Bataan Death March re-enacted at W.G. Jones Forest
About 150 Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp cadets from The Woodlands and Oak Ridge high schools gathered at sunrise Saturday morning to participate in a reenactment of the infamous World War II Bataan Death March.
Ninety-nine cadets from TWHS and 65 cadets from ORN were in attendance for the 14-mile hike at W.G. Jones State Forest.
The Bataan Death March was one of the most brutal acts of war in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the Second World War. The march occurred in the Bataan peninsula of the Philippines in 1942. The Imperial Japanese Army forcibly marched approximately 60,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war about 60 miles under extremely brutal conditions.
“The original Bataan Death March was an event in World War 2 after Japanese captured Americans and forced them to a prison camp,” said retired Lt. Colonel Chris McMartin, who is also the senior aerospace science instructor at TWHS.
“Prisoners died along the way,” McMartin said. “A few made it to the camp and made it back after the war, so this (re-enactment) is to commemorate what they went through.”
The death march resulted in the deaths of at least 5,500 of the prisoners and as many as 19,000 in all and was eventually ruled a war crime committed by the Japanese Imperial Army.
McMartin said the march was first conducted by Oak Ridge students last year.
“We decided to join together this year, so this will be the first time both school do it together,” he said.
McMartin said the reenactment on Saturday morning was an effort for all involved to remember the sacrifices of the soldiers of the “greatest generation” who fought in World War II. He said he would like to continue this event as an annual tradition.
“For the foreseeable future it looks like something we’ll be able to continue,” McMartin said, adding that he hopes the re-enactment instills a respect for those who engaged in wartime activities.
“I hope (students) develop a greater sense respect for the sacrifices of those of who came before us to keep us safe from those who wished to do us harm,” McMartin said.
Retired Lt. Colonel Lynn Bentley, who is a senior aerospace science instructor at Oak Ridge High School, said the Bataan Death March was selected to be re-enacted due to its relative obscurity compared to other wartime events in history.
“To some degree, the Bataan Death March is not as well known as the others, like the Holocaust, but we still had a large group of people that were basically marched and tortured to death,” Bentley said.
Bentley said the cadets collected about $3,000 in donations in advance of the march, which will be donated to Family Service Center at Ellington Air Field in Houston.
“This is a way for kids to kids to give back,” Bentley said. “They walk and get a ribbon and they get to help the community.”
Bentley said preparation for the long walk included mental and physical exercises.
“Mentally, we talked about it,” he said. “Physically, we practice and walked and exercised.”
Bentley advised cadets to stay focused and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
TWHS cadets were required to carry a 25-pound backpack and ORN cadets took turns carrying a 100-pound stretcher of a “wounded warrior.” Cadets were required to work as a team and take turns carrying the wounded solider, which weighed about 100 pounds.
“We never leave a man behind,” Bentley said.
Booster clubs from both high schools set up lunch, snacks and water for the students at the midway point before the cadets continued on with the remaining 7 miles in the march.
Senior Enlisted Advisor Paige Coffell of TWHS was the main organizer of the event.
“I thought it’d be a great way for the ROTC and Oak Ridge and The Woodlands High School to get together and memorialize something that happened in our history,” Coffell said. “I thought it’d be something neat for us to honor. It’s something I personally feel we should remember.”
ORHS Cadet Noah Martin said he came prepared for the event by packing water and beef jerky in his backpack. He said he is proud to participate in the march because of the honor it bestows on those who served.
“It’s not just honoring my relatives that died in World War 2, but it’s [honoring] everybody,” Martin said.
ORHS Cadet Melanie Alvarez said the sacrifice of preparing for the event and getting up early was not difficult considering what the veterans went through. She said she was excited to participate and even got up at 5 a.m., well in advance of the meeting time at 7:30 a.m.
“I really wanted to be prepare,” Alvarez said. “I really hope that we do it again considering that I love the purpose for it.”