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Saturday, April 9, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 183
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Filipinosā valor remembered 80 years after the
āFALL OF BATAANā
I
By Joel C. Paredes
T was their ābaptism by fire,ā wrote American historian Alfred McCoy, as he narrated how the graduates of the pioneering Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1940 were taken to the frontlines as the Philippine Army was shattered during the Japanese invasion of December 1941. At least 55 of them fought in Bataan, and āmost of them experienced both the horrors of defeat and the months of demoralizing confinement that followed,ā he said. āNot only did the class suffer a high incidence of injury or illness, but nine of their 79 graduates would die in World War II,ā according to McCoy, in his book Closer than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy. The siege of Bataan and the surrender of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) after holding out for four months against the Imperial Japanese Army on April 9, 1942, would later be considered as the āfirst major land battle for the Americans in World War II and one of the most devastating military defeats.ā The forces on Bataan, numbering some 76,000 Filipino and American troops, actually comprised the largest army under American command ever to surrender. Exactly 80 years after the āFall of Bataan,ā the nation continues to honor these Filipino soldiers, who stood up beside their US allies against āthe [Japanese] veteran troops from China who were experienced in combat.ā According to Filipino historian Dr. Ricardo Jose, what was admirable was that most of those who helped defend Bataan were ānot professionals, but reservists and ordinary people who trained for only six months.ā
Historians agree that the āFall of Bataanā was never to be celebrated but commemorated annually as the Day of Valorāor Araw ng Kagitingan, for the thousands of Filipinos who dedicated their lives for freedom during World War II.
The attack
AFTER WWII started in the Pacific region on December 8, 1941, when Japanese forces attacked American bases, including those in the Philippines, the US response was War Plan Orange 3, which placed all of the US colonyās defense in Bataan. As public historian Xiao Chua once noted, the plan was to āfrustrate the efforts of the Japanese troops by making it hard for them to transport their supplies to Manila.ā To reach Manila, these ships reportedly would have to pass between Cavite and Bataan, where the island of Corregidor was also strategically located. The Japanese, on the other hand, blockaded Bataan and nearby Corregidor to prevent any food, ammunition or medicine from reaching USAFFE troops. From January to February 1942, the Japanese were stopped in their tracks and their ranks decimated by the tenacious defense of the USAFFE under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, wrote the late historian Teodoro Agoncillo. Some even believed that the USAFFE would be back in Manila before Christmas, and the Filipinos would
APRIL 9th by Mukai Junkichi, depicting the Bataan Death March, 1942. US ARMY VIA ENCYCLOPĆDIA BRITANNICA
have a real Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Agoncillo said in the first of the two-volume book The Fateful Years: Japanās Adventure in the Philippines (1941-1945). ā[But] while the Filipinos and Americans in the occupied and unoccupied areas were indulging their exuberant optimism, the authorities in Washington and Corregidor were deathly worried over the
From track to tortureā¦
situation of the USAFFE in Bataan. They knew for certain that without material aid the USAFFE will collapse.ā On March 11, 1942, General MacArthur, under orders from President Roosevelt, secretly left the Philippines by PT boat for Australia, leaving Maj. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright in command. As Agoncillo noted, MacAr-
One wonders, though: how did Virgilia and her three small children feel, saying goodbye again? For despite Lolo Medingās Death March travails, he would go on to join the US Armyās 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division in the Korean War. In January 1950, he sent photos of his US Army station, with notes scribbled to āDollyā (short for Darling) and his eldest son Ivan.
thurās departure was suggested āas not to comprise his honor and his record as a soldier.ā Upon arriving in Australia, MacArthur proclaimed, āI came through and I shall return.ā But his famous statement, wrote Agoncillo, proved to be āapocryphalā to some and even became a favorite subject of jokes. In an air corps regiment, for instance, the popular joke was, āI am going to the latrine. But I shall return.ā On April 3, 1942, Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, who commanded the Japanese 14th Army that invaded the Philippines, ordered the final assault on Bataan. It turned out that the general offensive against the United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP) was significant not only to the Japanese, but also to the Filipino-American troops. Wrote Agoncillo: āTo the Japa-
nese, it was the anniversary of the death of their first emperor, Jimmu, a day of fasting and devout ceremonies. To the Filipinos and the Americans, it meant the religious observance of the Crucifixion, a day of fasting, of compassion and of suffering. To both combatants, therefore, April 3 was a day of sacrifice and gloom.ā By April 7, there was already disintegration of the USFIP. āThe frenzied enemy bombing and artillery fire, coupled with hunger and the high incidence of malaria and other diseases, further demoralized the Filipino-American troops,ā Agoncillo wrote. The Japanese, however, reportedly continued pounding the defendersā lines as bombers flew no less than 160 sorties and dropped some 100 tons of explosives. The Continued on A2
Surviving the horrific historic march, Lolo carried his mementoesāmalaria, beriberi, and later, the two Purple Heart medals that his wife Virgilia treasured for years (along with his other military and athletic awards).
By Mila Molina-Lumactao
T
WENTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Igmedio Patubo trudged for dear life with his US Army colleagues along the 100-plus-kilometer Bataan Death March in 1942. In pre-World War II Western Visayas, Patuboāmy husbandās Lolo Medingāhad been a bemedalled long-distance runner in the regional track and field meets.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.3850
Over 10 months later, on December 1, at North Koreaās Chosin Reservoir, Corporal Igmedio Patubo was killed in action: a death memorialized in a formal letter signed by thenPresident Harry Truman. In a uniquely Pinoy postscript, one of his own relatives would later quip, āSa bilis ni Meding tumakbo, hindi niya naunahan yung balaā¦.ā
n JAPAN 0.4146 n UK 67.1962 n HK 6.5561 n CHINA 8.0785 n SINGAPORE 37.7553 n AUSTRALIA 38.4360 n EU 55.9120 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.7005
Source: BSP (April 8, 2022)