Map of the Bataan Death March
Regan, Mike. “Bataan Death March – Case Study.” Voiceseducation.org. n.p. n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013
The American and Filipino prisoners of war traveled 80 miles to get to camp O'Donnell from Mariveles (Peterson 1). The POW’s traveled up the eastern side of the Bataan Peninsula to San Fernando where they got onto a train to Capas. After the train they marched to Camp O’Donnell. The march took six days to complete in which the POW’s were only given two balls of rice (Peterson 3). The POW’s were racially separated between Americans and Filipinos (“Capture and March”). The POW’s went through terrible conditions such as being bayoneted shot, beheaded, buried alive (Peterson 4), and being tied to a pole (“Capture and March”) . Approximately 5,000 to 11,000 never made it to Camp O'Donnell alive (“Capture and March”). The soldiers would pass out instead of going to sleep, and they would have to use the restroom in their pants (Peterson 1). One surviving POW recalls “I don’t recall going to the bathroom until we got to camp O’Donnell. The first time I urinated, I thought I was going to die. It burned like sin.” (Peterson 1). The length of the Bataan Death March contributed to its terrible conditions.