BATAAN
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Memorial Death March
Time: Opening Ceremony at 8:00 a.m.
March begins at 9:00 am
Commemorating the Heroes of Bataan
Place:
Brainerd Training & Community Center
1115 Wright Street
Brainerd, MN 56401
Cost:
$15 per person
Opening ceremony commemorating the heroes of Bataan,
especially to honor Brainerd’s own Minnesota Army National Guard,
will be held at 8:00 am on Saturday, August 15, 2015, at the
Brainerd Training and Community Center, 1115 Wright Street.
Following the ceremony is the annual Bataan Memorial March;
a 10-mile and 20-mile route are planned, which you can walk or run.
Spaghetti and refreshments will be provided for marchers.
Participants can register online at:
sites.google.com/site/bataanmemorialmarchbrainerd
Registration forms can also be picked up at the
Brainerd Training & Community Center or by calling
Staff Sergeant Kaisone Ithivongkham at (651)-268-8124.
The Bataan Death March took place in the Philippines in 1942 and was later accounted
as a Japanese war crime. The 60-mile march occurred after the three-month
Battle of Bataan, during World War II.
The march involved the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war
captured by the Japanese in the Philippines from the Bataan peninsula to prison camps.
Characterized by wide-ranging physical abuse and murder, it resulted in very high
prisoner and civilian fatalities by the armed forces of the Empire of Japan.
During the Bataan Death March, 70,000 Filipinos and Americans were captured by
the Japanese. They were tortured, starved and often kicked or beaten on their way.
Those who fell were bayoneted. Around 7,000-10,000 perished on the way while
some were able to escape to the jungle. Only 54,000 reached Camp O’Donnell.
On June 6, 1942, the Filipino soldiers were granted amnesty by the Japanese
military and released. The American prisoners continued to be held.
Japan formally surrendered on September 2, 1945.
We invite everyone to participate
in the walk or run!
For more information,
call Captain Chris Bingham
at (651) 268-8117