remembering bataan

this blog should have been posted Yesterday, April 9, sorry for the late post.
our grandparents would remember April 9, as the Fall of Bataan, where close to
a Thousands soldiers died fighting for 4 months until they capitulated due to
lack of  food and critical war supplies on April 9, 1942.

then we all know the Bataan death march.... where 68K Filipino soldiers and 11K+
Americans who became the Japan’s prisoners of war were made to walk.
yesterday was the 73rd anniversary of the Fall of Bataan.

credits to philscouts.org

picture credits to Dennis Go

Mt. Samat, the site where the Dambana ng Kagitingan (Shrine of Valor)
stands up to this day. big cross was erected in honor of soldiers who defended
our country.

For P25.00, you get a ticket to see the museum and use the public parking spaces
inside the premises of the shrine.

using the  93.77 km Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the longest
4-lane expressway in the Philippines.
along the highway you could see Pasig-Potrero River in Porac town, Pampanga
that destroyed communities downstream after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in June 1991.

One of the major engagements during the Battle of Bataan was the containment
and reduction of a number of Japanese positions behind USAFFE lines from
January 23 to Feb 17 1942.  These were known as the Battle of The Pockets.
The 75,000 defenders of Bataan, while technically part of the US Army, were
three-quarters Filipino.

exerpts from the net
The Battle of the Pockets was a series of engagements between USAFFE and Japanese forces in the Orion-Bagac Line 
at the Bataan peninsula.  The Japanese were able to penetrate certain portions of the defenses and established battle positions 
behind the main defense line of the USAFFEE.  The defenders organized a force to contain the penetration to isolate the Japanese.  
There were two areas that had to be reduced, the Little Pocket and the Big Pocket. A bulge in the main line of resistance (MLR) 
was formed by an attempt by the Japanese break the lines to reinforce the two pockets but was contained became known as the 
Upper Pocket.

Members of Living History Society acting as Filipino and American soldiers
reenact a scene from the 'Battle of the Pockets' against invading Japanese soldiers.

pictures courtesy of "Panzer Juan" , by the way, the shades are an original 1930s

picture courtesy of Dennis Nicolas 

One day Ill take this journey, the long drive towards the battlefields of Bataan
hopefully with my friend Edwin Aguino and have a bonding time maybe with my
history  lover friends at the same time, a quick review of our military history.
a simple way of honoring our fallen heroes, who fought for our country.

this is your LOVERBOY Dennis Signing out.