Following the surrender of nearly 75,000 troops during the battle of Bataan, the arduous 5-day, 65-mile Bataan Death March would begin and ultimately result in the deaths of 7,000 to 10,000 men.
The annual Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. honors those men, and 5 Soldiers assigned to Bravo Company, 81st Civil Affairs Battalion, 85th Civil Affairs brigade, tested their mettle at the event March 23.
The team would overcome the desert, steep elevation changes and exhaustion as they carried rucksacks weighing 35 pounds or more across 26.2 miles of the New Mexico Desert to place second within the Male Military Heavy category.
Staff Sgt. Jose Ledee, a CA noncommissioned officer with 81st CA Bn, applied experiences from his participation in 2012 to this year.
"The first time I did it was for the physical challenge," Ledee said. "This time, at least physically, I thought it was easier. I learned from my first time simple things like wear your PC when the sun is hitting you, drink a lot more water--I was very dehydrated in 2012," said Ledee.
Ledee managed to convince four 81st CA Bn cohorts to participate in the event and developed a three month training regime that would ultimately lead to their success. Even though there were 32 Male Military Heavy teams, he remained confident in his team.
"I knew the guys here were capable of finishing in the top three."
There was more to the event for Ledee beyond the physical aspect.
"It's a great experience," said Ledee. "If you read into the history of the Death March, not only is it a great story, but we also had survivors talk about their experiences and what they went through."
Upon arrival to White Sands, the team would join nearly 6,500 participants and be broken down into small groups, each group with a survivor telling their Death March story.
"That made it more motivating and throughout the course of the 26 miles, you are thinking about that--reminding yourself and saying 'ok, I'm not going to fall out'. Those stories kind of keep you going," said Ledee.
During the Bataan Death March, Soldiers were placed into groups of 100 with four guards assigned to each group. Along the route, Soldiers were beaten and stabbed, sometimes out of sheer malice of the Japanese troops. If they were to succumb to exhaustion, dehydration, or sickness, they would be summarily executed unless another Soldier could pick them off the ground and provide support.
"It's pretty amazing--those Soldiers did it getting beat up, little or no water at all, and if they couldn't make it, they were killed on the spot."
The relative ease of this 26-mile memorial march was not lost on Sgt. 1st Class Diego Pina.
"All I'm doing is 26 miles for fun--no one is beating you up, degrading you, torturing you--its minimal compared to what the [Death March] survivors went through," said Pina, a civil affairs team sergeant assigned to 81st CA Bn. "These Soldiers are our forefathers, they paved our way--they left that legacy. It?'s important to keep that alive."
Staff Sgt. Angel Irizarry, another CA noncommissioned officer with 81st CA Bn, was reluctant at first but saw an opportunity in the challenge.
"I wasn?'t thinking about going until Ledee approached me about the idea of marching 26.2 miles with a rucksack to honor those Soldiers that survived and died the actual march," said Irizarry. "It was a great opportunity for me to go with a team and learn more history and military heritage."
At the finish line, Irizarry reflected on his experience.
"After we went through the 26 miles, you feel very grateful how God can give you the strength to go through something like that," said Irizarry. "And then how He can give you the happiness to say I made it and I finished in 2nd place. I actually feel grateful because I actually proved to myself that I could do it and we did it as a team."
The 81st CA Bn team finished second with a time of 7 hours, 6 minutes, two hours behind the 1st place team.
According to the Bataan Memorial Death March website, the Army ROTC Department at New Mexico State University began sponsoring the event in 1989. In 1992, White Sands Missile Range and the New Mexico National Guard joined in the sponsorship and the event was moved to the missile range.
Social Sharing