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This week Dr. Malcolm Peck, the Vice President of the Church of the Holy City, and someone affectionately known as the "patriarch" of our church community, reflected on his participation in the Bataan Memorial Death March:
On April 9, 1942, the American and Filipino forces fighting the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula north of Manila Bay surrendered to the invaders. It remains the largest surrender of troops in US history.
(As the Philippines was under US sovereignty, the Filipinos were US nationals.)
The Japanese forced their prisoners on a four-day march to a POW camp, denying the men, many of whom were sick with malaria, dysentery, and other diseases, either food or water as they staggered in the tropical heat. Those that collapsed were shot where they fell.
Some years ago, annual marches in the New Mexico desert were inaugurated to honor members of the NM National Guard, who had fought and died on Bataan. More recently, a commemorative march has also been held along the Potomac in Alexandria, VA. Many of the marchers here are Filipino-American midshipmen (men and women) from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and cadets from the US Military Academy at West Point, NY. I participated in the commemorative march the past two years along the Potomac, doing the full 14 miles last year and half the distance this year, while recovering from a cold. My tag bore the name of my late wife, Aida Ravelo, who experienced the sights and sounds of the war as a young girl in the Philippines.
Twice, I missed participation in the march in the New Mexico desert, due to COVID-19 restrictions and later because of illness. My hope is to participate in each of the commemorative marches next year at the age of 86.
For all Filipinos and members of the Filipino-American community, the commemoration is a solemn event, recalling both terrible suffering and extraordinary valor.
Additional photos from the Memorial march are included below.
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