BALANGA City: Markers, monuments, some trees remind of World War II and the fall of Bataan 82 years ago on April 9, 1942, being celebrated in the country no longer as a “fall” but as an
Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor.
Visitors entering the historical province from Pampanga could not help but notice the white markers along the left side of the MacArthur Highway. These are the Death March markers that
started from the “0” kilometer marker from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas in Tarlac.
The first marker at the boundary of Pampanga and Bataan is the 68 KM Death March marker in Barangay Balsic in Hermosa. It means that thousands of captive and surrendered Filipino –
American soldiers had already hiked 68 kilometers on the way to the Japanese concentration camp in Tarlac.
At the Layac junction in Dinalupihan, straight ahead to Bataan and right to Olongapo City, stands the First Line of Defense memorial. It depicted the first fighting in Bataan between
Filipino – American soldiers and the advancing Japanese Army.
An acacia tree near the town plaza of Abucay estimated at more than 100 years old served as a mute witness to the horrible death march and the horrors of war. Some meters away is a small
monument to the WWII Filipino soldier with the Santo Domingo de Guzman Church, the oldest church in Bataan, in the background.
At the Balanga Elementary School in Balanga City can be found the WWII command post of Japanese Gen. Masaharu Homma and the former Japanese garrison with old mango trees. The school is also the site of the surrender monument that depicted surrender negotiations on April 9, 1942.
On the American side were Maj. Achille Tesdelle, Col. Everett Williams, Gen. Edward King, Jr., and Maj. Wade Cothran while in the Japanese side were Col. Motoo Nakayama and Maj. Gen.
Kameichro Nagano.
A more than a century- old sampalok tree stands along the MacArthur Highway in Barangay Santa Rosa in Pilar, site of the Mount Samat Shrine where celebrations of the Araw ng
Kagitingan are held.
Two Death March markers in Pilar showed that the captive Filipino – American soldiers had walked 42 kilometers from Mariveles while another batch of captives had hiked 28 kms from
Bagac town. (30)
