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  • The Aftermath: Prison Camps and Hell Ships

    Due to Japan’s inhumane treatment of the POWs, as many as 11,000 died on the Death March. And yet, the survivors’ suffering was not over – more than 20,000 POWs died in the first two months of imprisonment at Camp O'Donnell. Thousands more died of malnourishment, disease, exhaustion, physical abuse,

  • Bataan Death March: Japanese Brutality

    The Bataan Death March began on April 10, 1942, when the Japanese gathered an estimated 78,000 prisoners (12,000 US and 66,000 Filipino) to march up the east coast of Bataan. The POWs were given no indication of how far or how long they would need to march through the intense tropical heat.  The

  • The Last Days on Bataan

    On December 8, 1941, the Japanese destroyed two-thirds of the American aircraft in a surprise attack on Luzon. The island was home to both the Filipino capital city of Manila and headquarters of United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). Within weeks, the Japanese invaded the island on

  • Service and Sacrifice: Captain William “Ed” Dyess

    As commander of the 21st Pursuit Squadron, Dyess flew aggressively against the Japanese whenever one of the few remaining P-40s on Bataan was serviceable. In defense of Bataan, he served as an Infantry Officer, leading his unit against Japanese amphibious landings. Before the surrender order was

  • The Provisional Air Corps Regiment

    After Japanese air raids decimated USAFFE bases and the relocation of operational bombers were diverted to Australia, the USAFFE were left with only a handful of aircraft. Without aircraft to support the remaining maintenance, communication, intelligence, ground, and aircrew squadrons formed two

  • The Battle of the Points

    In a gamble, the Japanese tried to outflank the main line by landing a force of 900 men on January 23, 1941, in southern Bataan, followed by another 300 reinforcements four days later.  US and Filipino Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, to include the PACR, fought from fortified beaches hoping to repel

  • The Cost of Being Unprepared

    While under siege, the US Army realized that there were inadequate supplies for the nearly 80,000 troops and 26,000 civilian refugees.Surviving on only 800 calories a day, the defenders of Bataan had been subject to three months of malnutrition, disease, and infection. By March, most of the troops

  • The Bataan Death March

    With few aircraft left, United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) personnel fought as infantry to hold the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. Although they suffered from malnourishment and disease, these men battled valiantly until they were ordered by their commander to surrender on April 9,

  • First AAF Ace of WWII

    Lt. Boyd D. "Buzz" Wagner, commanding officer of the 17th Pursuit Squadron in the Philippines, was the first AAF ace of World War II. Flying against overwhelming odds, he was one of the handful of American fighter pilots who engaged vastly superior numbers of Japanese aircraft as the enemy overran

  • Zeamer and the "Eager Beavers"

    Tenacity over Bougainville"Jay Zeamer and his crew performed a mission that still stands out in my mind as an epic of courage unequaled in the annals of air warfare."- Gen. George Kenney, 5th Air Force Commander Capt. Jay Zeamer's remarkable crew was the most highly-decorated aircrew in history.