Camp Atterbury Team Honors Bataan Death March

Courtesy Photo | Soldiers slap hands during tryouts for the Bataan Memorial Death March at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center Nov. 23. The Camp Atterbury team finished third in the Bataan Memorial Death March held at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. (U.S. Army photo by T.D. Jackson)  

CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, UNITED STATES

11.23.2009

Courtesy Story

Camp Atterbury Indiana

By Sgt. David Bruce, Camp Atterbury Public Affairs

CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind. - War memorials are constructed to commemorate the memory, service and sacrifice of those who fought. Sometimes, it is more fitting for that memorial to be an act. In the case of the Bataan Death March, remembrance through hardship seems to be the most fitting memorial. This year, and every year since 2005, Camp Atterbury has sent a team to honor the survivors and fallen of the Bataan Death March in this event.

"It is a competition, but you still want people to remember what this is for," said Staff Sgt. Cody Wooten, a squad leader with Range Training Team at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center. The Baatan Memorial Death March is held annually to honor the victims of the original Baatan Death March which occurred after the fall of the Philippines to Imperial Japan during World War II.

The combined forces of American and Philippine soldiers were forced to endure a 60-mile march from Corregidor and the harbor forts on Manila Bay to San Fernando. The prisoners were given scant rations and medical care and were subjected to constant brutality and mistreatment along the way. Of the estimated 72,000 troops that started the march, it is believed that only 54,000 made it to the prison camps.

Every year since 1992, with the exception of 2003, the Bataan Memorial Death March is held at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Teams and individuals, both military and civilian, from across the country and other nations gather to compete in this march.

The march is divided into different categories by distance, military/civilian and by weight. Distance is either 26.2 miles or a shorter route of approximately 15 miles. Teams and individual participants can be either service members or civilian. Weight is classified as heavy or light, or more plainly, with or without a 35-pound rucksack.

Although some competed for the first time in the Team Military Heavy 26.2 mile event in this year's march, Wooten was no stranger to White Sands, this being his third time participating in the Bataan Memorial Death March.

"We had open tryouts for post. Eight people tried out for the team and six were selected," said Wooten, a squad leader with the Range Training Team on Camp Atterbury. Camp Atterbury tryouts were held in October 2009 and consisted of a 12-mile road march with a 35-pound rucksack.

Of the six, five were selected for the team and an alternate. The team consisted of Wooten, Staff Sgt. James Wood, Sgt. Richard Codd, Sgt. Joshua Chenault and Maj. Gary Blagburn, and Capt. Paul Karbley was the alternate. Karbley injured his hand a week before the march and was unable to travel with the team to New Mexico.

"Once we had our team designed, we started to train twice a week," said Wooten. "We would get together and do road marches. We would get up to about 14 miles, but averaged around 12. We would also work out on our own just getting trained up for it," said Wooten.

"We went out five days before the race to get acclimated. Running every day, mountain climbing, anything to get used to the elevation," said Wooten. White Sands sits at between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above sea level, which can have an effect on the performance of the marchers.

The morning of the race provided a reminder of why the march is held.

"There is a ceremony before the race where you get to meet the survivors of the Bataan Death March," said Wooten. "There's less every year."

"They're right there and you're shaking their hands and you're thinking, 'They went through way more than what I'm about to do,'" said Blagburn. "They were in battle prior and then they were forced to move across that country. I'm thinking my feet are hurting, but I also don't have somebody trailing behind me waiting to kill me if I fall out like they did," said Blagburn.

"We're out there and we're hurting when it's over, but we get to go to the airport and leave. They went to P-O-W camps."

"I wish there were more events like this that honor the past," said Wooten.

Once the race began, Blagburn said it really becomes a team effort.

"You really feed off each other to keep motivated," said Blagburn. "You have to count on others to push each other. Because this was a team event, everybody has to finish within 20 seconds of each other. It really builds esprit d'corps."

Mental toughness becomes a key issue according to Blagburn.

"At about the 24-mile mark, when I was looking down the road, knowing where you still need to go…thinking to yourself can you continue? Then you think this is nothing more than a P-T test from here. I've already made it 24 [miles]. But I would say the mental issue is more than the physical."

This year's finish was the fastest any Indiana team has recorded. Wooten said the team finished third place overall out of ten teams in the National Guard Heavy category. "Our time has gone down every year," he said.

• Date Taken: 11.23.2009
• Date Posted: 04.26.2010 14:55
• Story ID: 48724
• Location: CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US