1942 Fall of Bataan marked by surrender of American general, troops to Japanese colonel (Feature)

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 6): 1942 Fall of Bataan marked by surrender of American general, troops to Japanese colonel (Feature)

American Gen. Edward King Jr. surrendered with a heavy heart his troops in Bataan composed of Filipino and American soldiers to the Japanese Imperial Army that marked the “Fall of Bataan” 72 years ago on April 9.

War records showed that when Bataan fell, there were 74,800 Filipino and 10,500 American defenders belonging to the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) who became prisoners of war.

The surrender discussion between King, commander of USAFFE in Bataan, with three senior officers and Japanese Col. Motoo Nakayama, senior aide of Gen. Masaharu Homma, with another Japanese officer, were captured in life-size monument from an old picture.

The surrender meeting on April 9, 1942 actually happened on the exact site near the old Balanga Elementary School that served as headquarters of Homma.

Mario Magat, executive director of the Bataan World War II Museum, said King initially offered the surrender in Lamao, Limay town but the Japanese refused it, asking for Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, who was the commander of the United States Forces in the Philippines.

"They held King and other seniors officers as hostages and brought them to Balanga," Magat said.

Prof. Ricardo Jose, in his book, “The Battle for Bataan,” said that because King was not the senior officer in the Philippines, the Japanese refused to accept the surrender of the whole Bataan force and instead accepted the surrender of each unit as they laid down their arms.

“The surrender was a long process that started in Lamao and ended in Balanga,” Magat said.

On why one of the American officers seemed to be so sad in the picture, Magat said that "surrendering was not an easy decision."

"They cannot do anything because the soldiers were sick, hungry and lacked armaments," the museum executive director said.

The museum that opened only in February this year is located adjacent to the Surrender Site Monument.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=10&sid=&nid=10&rid=632931