Any info on Battling Bastards of Bataan?

[DarKnight]

My grandfather was a survivor of the Bataan march and 3yrs in the camp.
Does anyone have pics, info, family, or personal experiance regarding the march and camps?

Thx
justin

P.S. Gramps was Fredrick Edwin "Willy" Wilson. He retired a Master Sgt. for the Amry Air Corp/ Air Force and worked as an aircraft mechanic at the time of capture.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[DaveHH]

to a man they hate the Japanese and say "I worked for them for 3-4 years". From what I have read, Mac Arther had sufficient time to move vast stores of food and ammunition out of Manila and onto the peninsula that would have fed and supplied the large force for many months, but did very little along those lines. The US and Filipino forces were holding their own quite well against the Japanese until they were starved out. I think that we overestimated the civility of the Japanese until after this battle and learned very quickly that surrender and death were one in the same. The only place were prisoners got an even shake from the Japanese was in Singapore and that was because the prisoners outnumbered the Japanese soldiers about 3-4 to one and the captors didn't get a chance to strip them clean of all things valuable setting up the "King Rat" situation where food and medical supplies were bought from the guards for rings, watches, gold pens etc.

[Badger]

My grandfather was a survivor of the Bataan march and 3yrs in the camp. Does anyone have pics, info, family, or personal experiance regarding the march and camps?

Try this site for start ...

Battling Bastards of Bataan

Regards,
Badger

[DarKnight]

Thx to both of you. Badger, i found this site once, but found more on it this time i looked at it.

thx again guys

[Wullie]

I had a good friend who was in the TX Nat Guard from Jacksboro, TX. He was captured and survived the death march. He died about 25 years ago of complications from the malnutrition he suffered as a POW.

To say he hated the Japanese would be an understatement.

RIP Wayne.

[DarKnight]

Hey Wullie,

Yeah i think lots of guys came back with serious health problems. My grand father had heart trouble. But the emotional stuff really stuck with him and you could see it every so often.

Gramps died 14yrs ago.

[campperrykid]

Another possible trail that might produce even more leads.
Three Army National Guard units were deployed for the defense of the Phillipines: the 200th Coastal Artillery Regiment , the192nd Tank Battalion and 194th Tank Battalion included troops from New Mexico , Wisconson , Illinois , Ohio , Kentucky , Minnisota , Missouri and California.

Wikipedia
Run search for:
Defense of the Phillipines
( Click on the link at the end of note 32 to view Life Magazine , mid-1942: The Kentucky story on page 16 lists MIA numbers from several Guard units. Prior KIA numbers are not listed.)
And:
37th Infantry Division
This Ohio National Guard Division fought in the Solomons and the liberation of the Phillipines.
The Port Clinton tank company and the 37th Infantry Division are (or were) part of the folklore of NW Ohio. Veteran's organizations in the home towns of Bataan National Guards units might be a good sources of info.
Hope this helps.

[TDH]

Several company's from Port Clinton and Camp Perry were in the P.I. during the Japanese invasion. There is a very nice memorial to them in downtown Port Clinton. I am a local boy to that area growing up on the east side of the Sandusky Bay. P.C. was about 5 miles away and Camp Perry about 15miles.

[mike webb]

My dad worked at a power plant in the late 70's and an overhaul was required on some turbines which were made by Hitachi. One of the older guys on staff was a Hong Kong POW and when he learned that reps were coming from Japan he requested a leave of absence.
He said he wouldn't be responsible for his actions if any of the Japanese spoke to him in the wrong tone or even looked at him the wrong way.
He received his leave and nobody faulted him for it. People have forgotten what monsters the Japanese were in WW2. That is not an Allies spin on WW
two, that is simply stating the facts.

[Bill Hollinger]

People have forgotten that each of the sides were monsters, albeit, some more so than others.