History

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The Battle of Bataan was among the earliest conflicts between Japan and the United States in World War II. The Japanese invaded Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, beginning on December 10, 1941, just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. By early January 1942, they had forced the American and Filipino forces back to the Bataan Peninsula, where their commander, General Douglas MacArthur, had ordered them to prepare for a long siege.

Unfortunately, planning and preparations were rushed, leading to insufficient supplies being transported to Bataan. For four months, the Americans and Filipinos fought bravely while suffering incredible hardships. They faced constant shortages of food, clean water, weaponry, and basic necessities like proper shelters and clothing. Disease and exhaustion were widespread.

In early April, the Japanese broke through the weakened American and Filipino lines, forcing their surrender and marking a devastating moment in U.S. military history. By that point, General MacArthur, as ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, had already escaped to Australia by PT boat and then B-17. Between 60,000 and 80,000 American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese — the largest surrender in American military history and one of the nation’s greatest military defeats.

Following this surrender of an unexpectedly large number of soldiers, the Japanese victors forced the soldiers on what has become known as the Bataan Death March: a 65-mile-long march without food or water in tropical conditions, with those struggling to keep up being beaten or killed.

The defeat at Bataan and the ordeal that followed would not be avenged until years later, when Allied forces returned to liberate the Philippines in October 1944.

Picture 1: Major General Edward P. King, Jr. surrenders to the Japanese. April 9, 1942.
Picture 2: Japanese Soldiers celebrating their victory at Bataan.
Picture 3: Soldiers leave Mariveles at the southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula to embark on the Bataan Death March.
Picture 4: American soldiers are granted a pause during the Bataan Death March.

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Let`s welcome this semester’s student workers. Many of them are familiar faces, but we do have a brand-new worker: Shyla Brown! They are all so excited to serve their History department family this semester!