I'm headed down to the White Sands Missile Range this weekend for the annual Bataan Memorial Death March, which commemorates the 1942 event in the Philippines when 10,000 U.S. and Filipino troops were literally marched to death by the Japanese Army en route to Prisoner of War camps. Another 10,000 escaped and 50,000 barely survived the 70 mile jungle slog.
The Death March touched every part of New Mexico, as soldiers from more than 300 communities in the state, including my home town of Las Vegas ("The Original Las Vegas") served in the Army's 200th and 515th coast artillery regiments, which arrived in the Philippines in September 1941 and then months later were taken prisoner.
Aware of this history, Ray Pickering, cadet in Reserve Officers Training Corps at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, made it his project to start the Memorial March in and near that city in 1989, with just four Army and Air Force ROTC teams.
Lt. Col. Bradley Gavle, professor of military science at NMSU, told me that in 1992 White Sands Missile Range and the New Mexico National Guard joined in the sponsorship and the event was moved to the missile range. Participation in the Memorial March has grown every year (except for 2003, due to deployment of units that supported the march), and Gavle said he expects 4,500 people to attend this year.
But the two-day event at White Sands is more than just a march, missile range spokesman Cammy Montoya said. On March 28, events include history seminars by NMSU and a chance to engage in living history with the dwindling pool of Death March survivors.
Montoya added that while the Memorial March has military participants, it also attracts many civilians who know little of today's Army, let alone the history of Bataan. These civilian marchers get both a dose of history and a chance to experience a really tough hike of 26.2 or 15.2 miles. The Memorial March., Montoya said, "is a life altering experience" for many of the participants.
Did I say tough? How about grueling? Marchers can choose to do the 26.2 mile segment with a 35 pound pack or without one, and one section of that course climbs what looks to be an almost vertical 500 feet from a starting point of 1,300 feet. Temperatures on March 29 will peak at just below 80 degrees, with winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour.
I told Gavle that I intended to do the 15.2 mile wimp route, but he quickly pointed out both routes include a sand pit that he described as "our trail of tears. . . . More people drop out in the sand pit than anywhere else on the March."
One anonymous participant from last year said on the March's Web site, "I wasn't prepared for all the loose sand - many miles of this and a lot of it uphill."
To make the whole event even more challenging, even though the March kicks off at 7 a.m. on March 29, you have to be through the Missile Range gate by 4:30 a.m. - which means I have to get up at my hotel at Las Cruces at 2:30 a.m.
Montoya said the March organizers do not even make concessions for "Wounded Warrior" teams from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington or Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. I asked if these troops - some of whom are amputees - could use wheel chairs, and she said, "No. This is a human powered event."
Montoya said that to locate drop outs and provide medical care, if needed, organizers have enlisted ham radio operators in the Las Cruces area for communications support. George Kopp, a former Navy corpsman who helped organize the hams, said they will be stationed at the 12 water points along the route, which he said are logical points for a marcher to seek help.
Mike Calkins, a Missile Range communications technician, said he will provide about 75 land mole radios to support the event.
I'm glad to know there is comm support in case I need help. But since Girl Scout troops have entered the Memorial March, I think I'll do what my Marine DI taught me, even if it was 46 years ago: Put one foot in front of the other.
COMMENTS
I was one of the HAMs working the water points. It was a great day for all. I would like to point out one error in the article, though. The start of the Bataan march at White Sands Missile Range is at 1,300 METERS above sea level, not 1,300 feet as stated in the article. It is more like 4,500 feet above sea level, which makes the march even more difficult- there is not nearly as much air to breathe up here as there is at lower elevations!
Kevin McNelis
K5KMC
Kevin McNelis 04/04/09 07:05 am ET
This was my first march. I opted for the 26.2 mile option and made it 20 miles. It is too soon to tell if it is my last. I marched because I CHOSE to. I am 50 years old and have had a knee replacement. I am basically fit for my age according to WiiFit. There were hundreds of people making sure I was physically OK and had something to eat and drink. I could stop for mother nature without fear of being shot or bayoneted. The climb was brutal, the sand did suck (and I didn't make it to the "big" sand pit), and the wind was not my friend. I looked those survivors in the eye as I shook their hands along the start so trust me when I say it doesn't matter what I felt on the course or what I have been feeling since, it was nothing but a Sunday stroll through the desert in comparison to what those men endured. If you ever get the opportunity to participate, do it.
Bev 03/31/09 03:36 pm ET
Please let us know what your experience was like. I may do the march in 2010. Thanks.
Pete 03/30/09 12:25 pm ET
Dear Mr. Brewin:
I'm very glad there is such a terrific effort to keep the history alive on the Bataan Death March. Perhaps Val Kilmer should sign up for this event (What's Brewin', 2.23.09). It might give the would-be governor of New Mexico a much-needed chance to rethink his "emotional equipment" to portray a member of our armed forces.
Cheers!
Jenna Westwood
Jenna Westwood 03/30/09 12:24 pm ET
I want to do this walk! My late father part of the liberation force going back to the Philippines in 1944, and I was also stationed there. Thanks for covering the event.
LR 03/30/09 10:48 am ET