Bataan Death March Remembrance

Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Angus Beckles | 200421-N-GC472-1115 ARABIAN GULF (April 21, 2020) - Chief Personnel Specialist John Tanedo, assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), speaks about his grandfather at the Bataan Death March Remembrance Ceremony, April 21, 2020. Tanedo's grandfather was a Filipino soldier who survived the death march. Bataan is the flagship for the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the Western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd class Angus Beckles)  

ARABIAN GULF

04.21.2020

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kaitlin Rowell 

USS Bataan (LHD 5)

Sailors and Marines assigned to the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group participated in a ceremony held in remembrance of the Bataan Death March on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), April 21.

The annual observance honors the American and Filipino men and women who perished while fighting the Japanese on the Bataan peninsula during World War II and their ensuing captivity.

“We pay tribute to the brave men who fell in battle during the three-month siege of the Bataan peninsula and those prisoners of war who perished on the road to Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines,” said Capt. Greg Leland, commanding officer of Bataan. “We humbly and gratefully recall the selfless dedication to duty of those who died at sea, in battle during World War II and the Korean conflict.”

Bataan fell to the Japanese on April 16, 1942. Seventy-five thousand American and Filipino troops were taken as prisoners of war and forced to make the 65-mile march.

The guest speaker of the event, Chief Personnel Specialist John Tanedo, spoke of the personal connection that he and his family have to the event.

“Approximately 21,000 people perished 78 years ago during the Bataan Death March,” said Tanedo. “My grandfather survived. As a survivor, he inspired me to always be courageous to any adversity and to all the uncertainties. He and those who suffered during the death march remind us that all the challenges that we are enduring today will someday come to pass, and as long as we are together, we will prevail.”

Bataan is the third ship to be named after the Battle of Bataan. The first, the USS Bataan (CVL 29) commissioned November 17, 1943 and the second, the Australian destroyer HMAS Bataan (I 91) commissioned May 25, 1945.

• Date Taken: 04.21.2020
• Date Posted: 04.23.2020 04:50
• Story ID: 368211
• Location: ARABIAN GULF