What happened to American soldiers stationed in the Philippines when they were taken by the Japanese?

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Bataan Death March, march in the Philippines of some 66 miles (106 km) that 76,000 prisoners of war (66,000 Filipinos, 10,000 Americans) were forced by the Japanese military to endure in April 1942, during the early stages of World War II.

Mainly starting in Mariveles, on the southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula, on April 9, 1942, the prisoners were force-marched north to San Fernando and then taken by rail in cramped and unsanitary boxcars farther north to Capas. From there they walked an additional 7 miles (11 km) to Camp O’Donnell, a former Philippine army training centre used by the Japanese military to intern Filipino and American prisoners. During the main march—which lasted 5 to 10 days, depending on where a prisoner joined it—the captives were beaten, shot, bayoneted, and, in many cases, beheaded; a large number of those who made it to the camp later died of starvation and disease. Only 54,000 prisoners reached the camp; though exact numbers are unknown, some 2,500 Filipinos and 500 Americans may have died during the march, and an additional 26,000 Filipinos and 1,500 Americans died at Camp O’Donnell. (See Researcher’s Note: Bataan Death March: How many marched and how many died?)

U.S. Army forces in Luzon, 1942

Within hours of their December 7, 1941, attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Japanese military began its assault on the Philippines, bombing airfields and bases, harbours and shipyards. Manila, the capital of the Philippines, sits on Manila Bay, one of the best deepwater ports in the Pacific Ocean, and it was, for the Japanese, a perfect resupply point for their planned conquest of the southern Pacific. After the initial air attacks, 43,000 men of the Imperial Japanese 14th Army went ashore on December 22 at two points on the main Philippine island of Luzon. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the supreme commander of all Allied forces in the Pacific, cabled Washington, D.C., that he was ready to repel this main invasion force with 130,000 troops of his own.

MacArthur’s claim was a fiction. In fact, his force consisted of tens of thousands of ill-trained and ill-equipped Filipino reservists and some 22,000 American troops who were, in effect, an amalgam of “spit-and-polish” garrison soldiers with no combat experience, artillerymen, a small group of planeless pilots and ground crews, and sailors whose ships happened to be in port when Japanese forces bombed Manila and its naval yards. At the landing beaches, the Japanese soldiers quickly overcame these defenders and pushed them back and back again until MacArthur was forced to execute a planned withdrawal to the jungle redoubt of the Bataan Peninsula. This thumblike piece of land on the west-central coast of Luzon, across the bay from Manila, measured some 30 miles (48 km) long and 15 miles (24 km) wide, with a range of mountains down the middle.

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Bataan Death March; Pacific War

MacArthur had planned badly for the withdrawal and had left tons of rice, ammunition, and other stores behind him. The Battle of Bataan began on January 6, 1942, and almost immediately the defenders were on half rations. Sick with malaria, dengue fever, and other diseases, living on monkey meat and a few grains of rice, and without air cover or naval support, the Allied force of Filipinos and Americans held out for 99 days. Though they ultimately surrendered, their stubborn defense of the peninsula was a significant propaganda victory for the United States and proved that the Imperial Japanese Army was not the invincible force that had rolled over so many other colonial possessions in the Pacific.

It was against this backdrop that the Bataan Death March—a name conferred upon it by the men who had endured it—began. The forced march took place over some two weeks after Gen. Edward (“Ned”) King, U.S. commander of all ground troops on Bataan, surrendered his thousands of sick, enervated, and starving troops on April 9, 1942. The siege of Bataan was the first major land battle for the Americans in World War II and one of the most-devastating military defeats in American history. The force on Bataan, numbering some 76,000 Filipino and American troops, is the largest army under American command ever to surrender.

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Colonialization of the Philippines 

The Philippines was a colonial possession of the Spanish beginning in 1521, and they remained a possession of Spain until 1898—when the United States won the Spanish-American War. Many Filipinos fought alongside with United States troops, thinking that when the war was over the United States would grant their independence. Unfortunately for the Filipinos, that is not what happened.

The United States ended up purchasing the Philippines from the Spanish as part of a settlement of the war, and then the Philippines became a colonial possession of the United States. There were Filipinos who continued to fight against the United States well into the 1900s, trying to push back and gain their independence as a free and sovereign nation. At the same time, there were other Filipinos who took advantage of some of the programs that the United States established while the Philippines were America's colonial possession.

Formation of the Philippine Scouts 

One service was being able to serve in the in the United States and for the United States. For example, the Philippine Scouts were established in 1901 and gave Filipinos the opportunity to help protect and defend the Philippines and the United States in the Pacific. This also allowed Filipinos to enlist in the US Army, which was a big deal to some Filipinos who saw themselves as Americans and a part of the United States—not just a colonial possession. By 1920, the Philippine Scouts formally became a part of the US Army, which was a point of pride for a lot of Filipinos.

By 1941, before the United States formally entered the war, the Philippine Scouts went through a number of very intense trainings and were seen as a very elite, highly trained military unit. They were well respected in the Philippines and by the US Army, setting them up to play an important role in the security and the defense of the Pacific during World War II. In July 1941, the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) is created, consisting of a majority of Filipinos (about 100,000) and US soldiers (about 20,000).

World War II and the Battle of Bataan

Once the United States entered World War II following Pearl Harbor, the USAFFE were tasked to push back against the Japanese and to delay Japanese action at the mouth of Manila Bay. Their main objective was to serve as a buffer between the Japanese and the American colonial possession of the Philippines.

The USAFFE were able to hold the Japanese successfully until December 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, troops were placed on half rations. These soldiers had to make these sacrifices in order for forces heading into the Pacific to have supplies. Commanding General Douglas MacArthur understood what was going on and promised the Filipinos there would be extra troops, planes, and supplies coming to help them.

Unfortunately, those promises never materialized, which left Filipinos largely defenseless in the wake of the Japanese. During the Battle of Bataan, troops suffered from disease, hunger, wounds, and deaths. By the time the Filipinos and the US troops finally surrendered on April 9, 1942, the Philippine scouts were in a very bad position.

Bataan Death March

Three months after the start of the Battle of Bataan, the Bataan Death March began, forcing 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war to march through the Philippines. The route was about 65 miles long and stretched from the peninsula to the railhead inland (see below).  

The Bataan Death March is remembered as an absolute tragedy. The prisoners of war were forced to march through tropical conditions, enduring heat, humidity, and rain without adequate medical care. They suffered from starvation, having to sleep in the harsh conditions of the Philippines. The prisoners unable to make it through the march were beaten, killed, and sometimes beheaded. The Bataan Death March has a devastating legacy, with Filipinos suffering disproportionately compared to US troops. 

Although troops surrendered in April 1945, the USAFFE was able to delay the Japanese advance into Manila for 99 days. Japan's goal was to overtake Bataan in 50 days, so the effort of the Philippine scouts and US Army was not lost.

Philippine Independence 

Once Japan occupied the Philippines, they technically granted them independence from the United States in 1943. Unfortunately, this promise was not fulfilled, with the Japanese continuing to engage in brutal actions trying to round up and arrest Filipino insurgents. This led to innocent civilians, including women and children, being exposed to harsh treatment by the Japanese. The Japanese had learned how to create such an environment from their occupation policies in Manchuria. Filipino informants would help the Japanese for survival or political gain, leading to a distrustful and terrifying environment for other civilians. 

However, the Liberation of the Philippines makes headway with General MacArthur returning in October 1944. The 1st US Cavalry arrives in Manila on February 3, 1945, liberating allied prisoners of war. The contributions of the Philippine Scouts and Filipino civilians, along with their bravery and courage, were instrumental in the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945.