Eighty-two years ago, on April 9, 1942, approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) were forced to surrender to the Imperial Japanese Army after fighting in the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. Despite suffering from massive disease, starvation and fighting without any air support, the USAFFE troops were able to delay the 50-day timetable of the Japanese Army by defending Bataan for 99 days. After the fall of Bataan they were forced to march to their prison camp about 65 miles away under extreme tropical conditions with no provisions for food, water, shelter or medicine. Thousands died during this march, which became infamously known as the Bataan Death March. It became a rallying cry in the United States as thousands enlisted to join the war.
This year's commemoration will bring together Filipino and American descendants of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) and civilians during WWII in the Philippines.
Please join us in this remembering this historic and heroic legacy.