Indies in the acceptance of honorable defeat? Your Excellency, your duty has been performed. Accept our sincere advice and save the lives of those officers and men under your command. The International Law will be strictly adhered to by the Imperial Japanese Forces and Your Excellency and those under your command will be treated accordingly. The joy and happiness of those whose lives will be saved and the delight and relief of their dear ones and families would be beyond the expression of words. We call upon you to reconsider this proposition with due thought.
If a reply to this advisory note is not received from Your Excellency through a special messenger by noon ofMarch 22nd, 1942, we shall consider ourselves at liberty to take any action whatsoever.
The letters were signed by General Homma. When Wainwright read it, he said, âThe bastards could at least have sent a few full cans of beer.â
As April neared, the soldiers were urged to write their last letters to loved ones. They were also asked if they wished to take out $10,000 life insurance policies. Wainwright ordered radio operations to cease so they could transmit thirty thousand applications to the United States.
On April 3, General Homma sent a request that the commanders surrender. When he got no response, he ordered the most violent strike in the war thus far. The air and land assault on the Second Corps thundered across Bataan for two days as the men retreated, leaving behind the dead and injured, the moaning and cursing men who were missing limbs or had been smeared into trees or were staring into pulsing open holes at their own gut sacks. On April 8, most of the soldiers retreated to Mariveles Bay, dismantled their weapons, and waited for the islandâs new rulers to appear. Some commanders gave their men the option of surrendering or scampering off into the jungle. Several detachments, finding themselves surrounded by the enemy, disappeared into the thickets, refugees in a strange land.
Among these detachments were Edwin Ramsey and Joe Barker, the latter so emaciated he now wore his West Point ring on his thumb. The two had been cut off from their unit and found themselves surrounded, hiding in the thick jungle. But the concussions had stopped. The woods had fallen silent. Perhaps Bataan had fallen.
âYou thinking what Iâm thinking?â Ramsey asked.
âI donât see how it could be anything else,â Barker said. âWeâll find out soon enough.â
âWhatâll you do?â Ramsey asked.
âDonât suppose Iâd last long in a prison camp,â Barker said. âSurrendering doesnât appeal to me.â
On April 9, Gen. Edward King, a Georgia native whose grandfather fought for the Confederacy, was thinking of Robert E. Leeâs surrender at Appomattox Court House as he rode to meet General Homma. Four months of warfare had killed some six thousand Americans and thirty thousand Filipinos. Of the remaining soldiers, only 25 percent were considered combat ready. One general had sent headquarters a handwritten note from the field saying only half his command was even capable of fighting and the rest were so sick or tired they could not launch even a mild attack. King felt he had no other choice. The commander of the US and Philippine troops on Luzon finally gave up. But the orders never reached Ramsey and Barker.
They divided the few supplies they had left and shook hands.
âNo matter what happens, we stick together,â Barker said.
âAgreed,â said Ramsey.
The remaining seventy-five thousand soldiers who did not flee into the jungle bent their rifle barrels in the crooks of
dao
trees, disposed of any Japanese money or photographs that might make it appear theyâd looted a dead imperial soldier, and sat in the shade, white flags hanging limp from gun stocks, waiting. When the enemy finally arrived, they tried to follow orders. One infantryman watched as a Japanese
If a reply to this advisory note is not received from Your Excellency through a special messenger by noon ofMarch 22nd, 1942, we shall consider ourselves at liberty to take any action whatsoever.
The letters were signed by General Homma. When Wainwright read it, he said, âThe bastards could at least have sent a few full cans of beer.â
As April neared, the soldiers were urged to write their last letters to loved ones. They were also asked if they wished to take out $10,000 life insurance policies. Wainwright ordered radio operations to cease so they could transmit thirty thousand applications to the United States.
On April 3, General Homma sent a request that the commanders surrender. When he got no response, he ordered the most violent strike in the war thus far. The air and land assault on the Second Corps thundered across Bataan for two days as the men retreated, leaving behind the dead and injured, the moaning and cursing men who were missing limbs or had been smeared into trees or were staring into pulsing open holes at their own gut sacks. On April 8, most of the soldiers retreated to Mariveles Bay, dismantled their weapons, and waited for the islandâs new rulers to appear. Some commanders gave their men the option of surrendering or scampering off into the jungle. Several detachments, finding themselves surrounded by the enemy, disappeared into the thickets, refugees in a strange land.
Among these detachments were Edwin Ramsey and Joe Barker, the latter so emaciated he now wore his West Point ring on his thumb. The two had been cut off from their unit and found themselves surrounded, hiding in the thick jungle. But the concussions had stopped. The woods had fallen silent. Perhaps Bataan had fallen.
âYou thinking what Iâm thinking?â Ramsey asked.
âI donât see how it could be anything else,â Barker said. âWeâll find out soon enough.â
âWhatâll you do?â Ramsey asked.
âDonât suppose Iâd last long in a prison camp,â Barker said. âSurrendering doesnât appeal to me.â
On April 9, Gen. Edward King, a Georgia native whose grandfather fought for the Confederacy, was thinking of Robert E. Leeâs surrender at Appomattox Court House as he rode to meet General Homma. Four months of warfare had killed some six thousand Americans and thirty thousand Filipinos. Of the remaining soldiers, only 25 percent were considered combat ready. One general had sent headquarters a handwritten note from the field saying only half his command was even capable of fighting and the rest were so sick or tired they could not launch even a mild attack. King felt he had no other choice. The commander of the US and Philippine troops on Luzon finally gave up. But the orders never reached Ramsey and Barker.
They divided the few supplies they had left and shook hands.
âNo matter what happens, we stick together,â Barker said.
âAgreed,â said Ramsey.
The remaining seventy-five thousand soldiers who did not flee into the jungle bent their rifle barrels in the crooks of
dao
trees, disposed of any Japanese money or photographs that might make it appear theyâd looted a dead imperial soldier, and sat in the shade, white flags hanging limp from gun stocks, waiting. When the enemy finally arrived, they tried to follow orders. One infantryman watched as a Japanese
Similar Books
