weren’t expecting to capture this many prisoners. Many …show more content…
The Japanese were cramming 100 or more people into box cars that were meant for 40. Camp O’Donnell at the time was a training center that the Japanese would use to abuse the prisoners they captured. They were shot, beaten, bayoneted, and even beheaded. 1500 Americans and 22000 Filipino died at Camp O’Donnell from starvation, disease, and the way they were treated. From April to October thousands died here. The conditions at Camp O’Donnell were horrible. Captain Mark M. Wohfeld said “The so-called hospital had patients lying in two rows on the floor which was saturated with feces, blood, and vomit- all of which was covered with flies.” The ‘hospitals” promised medicine but never delivered it. If prisoners fell out of line they were killed. A lot of the prisoners had no shelter. During the duration American prisoners were separated into small groups and sent to build airfields and roads throughout the Philippines. In October all surviving Filipino prisoners were released. The exact number of deaths is unknown. As many as 500 Americans and 2500 Filipino could have died on the march to Camp O’Donnell. At Camp O’Donnell as many as 26000 Filipinos died and about 1500 Americans. All 22000 Americans captured by the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula only 15000 returned to the United