Memorializing the hardships of the past

Courtesy Photo | Marchers in the 26th annual Bataan Memorial Death March travel a 26-mile trek that starts and ends at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The march is done to memorialize both, the fallen and the survivors, of the Bataan Death March which began April 9, 1942, in the Philippines. (Courtesy photo)  

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NM, UNITED STATES

04.15.2015

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Brian Hamilton 

108th Training Command- Initial Entry Training

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - “I did my first Bataan Memorial Death March in 2008 on a whim, just to see if I could do it,” said Col. Dan Arkins, 108th Training Command (IET) chief of staff.

On April 9, 1942, the march of tens of thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga, by Japanese forces began after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. This march is infamously known as the Bataan Death March.

In 1989, the first Bataan Memorial Death March was created by the Army ROTC Department of the New Mexico State University in an effort to pay tribute to the many veterans who lost their lives on the 60-mile route; but also those who survived.

Since that inaugural memorial event in 1989, the number of participants has gone from about 100 to more than 10,000 from all across the country. Marchers now trek through the New Mexico desert on a 26.2 mile course that starts and finishes on the White Sands Missile Range.

“Each year is different. The one constant is actual survivors from the Bataan Death March shake hands with participants at the start. Those numbers have dwindled dramatically year after year,” said Arkins, who recently completed his sixth Bataan Memorial Death March. “It’s always humbling to think what they went through.”

It has been estimated that between 2,500 and 10,650 combined American and Filipino service members died during the 60 mile march alone, though the exact number will never be known. It was a march characterized by beatings, bayoneting, dehydration and starvation.

Those that survived faced grueling hardships in a prisoner of war camp marred by poor hygiene and a lack of food and water in a disease-stricken region. Many more thousands died there after reaching Camp O’Donnell.

Arkins, a 32-year veteran of the military, completed this year’s course in 11 hours and 12 minutes.

“There is only one way to train. Throw on a ruck and your combat boots and walk long distances. It was very difficult to train in New England this year as we had a record 5 feet of snow. There weren’t many sidewalks or clear roads to train on for the last six weeks.”

With a temperature of 81 degrees and a maximum elevation at more than 5,300 feet, many experienced marchers dubbed it the toughest event they had ever been in. One comment on the event’s message board read, “This was my 36th marathon. Although it was by far the toughest it was also the most rewarding.”

The reasons vary for those who accept the challenge to complete the march, but for Arkins it has become more about giving back.

“For the last two years, I have done it as a fundraiser for The Home Base Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. I secured over $7,000 in donations this year. About $7,500 last year,” Arkins said. “Like a lot of other marchers, I load my ruck with 30-pounds of rice, which is donated to a local food pantry at the end of the march.”

None of us can ever fully repay these Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines for the hardships they endured in protecting our freedoms. We can only attempt to memorialize them through events like the Bataan Memorial Death March. That’s what Arkins does.

• Date Taken: 04.15.2015
• Date Posted: 04.15.2015 14:01
• Story ID: 160066
• Location: WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NM, US
• Hometown: BOSTON, MA, US