Students, veterans load up, march in footsteps of World War II heroes

A strong morning sun cast appropriately long shadows on the road Saturday as if to herald the advance, one by one, of student cadets and veterans on a commemorative march to honor a brave group of World War II prisoners of war.

Originally conceived and sponsored by the Air Force JROTC at San Marcos High School, in coordination with the Maurice T. Suttles VFW Post #3413, as word got out, other groups and veterans organizations asked to participate in the first Memorial Bataan March in San Marcos.

Maj. Anthony Williams, the instructor for the program at SMHS, said after the march, “It was an eye-wetting event. Kids learning about history. Kids involved in making a difference.”

Williams said when his 24 students first heard of Bataan they were so moved that they decided that they wanted to do something special to honor that memory. Across the nation and the world, there are days and monuments dedicated to those who died in Bataan so long ago but never forgotten.

The students also called on the community to participate in the “Ruck” march where one could fill a backpack or ruck sack with pounds of canned goods. Proceeds from that part of the event will benefit the Veteran Support Services of the VFW Post, Williams said.

Veterans from Amvets Post 104 were set up at 7 a.m. with snacks and drinks to provide a break as they were one of many of the day’s checkin points along the 14.2 mile course. Post Commander Mark Salinas, First Vice Commander Steven Saxon, Sam Hernandez, Curtis Morrow, Key Nitsch, and Bobby Rodriquez waited in the cold air and talked in anticipation of greeting the first marchers. Each had their own service story to tell, Navy and U.S. Army, on the U.S.S. Nimitz or near Check Point Charlie in Berlin, but on this day, it was about forming a bond, a new and vital connection with the young men and women who are part of these high school Junior ROTC programs.

“It’s a beautiful day for a march,” Salinas said, emphasizing that everyone in his post was adamant that participating here was necessary to keeping a flame of memory and purpose alive.

Walking side by side with the SMHS AFJROTC were the Hawk Battalion of the Canyon Lake High School AFJROTC with First Sgt. Mike Medina. As these young men and women arrived at the break table, they were introduced to Lonnie Garza of San Marcos, a retired veteran who served in Vietnam for which service he was awarded the military order, Purple Heart. Not surprisingly, the students took little advantage of grabbing up too many of the snacks, as if they understood part of the walk, was to embrace more of the scarcity that existed so many decades ago in the Pacific Theater of War.

The table of post-World War II confections and beverages in front of the veterans, items that did not exist 81 years ago, bore an oddly stark witness to the lack of food and water that was the lot of the American soldiers including a group of National Guard soldiers from Maywood, Illinois, and the Filipino troops who first fought bravely and then surrendered on April 9, 1942, to Imperial Japanese forces in 1942. The surrender came just a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

It is estimated that perhaps 75,000 American and Filipino troops endured excessively cruel treatment in what was called the Bataan Death March. Following the surrender, the Japanese forces were not ready for so large a group of prisoners, and the decision was made to force march these thousands from the place of surrender to Camp O’Donnell, some 65-plus miles away. With minimal access to food or water, many died of the excessive tropical heat and humidity, with no medical care, and there were beatings and killings, including beheadings that became the narrative of horror on the march. The march ended for these young men and women at VFW Post #3413. Williams thanked the Texas Army National Guard Recruiter, SSG Derrick Williams, Amazon SAT2 Warriors, San Marcos American Legion, and the Kissing Tree Veterans Group.