Comments on: Old Photo Friday (Bataan, Philippines: 1982)

By: Amy Shields

Amy Shields — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:38:50 +0000

We were stationed at CLARK AB, THE PHILIPPINES from 1980-1983. My Girl Scout Troop was fortunate enough to participate in this, too.

I remember it being brutally hot – however, we had water & the were not in fear of losing our life.

I’m 40 now, but I’ll always remember that day.

I pray for all the men who did not make it home, the men who survived and who have had to live with this. I pray now for our men and women who lovingly serve this country. My son being one.

Thank you for posting this.

Amy
Grown up AIR FORCE BRAT and Proud mother of an AMERICAN SOLDIER.

By: James

James — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:47:19 +0000

What an amazing experience to be able to talk to those people.

We stopped at Mt. Samat also. I wish I had taken some pictures there.

Thanks for your comment.

By: Frida

Frida — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:47:01 +0000

Hi,
My two sons james Micahel age 11, and John age 6, and I walked the Bataan Death March in 1977. We lived in Makati, Manila and my children attended the International school and the scout troop active in that school.
We lived all over the world and I am now writing storeis about events and place from we lived. I just finished writing about our amazing feat—the Bataan Death March re-enactment. We walked from Mariveles to the summit of Moutn Samat. I also met some of the original walkers and two of the Filipino original walkers from 1942 worked for my husband in Makati

sofiea elean

By: James

James — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:23:07 +0000

Sherryl, The tower is in Bagac. It is The Friendship Tower of Bagac. It is a monument to peace between the Philippines and Japan, erected in 1975. I’ve edited this post to reflect this new research.

By: James

James — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:15:16 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Angie. I sometimes wish the same thing for my students.

By: sherryl

sherryl — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:20:24 +0000

where is that war memorial? i am from bataan but i never saw that tower..

By: angie

angie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:36:28 +0000

how I wish all these boys that went to school with my oldest daughter — so many that we’ve stopped counting — could get a practice run before they sign themselves up to die, chasing dreams in the desert dust. maybe it wouldn’t all seem like just another video game to them then.

I like your old pictures.

By: Via Negativa

Via Negativa — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:20:46 +0000

[...] Coyote Mercury Somewhere along those dusty Philippine roads my fascination with war turned to recoiling as I realized it was one thing to reenact battles with my friends, but quite another to walk endless miles along a trail of brutality, hopelessness and murder. I think it was then that the idea of war began to move from fantasy to nightmare as we walked through Bataan imagining the sheer horror of the reality our reenactment was meant to remember. —- This entry was posted Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 10:20 pm and is filed under Smorgasblog. Print [...]