Pre-Bataan
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on a Friday flight from Atlanta to El Paso, Texas, where I’ll drive to Las Cruces, New Mexico to spend my weekend. “Why,” you ask, “Are you spending your weekend in New Mexico?” To participate in the Bataan Memorial Death March, of course! To put the event in some context, first, a brief historical vignette:
WWII, April 9: 1942 – American and Filipino soldiers on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese forces, led by Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma. Because of a lack of trucks to accommodate the number of POWs, Gen. Homma made the decision to force all the prisoners to march the 60 miles to the prison camp in San Fernando. This brutally fast march coupled with the atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers (fallen prisoners were run over by trucks or stabbed by bayonets) resulted in a nearly 25% casualty rate among the prisoners, and the march was classified as a Japanese war crime.
In commemoration of the soldiers who endured the hardship of the forced march, White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico hosts an annual “Memorial Death March,” a grueling 26.2 mile course through the missile range. Participants vary in age, gender, occupation, and nationality, and the event is open to walkers, marathon runners, or foolish, foolish ruck marchers like myself. Many survivors of the original Bataan Death March are present at the event, a chance for participants to shake the hands of true American heroes. Vanderbilt Army ROTC’s team of five cadets will be competing in the “ROTC Heavy” division of the competition, which means each marcher (in combat uniform) will be carrying a minimum of 35 lbs. (before adding water) in a rucksack for the duration of the course. Competitively, we as a team hope to finish in the top 3 or 4 in our division, (optimistically 2nd!), and are (again, optimistically) aiming for a sub-6 hour race time.
Preparing for the event physically has meant months of very, very early weekend mornings, horrendous blisters and foot pains, and accumulating over 100 miles of marching per team member. The payoff, however, is a chance to go participate in a unique and very cool event with thousands of other military personnel and civilians who share the same appreciation and respect for the original Bataan marchers. I’ll write another article after the event with some pictures and an actual accounting of the race. Wish us luck!
