Battle of Bataan Memorials and Markers

[Karl Welteke]

THE PHILIPPINE PEOPLE REMEMBER THE BATTLE OF BATAAN AND THE LIBERATION IN 1945.

We started this thread to put up the many memorials and commemoration markers people, organizations and Government placed on Bataan and other places over the past many decades.

This memorial to the heroes of Bataan was dedicated on the 9th April 2006; it is located on the school grounds of the premium Elementary School of Balanga City, Capitol of Bataan. Many organizations contributed to it and those details will be presented in the next segment.



Z541---Diwa ng Bataan (Spirit of Bataan) a Symbol, a Tribute, a Pledge Memorial.



Z542---Diwa ng Bataan (Spirit of Bataan) a Symbol, a Tribute, a Pledge Memorial.

This segment is dedicated to the controversy as to where Gen. King surrendered because this memorial is also called the Final Surrender Location of Gen. King. However this spot of this memorial is important because Gen King and his surrender party was brought here on the 9th of April 1942 and were further interrogated on related matters. A famous picture was taken here with Gen. King and his Japanese captors sitting around tables. Gen. King and his surrender party were kept here as hostages for a period until all his Philippine and American Forces surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Forces.

The Battling Bastards of Bataan (BBB) have a relative short page about the surrender of Gen. King and his Bataan Forces. Here is the URL but I pasted the whole text here after:
battlingbastardsbataan.com/lamao.htm

The Bataan Surrender
(at Lamao, Bataan)

1. Gen. King met with his staff around 11:00 PM, on April 8. The discussions confirmed his belief that the situation was hopeless and to continue to resist would not accomplish anything, except to waste the lives of his men. Gen. King decides to surrender.
2. Orders were given to destroy ammunition dumps and existing hardware.
3. Arrangements were made to evacuate certain personnel to Corregidor.
4. Around 3:30 AM, April 9, Col. Everett C. Williams and Maj. Marshall H. Hurt volunteered to make contact with the Japanese. They decided to leave before sunrise. Gen. King gave Col. Williams a piece of paper requesting a meeting with the Japanese officer commanding the Bataan Army and gave Williams the authority to negotiate surrender, if the Japanese refused to see Gen. King. In the course of their journey, they get separated for spell and then reunited. They acquired a jeep and a driver. The three, then, proceeded driving north, towards Japanese lines.
5. Sometime after 5:30 AM, they were intercepted by Japanese troops. Col. Williams showed the Sergeant in charge the letter, from King, with his instructions. After some tense moments, the Japanese Sergeant boarded the American Jeep, and they drove north where they met Gen. Kameichiro Nagano.
6. Gen. Nagano agreed to meet Gen. King near the frontlines, at the experimental farm station near Lamao. The Japs retained Col. Williams and sent Maj. Hurt back to Gen. King.
7. A few minutes after 9:00 AM, Maj. Hurt returned to Gen. King’s headquarters. Soon after, Gen. King, Col. Collier, Maj. Wade R. Cothran, Capt. Tisdelle, and Maj. Hurt boarded two jeeps and drove towards the experimental farm, in Lamao. During their drive, they were strafed by Japanese planes. One of the jeep drivers was Pvt. Burns.
8. Japanese troops intercepted them at the Lamao River Bridge. Gen. King and his party were escorted to a house, at the experimental farm station, at Lamao. Gen. Nagano told Gen. King that a representative of the Japanese 14th Army would soon arrive.
9. A few minutes after 11:00 AM, Col. Motoo Nakayama, senior operations officer for the 14th Army, arrived. Col. Nakayama thought Gen. King was Gen. Wainwright. When Gen. King explained that he was not Gen. Wainwright, Col. Nakayama told Gen. King to go get Gen. Wainwright.
10. Gen. King explained he could not contact Gen. Wainwright and he only had authority to surrender the forces on Bataan, not the Filipino-American forces of the Philippines.
11. Col. Nakayama replied that he could not accept a piecemeal surrender of just the Bataan forces. He, again, told Gen. King that no surrender could be accepted or the cessation of hostilities would be granted without the presence of Gen. Wainwright surrendering the entire Filipino-American forces of the Philippines.
12. After more heated discussion and Col. Nakayama refusing to accept the surrender of the Bataan forces, Col. Nakayama agreed to accept the individual, unconditional surrender of Gen. King, as an individual. The distinction is that no force or entity was ever surrendered, since the surrender of only a part of the Filipino-American forces could not be accepted, by Col. Nakayama. There were no terms of surrender to be discussed. At this point, Col. Nakayama insisted on holding to his linguistic distinction between personal surrender and the surrender of a force.
13. Gen. King asked if he surrendered, would his troops be treated well. Col. Nakayama only replied, "We are not Barbarians." The aforementioned quote was the only surrender term Gen. King would receive from Col. Nakayama.
14. Gen. King agreed to surrender. The JAPs asked for Gen. King’s sword. Gen. King apologized and said he did not have his sword. He left it in Manila. He did convince them to take his pistol.
15. No surrender document was prepared or signed, nor was any effort made to formalize the surrender. The Japanese concluded that the surrender negotiations had failed. Col. Nakayama later wrote, "The surrender of the American Philippine Forces in the Bataan Peninsula was accomplished by the voluntary and unconditional surrender of each individual. The negotiations for the cessation of hostilities failed." From the Japanese perspective, no force was ever surrendered, only individuals surrendered.
16. Col. Nakayama left. Col. Collier and Maj. Hurt were allowed to return to the American lines with Gen. King’s order to surrender.
17. Gen. King, Col. Williams, Maj. Cothran, and Capt. Tisdelle were driven to Balanga, Bataan. They were taken to the Balanga Elementary School, where cameramen took photographs of them.
18. At the Balanga Elementary School, Gen. King and the other officers were interrogated by Col. Nakayama, again present, on the following points:
a) The number of Japanese prisoners held by the Americans.
b) The number of artillery pieces and tanks left on Bataan.
c) The number of troops and artillery pieces on Corregidor.
d) If there existed an underground tunnel from Mariveles to Corregidor.
e) If there existed caverns or tunnels where large reserves of artillery and ammo were kept.
19. King said all he had left were trucks and some gas for the trucks, so they may transport their troops to the destination the Japanese desired. Gen. King then asked, where his men be transported. The Japanese refused to answer. Col. Nakayama left.
20. The Japanese were angered by the repeated "No." and "I do not know." answers to their questions. A Japanese officer shouted at the guards to lock up Gen. King's party, in a nearby hut.
21. The important point is: at Balanga, there was never any discussion of surrender or of the surrender terms. They were there to be interrogated. Gen. King had surrendered himself at Lamao. From Lamao, he sent two officers from his party back to the American lines to order the rest of his troops to surrender to the Japanese. No formal surrender ever took place and nothing was ever signed. Only the nebulous (verbal) assurance of "We are not barbarians." was given as a term of surrender.
22. The confusion over the surrender site, probably, stems from the existence of the photographers at Balanga and not at Lamao. At Lamao, there were no reporters or cameramen to record the surrender. The photographs taken of Gen. King and his party, at Balanga, precipitated the falsehood of the surrender, at Balanga, when in fact, at Balanga; they were, merely, captured soldiers being interrogated.
23. Gen. King never met Gen. Masaharu Homma.
Fred Baldassarre

-I like to add the below material to support the observation in paragraph #22 above.

-Even today in one of the most official US Army publication, the Fall of the Philippines, Chapter XXVI, is this photograph and caption and here is the URL:
www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/5-2/5-2_26.htm



Z543---Image from the US Army publication Fall of the Philippines.



Z544---Image and URL from Gen. King’s Phi Delta Theta.
thephideltlegacy.com/articles/king/forgotten_general.html




Z545---Here is the Washington Post saying the same thing.

[Karl Welteke]

THE NEW GENERATION OF FILIPINOS REMEMBERS BATAAN

GEN. KING AND HIS SURRENDER PARTY MEMORIAL WAS BUILT IN BALANGA.

I had seen the memorial as a picture many times and I knew it was located on the grounds of the Balanga Elementary School, but I never made it there to look.

Bob Hudson took me there and I took pictures and the purpose of this reply/segment is to show what can be seen. I liked it! I think it is well made! And I think it is a great reminder to this generation and the following ones of the tragedy of the Japanese aggression and the eventual victory of freedom over the aggressors. Thanks Bob!

An album was made with 22 images and all images have descriptions. The pictures in the album are larger than the sample images!
tinyurl.com/qjjwbfg

15 sample images:



Z561--- Command Post of Gen. Homma during the Battle of Bataan, it is located on the grounds of the Balanga Elementary School. This is an older historical marker by a Philippine Government entity.



Z562--- A greater picture as to where the city of Balanga and the Balanga Elementary School is.



Z563--- Map of all the landmarks in this Bataan Surrender Memorial album.



Z564--- The Diwa ng Bataan (Spirit of Bataan) Memorial, A Symbol – A Tribute – A Pledge to immortalize the Filipino and American Soldiers.



Z565---The plaque of the Diwa ng Bataan (Spirit of Bataan) Memorial, A Symbol – A Tribute – A Pledge to immortalize the Filipino and American Soldiers.



Z566--- Close-up of the Z565 image.



Z567--- This marker says this spot at the Balanga Elementary School was the place of surrender but that is wrong. Gen. King with some of his staff were transported here to this school on the same day of the surrender in Lamao and were kept here as hostages. But it does symbolize the bitter defeat of Bataan.



Z568--- I think this replica of the famous picture of Gen. King and his staff officers sitting around the tables with their Japanese captors is well made and indeed symbolized the heartbreak of defeat of the Philippine and American Forces on Bataan. It symbolizes the bitterness of defeat and the tragedy of the death march and the dying in the POW camps and the Hell Ships.



Z569--- This plaque gives credit to all the people and organizations that made this well done memorial possible. Well done! It is a long list, thank you all!



Z570---Another view of the Bataan Surrender Memorial in Balanga



Z571--- The first paragraph of this plaque is not correct, refer back to the first segment of this thread which explains that the surrender took place in Lamao and it shows why many people could think it happened here. However it is a great educational symbol of the tragedy of Bataan!!!!



Z572--- BATAAN HAS FALLEN, THE VOICE OF FREEDOM excerpts from a radio broadcast from Corregidor.



Z573--- The Bataan WWII Museum is nearby and I included these pictures from the museum because they relate to the subject of the album, i.e. to remember the Battling Bastards of Bataan.



Z574---Close-up of the last image.



Z575--- The Balanga Elementary School is large and encompass a large spacey compound and the memorial and museum placed on this ground should help in the education of Bataan youth in remembering the Battle of Bataan and the Victory over the aggressors.

[chadhill]

Nice job, Karl. I have learned a lot from your posts. The photos and maps of all the places you've been are outstanding and bring real life to my readings here stateside. Thank you.

Hey everybody, I have an idea...Karl and fots should get together and publish a book based on their posts. Now, that would be something!

[westernaus]

I would second that chad . The amount of material that Karl and FOTS have would more than suffice .

And Chad and Okla if you are short of rain or water at the moment we can send you a bit from Western Australia , it is raining about 7 years of catch up after 7 years of drought at the moment . Cheers .

[Karl Welteke]

BATAAN WWII MUSEUM IN BALANGA

My friend Bob Hudson invited me to look at some Death March Markers , while doing that we visited the Bataan WWII Museum and even sprung the entrance fee for me.

The museum was recently established and I’m sure a lot of money and work went into it. I liked it and one can spend considerable time in it to look and read. They have some displays of artifacts, a video to be played, the history is broke up in 22 segments of panels with a short story and pictures. The Death March is depicted in a diorama composed of more than120 dolls. A great place to bring the family, I will do that shortly. The museum is located on the grounds of the Balanga Elementary School, next to the famous Bataan Surrender Memorial with Gen. King, his staff and their Japanese captors sitting around tables being interrogated.

The Bataan WWII museum is on the grounds of the Balanga Elementary School next to the famous Bataan Surrender Memorial with Gen. King, his staff and their Japanese captors sitting around tables being interrogated.

Their pamphlet says it is open Monday –Saturday 9am to 4 pm, entrance fee 50 peso, students 20 peso and discounts are offered to teachers. Three mobile numbers are available to schedule school events 0929 757 5650, 0946 263 1510, 0927 501 3714.

I made an album with only 8 images and the images do not show any particular pictures or the stories; this album only serves the purpose to let you know that this fine museum exist and where it is! Here is the URL:
tinyurl.com/l2ah53g

As has become my custom here are 4 sample pictures which are of course much smaller that the images in the album:



Z632--- Bataan WWII museum on the grounds of the Balanga Elementary School next to the famous Bataan Surrender Memorial.



Z633---2014-07-09 An artifact display stand, Bob Hudson, who stands in front, donated the spent and discarded rifle slugs and cartridges at right.



Z634---2014-07-09 in the rear are four of those 22 segments of panels with a short story and pictures. At left is the Death March diorama composed of more than120 dolls depicting the terrible experience the surrendered soldiers had to endure! At right is, I believe, a diorama of Japan Military surrendering to the Allied in Manila.



Z635---2014-07-09 the entrance to the Bataan WWII museum, some pamphlets are available, some souvenir items can be bought and you can donate some money and Bob Hudson was my guide, thank you Bob.

[Bob Hudson]

Thanks for the Kudos Karl. That day was a fruitful day and I was surprised that I had seen something that you had not. I'm sure that is rare here on Bataan. This was an easy adventure and hopefully some more aggressive touring guided by a Native Aeta Filipino will treat us to some yet undiscovered WWII area sites after the rainy season.
I have spoken to a couple different Aetas who habit the area around my pineapple farm and they are familiar with all the hills and mountains on Bataan. According to them there are 2-3 American and Japanese camps from WWII still accessible and relics still scattered around. The Aetas who have no personal interest in these artifacts simply leave them where they set. They know of two crash sites, one a Japanese aircraft and the other the site of a downed P40. They know of at least two caves used by the Japanese during the war. These caves are said to hold relics from the war.
I am sure sure some or perhaps all of these sites are remote and will require an overnite stay to access them and return to the departure point. With my age and physical condition, I am not sure I can participate in these adventures but I will be organizing them for those who wish to join.
More information will follow when I know more details.
Anyone wishing to join an exploratory trek to these sites, contact Karl. He has already expressed an interest.

Don't miss a chance to see the only privately owned WWII museum on Bataan.

[Karl Welteke]

BATAAN TOURISM CENTER 2014-07-09

When visiting Bob Hudson in Bataan he took me also to the Bataan Tourism Center in Balanga on the Bataan Expressway. In addition to the tourism business, the Authorities also displayed WWII History in this Tourism Center. The whole place looks new and impressive. One certainly got the idea that the Bataan Government and People want to remind us all at the Bataan Battle and the sacrifices of all involved, soldiers and civilians.

My album has only 9 images but the images are larger than the 4 sample images following here.
tinyurl.com/ofm8wbq

4 sample images:




Z650---09 I failed to take a picture of the complex from the outside; this model has to take the place of visualizing how it looks. Left is the Bataan Expressway running south, the complex is on the west side of the highway.



Z651---some WWII memorabilia is displayed and this table is special. This BAR was donated by Bob Hudson who received it from the Barangay Quinauan (also spelled Quinawan these days) Captain. Quinauan Point and Bay was one of the hotspots in the Battle of the Points in 1942.



Z652--- in a large room are mannequins, in human size, put up to display the Battle of Bataan and how the peaceful life was interrupted by this aggressive war by the Japanese.This section portrays the casualties and the medical service during the Battle of Bataan.



Z653--- at the Tourism Center one can buy those miniature Death March Markers, I bought one. On one side it says Bataan and I failed to capture that. It costs 350 peso and they have a 300 peso copy to hold writing pens etc. This is Karl at work!

[Bob Hudson]

I can now envision you when we communicate. I also have my little Death March marker on my desk. I pay 50 pesos less than you because the guy who makes them is a personal friend in Orani. The BAR in the above photo is a 1925 model as it has cooling fins on the barrel. I believe that was the only year they made BAR's with cooling fins. Maybe because the BAR was heavy enough already.

[Karl Welteke]

BARANGAY MABATANG AND SAMAL REMEMBER THE BATTLE OF BATAAN

As I walk all over Bataan I sometime see WWII markers or Memorials that have been built over time by various benefactors. Here are two in Mabatang and one in Samal 2014-07-28.

Some are in good shape, some are looked after by some people or the community but others, sadly, are not.



Z674---at the lower left front of the Mabatang church is a large metal plaque describing and remembering the Abucay-Morong Line anchored here in the east end.



Z675---this is the upper portion of the large metal plaque describing and remembering the Abucay-Morong Line anchored here; the plaque is located at the lower left corner of the Mabatang church.



Z676--- this is the lower portion of the large metal plaque describing and remembering the Abucay-Morong Line anchored here; the plaque is located at the lower left corner of the Mabatang church.



Z677---this is the big picture of markers and memorial plaques remembering the Abucay-Morong Line in the area from Mabatang to Orani. This map is also for my next presentation of “Orani Remembers”!



Z678--- this marker is encroached by a house and sadly buried partial by concrete. It is located half way between the Mabatang Bridge and DMM 51.



Z679---in this July 28th 2014 picture the whole plaque is not that clean and readable anymore.



Z680--- this is a 8th July 2013 picture of the marker remembering the Abucay-Morong Line in Mabatang when Victor Verano and I visited this place.



Z681---this is the best readable copy I got of marker remembering the Abucay-Morong Line in Mabatang when Victor Verano and I visited this place in 2013.



Z682---this is the close-up of Mabatang Village with the two WWII markers and the two DMMs.



Z683---this is a visual orientation as to where that WWII marker is in Mabatang. At right is our friend Victor Verano with a friend. This is a 2013 image.



Z684---this marker from the Philippine Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor was placed here at the SE corner of the Samal Plaza, next to the old National Road.



Z685---close up of the Philippine Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor WWII Marker at the Samal Village Plaza.

[Karl Welteke]

ORANI, BATAAN HAD AN OLD AND NOW HAS A NEW BATTLE OF BATAAN MARKER

When I walked the Death March route in 2007 and as I make inspection visits these days I sometime see other Memorial Markers in the different communities in Bataan. This segment is about the Orani Municipality, it had a very unique maker with replica artillery pieces in 2007 but now they are gone and have been replaced with a simple model of a WWII Filipino Soldier. I am sad, I liked the large artillery pieces, and they were more meaningful in my opinion.

My pictures of my 2014-07-28 Death March walk from Death March Marker (DMM) #51 to #58 have not been uploaded anywhere. But the march on 2007 12-25 from DMM #52 to #68 are uploaded into this album with 136 images and have detailed picture about the march thru Orani:
tinyurl.com/p6b9p6o

For this segment in this forum I established a short album with only 12 images, it is strictly dedicated to the Battle of Bataan Markers in Orani Bataan:
tinyurl.com/k4sxgv7

For locations of these markers refer to Google Earth image in the previous reply or segment!

All 12 images are also directly posted here in the forum thread but the image sizes are much smaller!




Z704--- at right is a Death March Marker replica on the entrance gate wall of the Barangay Silahis, Orani, and Bataan. In this picture we are approaching the main bridge over the Orani River where the National Road enters the Orani Plaza on 2007-12-25.
As of this date July 2014 this bridge is being replaced, it was built in about 1946 to replace the 1942 destroyed bridge under a joint US-Philippine reconstruction initiative. It is a big job and better by pass Orani with your car.



Z705--- underneath the Death March Marker replica on the entrance gate wall of the Barangay Silahis is this plaque. This picture is from 2007-12-25.




Z706--- underneath the Death March Marker replica on the entrance gate wall of the Barangay Silahis is this plaque. This picture is from 2007-12-25. See my interpretation below!

A large replica of three POWs struggling on the march and a small plaque! The Marker says: The Death March, an undying tribute to the cause of democracy in these islands, it may well be the bloodiest resistance of the Allied Forces during the early part of the Second World War. In this ring (?) peninsular of Bataan that give fulfillment to the well known pledge “I shall return”. In living memoir this marker is most humbly dedicated.




Z707--- again this is a 2007-12-25 picture, this time I’m looking south from the Orani River Bridge in Orani. The large replica of three POWs struggling on the march and a small plaque are at left, right of center image.




Z708---2014-07-28 this is how the Death March Marker replica on the entrance gate wall of the Barangay Silahis, Orani, and Bataan looks like today. The wall has been beautified and the artillery shells barrier are gone.




Z709---2014-07-28 the plaque underneath the Death March Marker replica on the entrance gate wall of the Barangay Silahis has suffered compared to my 2007 pictures.



Z710--- In 2007 at the Orani, Bataan Plaza was two replica artillery pieces remembering the Battle of Bataan but they were gone in 2014. I thought this way of remembering the Battle of Bataan was unique and I am sorry they are gone.



Z711--- In 2007 at the Orani, Bataan Plaza was two replica artillery pieces remembering the Battle of Bataan but they were gone in 2014. I thought this way of remembering the Battle of Bataan was unique and I am sorry they are gone. This is the 2nd one.



Z712--- also in 2007 Orani had this model of a Filipino Soldier on this large rock or replica of a rock near those two replica artillery pieces.



Z713--- also in 2007 Orani had this model of a Filipino Soldier on this large rock or replica of a rock near those two replica artillery pieces. In back is the 2nd artillery piece replica.



Z714--- Close up of the model of a Filipino Soldier on this large rock or replica of a rock in Orani, Bataan on 2007-12-25.




Z715---2014-07-28 on the Plaza of Orani, Bataan; the replica WWII artillery guns are gone and the model of a WWII Filipino soldier is placed on a different pedestal. In 2007 and in 2014 I did not see a plaque dedicated to the Battle of Bataan.