The Tarlac City-based Northern Luzon Command on Thursday
joins the rest of the nation in the commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of
the Fall of Bataan to Japanese invaders during World War II.
April 9 commemorates the surrender of Filipino and American
forces in Bataan after 93 days of gallant
heroic resistance against an overwhelmingly superior Japanese force, then
equipped with the latest tanks, aircraft, and cannon.
The Fall of Bataan was announced to the country through the
Voice of Freedom radio broadcast by 3rd Lt. Normando Ildefonso Reyes -- reading
a message prepared by Captain Salvador P. Lopez -- informed the Philippines and
the world from Malinta Tunnel in Corregidor:
“Bataan has fallen”. Part
of the message read says, “Bataan has fallen,
but the spirit that made it stand -- a beacon to all the liberty-loving peoples
of the world -- cannot fall!”
Thousands of Filipino and American soldiers were forced to
march from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas, Tarlac
by the Imperial Japanese Forces.
The prisoners initially began on foot but then transferred
to freight cars. During the march, thousands of Filipino and American soldiers
died due to starvation, fatigue and abuse in the hands of their captors.
The April 9 ceremony in Mount
Samat will be followed by another
related event on April 10 in Capas National Shrine in Camp O’Donell
This is in remembrance of those who died during the Death
March and those POWs (prisoners of war) who died during its interment at the
Capas Concentration Camp.
While on April 11, the “Capas Freedom March” will be
conducted in Capas, Tarlac. This activity is a Re-enactment of Death March to
inform the public of the hardship that the veterans have endured in World War
II.
The march will start from the Death March Memorial Shrine
and end at the Capas National Shrine.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=751707
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