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A Story
By Mona Lease
Hi, all!! WARNING...Graphic Content. The following is true - I promise.
An elderly Darke County gentleman I know told me about a guy he knew
when he was 20 years old or so. They are both from Darke County. The
guy who told me the following is alive. The other guy is long deceased.
GI Joe was in WW2. He survived the Bataan Death March. Sometime in
1942...the Japanese troops won the Battle of Bataan. On April 9,
1942...those Japanese troops who won the battle...forced their
prisoners to walk some 69 miles across the Bataan
Peninsula...Philippines. These prisoners were Fillipino and US with a
reported 68,000 men. They marched over the Bataan to Camp
O'Donnell...some 69 miles over 5 days. Doing the math...I get 13.8
miles a day. That doesn't sound all that bad. Then again...it's
desert...you have little water...little food...little rest.
And...there's 68,000 of you...at the beginning.
This march gave the prisoners just enough water and food to keep them
alive. They probably sweated out more than they were given to drink.
Many prisoners were killed and/or beaten for no good reason.
There are a reported 18,000 Filipino deaths and a reported 650 American
deaths from the Bataan March.
This march was characterized by severe physical abuse and wanton
killings. Due to this...An Allied Military Commission judged this to be
a Japanese War Crime.
Back to our Darke County "GI Joe." Stories say "the boy just ain't
right in the head." The guy who told me a few stories said GI Joe would
catch a ride into town with him on a Saturday night. When they went
back home...GI Joe would have the driver stop at the local funeral
home. He'd go up to the front door and return to the car. Home they'd
go. They lived close to each other.
The driver doubled back one night to see what GI Joe had done. This was
back when the funeral home would put a slip of paper with the
deceased's name on it in a slot by the front door. It might say, "Now
showing Charlie Brown." This was how they let people who know about
funerals and such. Not everyone could afford to buy a newspaper...or a
radio...believe it or not.
GI Joe's entries would say, "Now showing in technicolor and vista
vision"...or "Held over for the third straight week."
The guy who told me this said no one could figure out why GI Joe would
write these things. I said I understood it perfectly. And I think I do.
We here "stateside" have never really seen death. We dress a loved one
up in clothes they would never wear. Too many times it happens that
relatives are hurt and arguing starts over who gets what of the
deceased's possessions.
During the funeral...too many times people act like life was all
"happy-wappy"...like everyone got along. Thousand of dollars are spent
and it all looks wonderful.
But...GI Joe saw death at it's worst. He saw death for no good
reason. We see people get old and die of natural causes. We see people
get sick and die...and we say it was a "blessing" since they could not
get better. But...they had a chance. The guys GI Joe saw that were
killed for no good reason...never really had a chance. It was
war...they were all drafted.
It is reported that GI Joe had to pick up body parts from a
battlefield. I think this might just mess with your mind. You might get
to thinking how you were "lucky" enough to have made it and
others...right beside you ..did not survive.
The Bataan Death March was a "march or die" hike. You found it inside
yourself to keep going...somehow...some way. Through fatigue...through
thirst...through watching those around you fall...keep going. You put
one foot in front of the other and just...walk.
Las Cruces, NM hosts a Memorial Bataan Death March every year. Retired
Col Ben Skardon - 100 years old - takes part in this march. This
year's march marked Skardon's 11th Memorial March out of the 12 that
have taken place.
Skardon says he's never forgotten the original experience. He reports
that he gets out of bed every morning with the thought, "Let's go."
Skardon is the oldest participant in the Memorial. He is also the only
original Bataan Death March survivor to walk in the Memorial March.
May all who read this....and all who hear this...tell the gun-totin'
kiddles who go into a school and start shooting other students: "Some
things you have inflicted upon you. Some things you inflict upon
yourself."
Remember the kiddies and our service people. Take good care of the
furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next
time. Ever Toodles!!! MONA
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