04/09/2026
April 9th is designated as Former Prisoners of War Recognition Day, a time meant to pay tribute to the strength and bravery of all service members who endured tremendous hardships during their time of captivity.
It was on this day in 1942 that 75,000 American and Filipino Prisoners of War began what would later be known as the Bataan Death March. For 99 days prior to their surrender, American and Filipino forces gallantly defended against Imperial Japan’s invasion of the Philippines. However, after battling the Japanese, starvation, and disease for months, the largest army under American command ever to surrender would eventually be overcome.
What followed would become one of the most infamous ordeals of WWII. For six days, Japanese troops forced their prisoners on a harrowing 65 mile march while depriving them of food, water, shelter, and medical care. Prisoners were regularly beaten, bayoneted, or shot for little to no reason. The March would claim an estimated 500 American and 2,500 Filipino lives.
The horrors did not end once the prisoners reached their destination. For years, they struggled against crowded and unsanitary living conditions, meager rations, forced labor, and torture. Thousands of more lives would be lost before liberation. Upon the war’s conclusion, the man responsible for the Bataan Death March, Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, was found guilty of war crimes and was executed.
Earlier this week, the oldest survivor of the March, Albert Brown, passed away at the age of 105. Brown secretly chronicled the suffering he and the other prisoners faced. He survived frequent beatings, contracting several tropical illnesses, and having to subsist on a diet consisting of three small rice bowls a day. He leaves behind a legacy of courage and resilience only matched by a few.
On this day, as on every day, our hearts go out to all former Prisoners of War, your trials and tribulations will never be forgotten.