In April 9, 1942, 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers surrendered and were forced to go on a 70 mile death march to Camp O'Donnell in San Fernando, in the Philippines. Some of the Japanese treated the men well, sharing food and cigarettes, and sometimes even releasing some of the prisoners that they had been ordered to kill. However, most of the captors regarded surrender as an unforgivable offense, and prisoners were unworthy of any consideration.
Most of the men were clubbed, stabbed, and the captors shot helpless stragglers who were too weak to walk anymore. They horse whipped people who picked up their friends who had fallen. Some soldiers were forced to bury stricken comrades alive, even as they struggled to escape from their freshly dug graves.
Most of the captors regarded surrender as an unforgivable offense, and prisoners were unworthy of any consideration.
In one bloody, two hour ordeal, soldiers bayoneted and beheaded about 350 Filipino soldiers. On the march to Camp O'Donnell at least 7,000 men died.
The Japanese soldiers at the camp expected 25,000 healthy captives, but what they were confronted with was more than twice that number. Most of the men were sick and starving.
In the camp, the supplies ran out fast. After the first two months, about 2,000 men had died of hunger and disease. In the camp, malaria, dysentery, malnutrition, and brutality claimed the lives of up to 400 Americans and Filipinos each day. In the next two chapters you will meet two survivors of these death camps - one a soldier, one a little girl who was left behind.
- Tiffiany Daniels