BATAAN DEATH MARCH MEMORIAL TOUR
Proposed Itinerary
by Bataan Provincial Tourism Office
- Tourism Office, Capitol Compound, City of Balanga
- Zero Kilometer Marker (Mariveles)
- Lamao Marker
- Alangan Marker
- Shrine of Valor
- Pantingan Massacre Marker
- Battle of Tuol Marker
- Zero Kilometer Marker (Bagac)
- Fall of Bataan Marker
- Catholic Church Belfry (St. Joseph Cathedral)
- Diwa ng Bataan (former Surrender Site Marker)
- Main Battle Position
- First Line of Defense Marker
HISTORY OF BATAAN
The mention of Bataan rings a memorable chord in the heart of every Filipino. It is today a symbol of democracy and freedom having been the last fortress of Filipino-American soldiers against the Japanese forces until it fell captive on April 9, 1942.
Obscure and relatively unknown before World War 11, Bataan was founded in 1754 by Governor General Pedro Manuel Arandia. Before this the region was divided into two parts. The Correggimiebto of Mariveles, Bagac, Morong and Maragondong, Cavite compressed the Corregimiento de Mariveles which was under the jurisdictionof the Recollect Order of the Roman Catholic Church. The Province of Pampanga included the towns of Orion, Pilar, Balanga, Abucay, Samal, Orani, Llana Hermosa and San Juan de Dinalupihan. The Group was under the charge of the Dominican Order.
Bataan has had more than its share of significant historical events. In 1647, the Dutch naval forces perpetrated the Abucay Massacre, the decended Chines Limahong used Lusong point at the western side of Bataan as a launching place; the Bataan Death March to Capas, Tarlac which started in the Municipality of Mariveles and Bagac. Today, a touching commemorative shrine marks the spot called Zero Kilometer Marker at Poblacion, Mariveles.The Shrine is depicted by a bayonet thrust to the ground with a helmet, symbolically slun over the rifle butt. An imposing “Dambana ng Kagitingan” memorial cross on the top of Mt. Samat in Pilar, Bataan is dedicated to the memory of those who resisted the Japanese occupation.
Bataan is a province faced with a challenge. It stands on the verge of an extensive industrialization program which may well be the equivalent of the dynamic force it exuded in its heroic past.
HISTORICAL LANDMARKS
1. FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE MARKER (Rotunda, Layac, Dinalupihan)
It marks the first strong line of defense combined Philippines USAFFE Troops against Japanese invasion during WW II. Symbolic of the tragedy that befell Bataan and the gallantry of Filipino and American heroes who restored our country and people to a government of free peoples is a monument in the center of rotunda in Layac, Dinalupihan, Bataan. This monument was erected by the 38th Infantry division, Army of the United States, in memory of the defenders of Bataan, living and dead, including the 38th Tank Company of Harrodburg, Kentucky, a unit of said division, in December 1941 to February 1942.
It also marks the liberation of the place on January 19, 1945 to August 16,1945 wholly by the following units: 149th Infantry, 151st Infantry, 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 139th Artillery Battalion, 38th Field Artillery Battalion and the 38th Division Special Troop.
2. DEMOCRACY MARKER (Balsik, Hermosa)
The little Mountainous Peninsula of Bataan saved Democracy and the whole
world from the evil hands of the devil. (Excerpt from the radio broadcast of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, January 5, 1945).
3. COMMEMORATIVE MARKER ( Town Plaza , Hermosa)
The Commemorative Marker and the Km. 62 Death March Marker is located in front of the Hermosa Catholic Church, a war memorial structure made of marble, constructed to commemorate our war heroes.
The Death March Marker was put up immortalizing the daring efforts of the people of Hermosa in providing food and shelter to Filipino and American Soldier during the strenuous march to Capaz, Tarlac.
4. DEATH MARCH (Silahis Chapel, Orani)
5. TOMAS PINPIN MONUMENT (Mabatang Plaza, Abucay)
This monument was built in Memory of the first Filipino printer. It was in Abucay Church where Tomas Pinpin co-authored and printed the earliest books in the country with Fr. Blancas San Jose in 1610.
6. FIRST ABUCAY CATHOLIC CHURCH (Town Plaza, Abucay)
Built by Father Geronimo de Belen in the early 1600s. It was burned in 1870 and rebuilt by Father Jose Diego Pelaez. The Spiritual Ministration of Abucay was entrusted to the Dominicans in 1588. A fierce battle between the Dutch and the Pampango Defenders was fought in this court on June 23, 1647. Nearly two hundred Pampangos were put to death and forty others together with the Spanish Alcalde Mayor of Pampanga, Don Antonio de Cabrera, Father Geronimo Sotomayor and Father Tomas Ramos were taken to Batavia on June 23, 1647. The present church was badly damage by the earthquake of September 16, 1852. One of the earliest printing presses in the Philippines was operated in this town as early as 1610 where Father Jose Blancas de San Jose and Juan Vera taught Tomas Pinpin the rigors of writing and printing. This is also the seat of the Partido de Bataan until Balanga became the town and seat of government. The bells donated in 1839/1859 are still housed in this church.
7. ABUCAY MUNICIPAL HALL (Town Plaza, Abucay)
First site of the Catholic Church built by Father Juan Ormaza de Santo Tomas, Santa Rita Eduarte and Pedro Balanga in 1587 that served both as residence, chapel and hospital. First concrete building was built during the early American Regime. Attacked by the guerillas to retrieve 200 cavans of palay in December 1944. Fernando Poe Sr. filmed the Abucay guerillas epic in the same building in 1949.
8. MAIN BATTLE POSITION (Mabatang Catholic Church, Abucay)
Contemplated under War Plan Orange 3, the Main Battle Position of the USAFFE, known officially as the Abucay-Morong Line was established astride this road, committed to this line under the II Corps (East Sector) was the 57th Infantry Regiment (PS) whose sector stretched along the beach from Balanga to Mabatang, hence 2000 yards westward crossing at this point. To its left were the 41st Division (PA) and the 51st Division (PA). Each of which held a front of 6,500 yards up to the wooded east slopes of Mt. Natib. In the 1 Corps (West Sector), from the coastal barrio of Mauban eastward to the Western undulation of Mt. Silanganan was positioned the 1st Regular Division (PA) to which was attached the rifle equipped 31st PA Regiment 31st Division (PA). Leaving a huge gap in the Mounts Silanganan Natib Area. The East and West sectors of this line were assaulted beginning the 9th and 15th January 1942, respectively. Line abandoned on 25 January when in the West Sector, the enemy infiltrating through the gap a t Mt. Silanganan established a road block at Mauban ridge at the rear of the 1st regular division, while in the II Corps sector, the enemy broke through the line of the 51st division.
Lt. Alexander R. Niniger, Jr. 57th Infantry (PS) of Gainsville, Georgia was posthumously decorated the Congressional Medal of Honor for an action for this line on 12 January 1942 and became the First American Service Man to win America's Highest Military Decoration.
9. FALL OF BATAAN MARKER (Capitol Compound, Balanga City)
Sealed in blood the permanent ties of friendship and cooperation between Philippines and the United States. This marker is dedicated, 9 April 1952, to the memory of the gallant Filipino and Americans soldiers as well as civilians, who fought and died side by side in the defense of democracy.
10. CATHOLIC CHURCH BELFRY (St. Joseph Cathedral, Bataan City)
This was used as a site for Japanese artillery bombardment of Mt. Samat where Filipino was American forces gave their last stand.
11. SURRENDER SITE (Balanga Elementary SchoolTalisay, Balanga City)
The Command post of the Lt. Gen. Homma at the times of Bataan's surrender party kept as hostages in the school house until after the USAFFE troops would be rounded up and delivered as POW's to the nearest Japanese units.
Major General Edward P. King signed the tragic instrument of surrender under a mango tree at the back of the Balanga Elementary School on April 9, 1942.
12. FLAMING SWORD (Panilao, Pilar)
A symbol of the Filipino courage and gallantry in the face of external trails to the nation's democracy and peace.
13. BATTLE OF TRAIL 2 CAPOT HILL (Nagwaling, Pilar)
South of this point is Barrio Capot and Capot Hill on whose Southern slopes was organized a portion of the line of Sector C, in which was located the Terminus of the vital North-South Trail 2 and Capot Hill beginning 27 January 1942. Elements of the 31st and 32nd D Infantry Regiments, the rifle-equipped 31st FA Regiment and the 31st Engineer Battalion of the 31st Division (PA), and the 41st Infantry Regiment, 41st Division (PA). Held back the hostile attacks forging the Japanese to pull out and fall back to their line on 2 February 1942. After the fierce battle, 100 Japanese were dead within 150 yards of the main line of resistance; some of the bodies were no more than five yards from foxholes occupied by Filipino troops who suffered only light casualties.
14. FINAL BATTLE SITE (Diwa, Pilar)
Astride this point on which was located the vital North-South Trail 4, was positioned the 23D Infantry Regiment which held the center of the 21st Division (PA), subjected to artillery and serial bombardment in the morning of Good Friday, 3 April, its outpost line of resistance North of Tiawir River collapsed. At 1500 hours the Japanese 61st Infantry Regiment, 4th Division broke through the main line of resistance at this point and swerving eastward for the 22D Infantry to abandon its position. By nighttime the Japanese has pushed 1,000 yards behind the main line of resistance on their advance toward Limay. On the 6th of April, the Japanese had overwhelmed all resistance offered by the 23rd and 22d Infantry Regiments resulting in the disintegration of the 11 Corps and the Surrender of Bataan.
15. SHRINE OF VALOR (Mt. Samat, Diwa, Pilar)
The Dambana ng Kagitingan, as completed and inaugurated in 1970, consists of the Colonnade and the huge Memorial Cross.
The Colonnade is a marble-capped structure with an altar, esplanage and museum. There are several historical depictions on the Colonnade which include the following: Stained Glass Mural behind the altar, 19 Scriptural Marble and Reliefs and Parapet, 18 Bronze Insignias of USAFFE Division Units, 2 Bronze Urns (symbolic of the Eternal flame), 18 Flag poles with colors of USAFFE Divisions/Units and Inscriptions of the Battle of Bataan.
The Memorial Cross is a towering structure (555 meters above sea level) of steel and reinforced concrete with an elevator and viewing gallery (arm of the cross). The height of the cross is 92 meters from the base. The height of the arms is 74 meters from the base. The length of the arm is 30 meters (15 on each side). The viewing gallery is 18 ft. by 90 ft. with a 7-foot clearance. The exterior finish of the cross at the base up to an 11-meter level is capped with “Nabiag Nga Bato” sculptural slabs and sculptural bas-reliefs depicting significant battles and historical events. Above the base, the Cross is of chipped granolithic marble.
From the Colonnade to the Cross is a 14-flight zigzagging footpath on the mountain slope, paved with bloodstones from Corregidor Island.
16. PANTINGAN MASSACRE (Pantingan River, Pilar)
This river, Pantingan, served as boundary line of the I Corps 9Major Gen. Albert Jones, (AUS) and the II Corps Maj. Gen. George M. Parker, Jr.). The ravines of the Pantingan River Valley, a few thousand yards southward from this point became the graveyard of a good number of officers and non commissioned officers of the I Corps who were mercilessly massacred by the enemy following the fall of Bataan.
17. BATTLE OF TOUL POCKET (Bagac, Bataan)
Heavy fighting took place in this area resulting from enemy infiltration to the rear prior to the deployment of troops on Pilar-Bagac line on the last week of January 1942. The enemy was pocketed and the ensuing engagement became known as the Battle of Toul Pockets. Participating USAFFE units were the 11th Infantry 11th Division and element of the 2nd Regular Division PAI, 71st Division and 91st Division all of the Philippine Army and Tank Groups. U.S. Army (Brig. Gen. James R.N. Weaver, AUS). In nearby Gogo-Cotar river valley to the West, other small pockets developed behind the 1st Regular Division front line in this “battle of the pockets”. The enemy infiltration troops were totally destroyed by 18 February 1942 and marked a signal victory of the USAFFE.
This tower symbolizes the fact that after the war, there is a period of reconciliation, peace and friendship. The Risho Kosei Kai Group built the monument tower in 1975.
19. ZERO KILOMETER. MARKER (Bagumbayan, Bagac)
This is another site to mark the start of the death march. Unveiled in 1968, it has the same structure as that in Mariveles where in a bayonet was thrust to the ground with a soldier's helmet symbolically slung over the rifle bust.
20. ZERO KM. DEATH MARCH MARKER (Poblacion, Mariveles)
Marked the start of the March of Deathof the American and Filipino Soldiers in 1942, going to Camp O' Donnell in Capas, Tarlac. It is believed that an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 Filipinos died in this historic march.
The Death March of Filipino and American prisoners of war from Mariveles and Bagac to Camp O' Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, April 1942. Immediately after the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942, the US Filipino forces were executed by the Japanese from the Field of Battle as Prisoners of War. The more than 70,000 Filipino and American Troops who had survived the battle of Bataan underwent in this evacuation, the ordeal that history now knows as the death march.
The Death March started from two points in Bataan. On April 10 from Mariveles and on April 11 from Bagac. The Filipino and American Troops were marched day and night under blistering sun or cold night sky, staggering through Cabcaben, Batangas 2, Limay, Orion, Pilar and Balanga, where they were given a brief rest and some water from Balanga, the Prisoners of War were organized into groups of 100 to 200 and under guard marched through Abucay, Samal and Orani where the Americans were segregated from the Filipino prisoners of war and marched separately. The march continued northward through Hermosa, to Layac Junction thence eastward into Pampanga through Lubao, Guagua where the prisoners were rested and given little food at the National Development Company Compound.
Bacolor and San Fernando already suffering from Battle fatigue, the FILAM troops were strained to utter exhaustion by this long March on foot. Many were ill, most were feverish, but none might rest for the enemy was brutal with those who lagged behind. Thousands fell along the way.
Town people on the road side risked their lives by slipping food and drinks to the marchers as they stumbled by.
In San Fernando, the Death March became a death ride by the cargo train when the prisoners were packed so densely into boxcars that many of them perished from suffocation. Those who arrived alive in Capas have still to walk the last and most agonized miles of the Death March. The 6 kilometers to Camp O' Donnell, which was to, became one of the most hellish of the concentration camps of World War II.
21. PAROBA MARKER ( Paroba, Mabatang, Abucay)
The Abucay- Morong Line, First Major Defense Line of the USAFFE on Bataan crossed at this point deployed from right (East) to (West) where the 57th Regiment Combat Team Philippine Scouts 41st Div. Phil. Army Brig. Gen. Vicente Lim (PA) 51st Div. Phil. Army Brig. Gen. Clifford Bluemel (AUS) and the 1st Regular Div. Phil. Army Brig. Gen. Fidel V. Segundo, PA, first major engagement of this line, 12 January 1942, to the west of the road near the limiting point of the 57th RCT and the 41st Div. Falling to crush through the enemy shifted farther west and attacked the center of the 41st Division, 17 January, 1942, then the limiting point of the 51st Div. 20 January 1942. Left flank of the 1st Regular Div. Along the axis of the Morong-Bagac Road, also assaulted 20 January 1942 enemy infiltration through unmanned portion of the line between Mount Natib and Silanganan resulted in the envelopment of the 1st Regular Div. and finally the abandonment of the Pilar-Bagac Line on 24 January, 1942.
22. ALANGAN MARKER (Alangan, Limay)
From this area eastward to the beach upland up to 6 kms. inland along the bank of the Alangan River, a line was established on April 7-8, 1942. Remnants of the II Corps withdrew from the Pilar-Bagac Line. It was reinforced by the entire Luzon force reserves consisting of the 45th and 57th infantries (PS). The 26th Cavalry (PS) and the 31st US Infantry Regiment Philippine Division in a last ditch heroic effort to save Bataan. It was abandoned with the decision of Major General Edward P. King, Jr. to surrender his command on late evening 8 April 1942.
23. LAMAO MARKER (Lamao, Limay)
The first attempt of Gen. Edward P. King to surrender happened in this site.
EVENTS:
Battle of Zigzag Pass
In 1945, the Japanese Army made a stronghold at the Zigzag Pass, a hilly and mountainous area in the boundary of Bataan and Zambales provinces. The place was well fortified and the Japanese were well entrenched. They made dug outs connected with a network of electric wire therein and covered with thick piles of first class logs. They were also equipped with necessary weapons such as dynamites, machine guns, grenades and an abundant food supply.
On February 2, 1945, the American Liberations Forces attacked Zigzag Pass supported by artillery, they encountered a fierce hand-to-hand fight with the Japanese. The Defense was so tough that the Americans were forced, as a last resort to use incendiary bombs and flame throwers which could penetrate into the deep and sturdy tunnels of the enemy.
The fight started on February 2,1945 and lasted until February 25,1945 barely 23 days of grim struggle. It cost the Americans 2,000 lives to take Zigzag Pass on the part of the enemy 16,000 Japanese were killed.
Battle of Hacienda
At midnight of January 11, 1942, the USAFFE soldiers had a hand-to-hand fight against the enemies in Hacienda Abucay.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
BATAAN HISTORY TOUR
By Edna Binkowski
Reliving the Infamous Death March - The death march can be traced in one day. All that is needed to do is follow the death march markers along the road from Mariveles ro Capas in Tarlac. There are two start ups: Mariveles and Bagac-Morong.
Bataan History Tour - This is not just to trace the death march. It starts with narratives on why there was a war, how it started, Japanese espionage on the Philippines 20 years before the war, bombing of Luzon, battles on Bataan, lines of resistance, the death march, what happened to POWs in Capas and Cabanatuan, the underground movement and espionage, life under Japanese rule, then liberation.
The memorials and battle sites to be visited are the ff:
Zero Kilometer, Mariveles
Wainwright Surrender Marker
Former Site of Jungle Hospital
The Forgotten Fil-Am Nurses Memorial
General King Marker, the general who surrendered Bataan
The Surrender Party (life-size statues)
The Battle Trails Markers
Battle of the Tuol Pocket Marker (this perpetuates the bravery of Filipino soldiers)
Pantingan Massacre (place where the Filipino soldiers were massacred)
Battle of Layac Junction (an event that awarded Sgt Calugas the Congressional Medal of Honor)
Mt. Samat Shrine and Museum
For further details, please contact:
Seaview Holiday Home
226 Villa Leonor Subd., Limay, Bataan
Free pick up from Orion ferry terminal. Reservation required.
Phone (63 47) 244-4348/0917-275-2486
Contact Edna Binkowski
Email [email protected]
Contact