Soldiers turned out Dec. 2 to compete to become members of the Fort Jackson Bataan Death March Team. Maj. Pete Hofman, a writer/instructor with the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School came in first, and 1st Lt. Matthew Walmsley, from Echo Company, 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment came in second. Staff Sgt. Janina Simmons, a drill sergeant leader with the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Academy, Staff Sgt. Alan Tobin and Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Housler rounded out the team.
The team will begin training for the Bataan Memorial Death March scheduled for March 25, 2018 at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The Bataan Memorial Death March is a challenging march through the high desert terrain of the White Sands Missile Range. The march is held annually to honor the service members who defended the Philippines in World War II from Japanese invaders and were forced to march across the islands to prison camps while undergoing constant deprivations by their captors.
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