At the end of the first week in December 1941, the Philippine forces consisted of 20,000 regulars and 100,000 totally raw reservists, most of who were called to the colors within the three months preceding the war. The training of their artillerymen, so vital in any military action, did not take place until after the outbreak of hostilities. Many of these troops were illiterate and lacked the ability to communicate with each other. The enlisted men spoke their native dialect, depending on the area they were from; the officers spoke English, Spanish, or the so-called national language, Tagalog. Unfortunately, Tagalog was spoken mainly in and around Manila, the country's capital. Weapons such as the British Enf

The Filipino-American soldiers were assembled in various parts in Bataan by the Japanese, but mostly assembled in Mariveles, the southern most tip of the Peninsula. American trucks were available to transport the prisoners but the Japanese decided to march the Defenders of Bataan to their destinations. This march was to be known as the “Death March”. The “Death March” was actually a series of marches, which had lasted five to nine days. The distance a captive had to march was determined by where on the trail the captive had begun the march. The basic trail of the “Death March” a 55-mile

ield rifle of World War I were obsolete. Uniforms consisted of fiber helmets, canvas shoes, short-sleeve shirts, and short pants, hardly suitable for the jungles of Bataan and the surprisingly cold nights. In addition to the Philippine Army, Bataan's forces consisted of 11,796 Americans and several regiments of Philippine Scouts who had been part of the United States Army in the Philippines for many years prior to the war. These were magnificent soldiers, well trained, loyal, and dedicated to the war effort. Led by American officers, they repeatedly distinguished themselves in the four months of combat. Adding to the number of military in Bataan were civilians who fled the advancing Japanese. They entered Bataan of their own free will, yet they had to be fed from military supplies (Gordon). The inexperience of the troops failed to stop the Japanese at Northern Luzon and Southern Mindanao Islands (the Japanese landing points). The mission of Filipino-American forces was to “lay down a bunt.” They were to stall the Japanese advancement by forcing them to use their troops and resources in the capturing of the Philippines, for as long as possible. This would buy the needed time to rebuild the American Pacific Fleet. The Filipino-American Defense of

Bataan was disrupted by many factors such as, a shortage of food, ammunition, medicine, attendant materials and the different dialects spoken by the Filipinos. Most of the ammunition was old and corroded. Tanks, trucks, and other vehicles were in short supply, along with gasoline needed to power them. Disease, malnutrition, fatigue, and lack of basic supplies took their toll. On March 11, 1942 General MacArthur was ordered to Australia, General Wainwright took his place in Corregidor, as commander of Philippine forces. General King took Wainwrights place as commander of Filipino-American forces in Bataan. Later in March, General King and his staff determined the Filipino-American forces in Bataan could only fight 30 percent of their efficiency due to malnutrition, disease, lack of ammunition and basic supplies, and fatigue. On April 3, 1942, General Homma finally launched his long-awaited (by both the Japanese high command and the Americans) final push to crush the Philippines. He easily broke through the final line of resistance of the Fil-American troops on Bataan, but he did so because of the deplorable state of the defending forces facing him (Gordon). On April 9, 1942, General King wen

Some topics in this essay:
Camp O’Donnell, Capas Tarlac, Bataan Japanese, Death March, April Philippine, War Japanese, Squad”Peterson Soldiers, March King, Defense Bataan, Defenders Bataan, death march, bataan death march, bataan death, “death march”, forces bataan, camp o’donnell, filipino-american forces, prisoners forced, death march started, forty days, line resistance, philippine forces, filipino-american forces bataan,