Celebration of the Heroes

            The Battle of Bataan, also known as the Fall of Bataan, was chosen as the Day of Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan to honor and remember the thousands of Filipinos who sacrificed their lives to liberate the nation during World War II. Every year on or around April 9th, it is commemorated in the Philippines.

            The soldiers were held captive and forced to walk the notorious 140-kilometer Bataan Death March to Camp O'Donnell in Capas, Tarlac. Thousands died as a result of starvation, heat prostration, untreated wounds, and indiscriminate or execution-style murder. Just 54,000 of the 76,000 inmates are thought to have made it to Camp O'Donnell, according to historians. It was difficult to determine the precise number of fatalities and escapees.

            The Philippines' surrender to Japan resulted in some of modern warfare's worst atrocities. As a result of the Japanese troops' failure to provide food and water to their prisoners, several soldiers became weaker and began to fall behind the rest of the group.

            Despite their difficulties, the Filipinos were able to defeat their common foe by banding together and enlisting the assistance of the American people. Bataan was spared from annihilation.

References:

https://ph.asiatatler.com/life/heres-everything-that-happened-on-araw-ng-kagitingan

https://slsu.edu.ph/events/araw-ng-kagitingan/