"Their ferocity grew as we marched ... they were no longer content with mauling stragglers or pricking them with bayonet points. The thrusts were intended to kill."
- Capt. William Dyess, 21st Pursuit Squadron commander
With few aircraft left, U.S. Army Air Forces 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, 1942.
Then followed the barbarity of the Bataan Death March, during with thousands of U.S. and Filipino prisoners of war died as a result of their captors' merciless brutality. Worse still, the majority of those who survived the March later perished in transit on "hell ships" to Japan or in POW camps.
Click on the following links to learn more about the Bataan Death March.
The Cost of Being Unprepared: The Last Days on Bataan
Buying Time in the Pacific: The Battle of the Points
Desperate Defenders: The Provisional Air Corps Regiment
One Man Scourge: William E. Dyess
The End in Bataan
Bataan Death March
The Aftermath
Angels of Mercy
Master Sgt. Charles B. Causey
Makeshift Uniform
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