Thank you for posting this. My two Uncles (ages 17 and 18) died during this march. Their bodies were never recovered. My Grandmother was first notified they were MIA, then POW, and after the war KIA. She thought the Army had "made a mistake". So, every day at every meal she would set a place for them "just in case they came through the door". She was forever looking for her boys to be coming down their lane on the farm near Ames, Iowa. She died age 53 from CVA (stoke) that the family believes was due to the stress of losing her boys. Never forgotten, even after all these years, is the courage, dignity, generosity of the Pilipino people who fought, bled, and died with us. Thank you!
"So, every day at every meal she would set a place for them "just in case they came through the door". She was forever looking for her boys to be coming down their lane on the farm near Ames, Iowa. She died age 53 from CVA (stoke) that the family believes was due to the stress of losing her boys. ^this hits hard. if only there would be war no more.
My uncle, older bro of my dad was about the same age. The last time he was heard of alive was in bataan. He probably died during the battle that led to the fall of bataan or the death march. His body was never recovered. My dad's family never felt complete as family after that. A younger brother of mine was named after my uncle who died in honor of him.
@@jojobuenaflor3568 I am so profoundly sorry for you and your entire family's loss. may he rest in peace. May your brother forever be proud of his name!
My uncle was a young philippine soldier and was among those who perished in the Bataan Death March. His body was never recovered. The japanese occupation of the Philippines has caused so much sorrow and left deep scar not only to our family but to the whole country.
The Bataan Death March was one of Japans most horrific war crimes. It is our duty from both the US and Philippines to never forget such a tragedy and those responsible brought to justice. 🇺🇸
I'm an American-Filipino citizen and my mother was born in Manila, Philippines 🇵🇭 in 1958 and she said that her parents were under the prisonership of the Imperial Japanese Occupation forces and they had to constantly hide in fear of murderous Japanese troops. A lot of of the Japanese troops were raping the women and executing the men and boys. About (20) years ago I had a conversation with this old man that was stationed in Manila and he was apart of the Bataan death march in 1942 and he didn't tell me much about what he personally witnessed and experienced but he def had a BIG HEART and love for the Filipino people and when I was actually kinda seeing his granddaughter at the time and I arrived at his house and he saw what kind of car I was driving which was a Toyota Avalon and he said that i ought to get a different car bc he didn't like Japanese cars and I had to ask him about his military background. He ended up telling me that he lost friends to some of the Japanese troops for their crimes against humanity and tortures. I had so much respect for that old man and he is probably not alive anymore so God bless his soul and for the Filipino people and American Service members who died under the occupation of the Japanese forces 🙏🏽
I am a filipina... my grandfather was their prisoner too. Yes its true that jap soldiers were so cruel ...but it was their deeds... japanese civilians have nothing to do the crime of their soldiers. Jap soldiers paid already the price they deserved. But let us not hate the japanese in general. i have many japanese friends who are very kind. Actually my best friend was a japanese woman that died last 2021 due to cancer. I cannot forget the love she showed me when she was still alive😢
My father older brother died in the bataan death march, his body were never recovered. I think he's just 17 yr. Old at that time, our aunt husband was lucky he escaped and fought along filipino guerrilas until the end of war. Rest in peace to all those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom🙏🙏🙏
Out of 75,000 thousand US n Filipino soldiers who surrendered in Bataan 18k died from the Death March. My Grandfather was there survived the March from Bataan to Camp o Donnel in Capas Pampanga. Those that too weak to continue were bayoneted to death.
so you've been to Olongapo City and seen the local villages surrounding Subic Bay right? It's just cringing to know what crimes have taken place over 80+ years ago. I can't wait to return to the Philippines 🇵🇭 again soon as I'm planning on opening up an Exporting Logistics company and trying to expand my LLC to Manila
This was the kind of behavior that got the bomb bay doors opening on The Enola Gay...The citizens back home never knew of the danger the japanese military had placed them in...
In 1984, having been a resident photo journalist in the Philippines since 1973 and US military veteran of two tours in Vietnam, I wanted to pay homage to the people on the Bataan Death March. This was done with Max Telford, world famous ultramarathoner, and Guy Lachat, Swiss Australian humanitarian. We decided to run the route of that brutal ordeal as an ultramarathon. It WAS brutal, we had little support, followed a 74 mile route over concrete with no shade, no respite all day. By the time we were running in Tarlac near the terminus of that horrible 1942 ordeal, my mind thought the Spirits of the original marchers were there with us, although of course we had it easy compared to the suffering of the real heroes. It was a life-defining experience.
So proud of you guys for doing the homage with an ultra marathon with your two like-minded friends. Have you been back there since? PS. I visited the Capas Memorial some years ago. I visit Tarlac every year with my wife who's a native of Tarlac to see her family members there. I'm Malaysian BTW
Sixty five miles of pure savagery. Absolutely no tears shed by this 🇺🇸woman for Masaharu Homma. While I oppose nuclear weapons, I understand the misconception about how it saved allied lives. We burned Mother Earth. Wars are occurring now and they have occurred throughout the past. Thank you World History and thank you to your narrator. His voice is captivating and his pronunciation superb.
My grandfather, a doctor, was governor of our province at the time of the invasion. He then became the head of the resistance guerilla unit until he was captured later on the war and executed. His location pinpointed by collaborators. Nobody knows how he was killed, and where his remains were. The Japanese were pretty brutal soldiers during the war. When I was younger during the late 1960s through the early 1970s, I got first-hand information from elder people who actually fought there.
My late father (1919-1998) was assigned to field artillery of the Philippine Army in Bataan under the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). He was able to escape the Death March when some natives along the way snatched him and carried to a waiting bullcart. He was lucky to be at the right moment, he was suffering from malaria. He joined then the guerilla movement. After the war he remained in the military until before the Korean war.
I love that MacAurther was so upset about this and saying that he needed to pay for his crimes. Right after he left everyone involved in unit 731 off the hook earlier in the year. What a POS nobody has ever been worse then spineless MacAurther.
Roughly 8 years ago at my local Sam's club I ran into a survivor of the batan death March,who was a captain in the medical department of the US army.first I thanked him for his service and that I really felt sympathy for what they went through at the time at the hands of the japanese.after talking to him for a few minutes I asked him if he could ever forgive the Japanese for what they did,he looked at me sternly and said "never I'll take my hate to my grave" ,I really felt bad about asking him that last question and I apologized to him for asking it.
The story I was told is that my grand uncle, my grandfathers brother was thrown into the Bataan Death March by mistake. He was attending college in Metro Manila when the war started. At that point, he and some of his classmates decided to leave Manila and walk all the way back to the province of La Union. At some point, they ran into the march and they were thrown into the group. Supposedly they were wearing ROTC uniforms and the Japanese soldiers thought they were Filipino soldiers. Someone in their family had to go to one of the Japanese checkpoints and had to explain that he was not a Filipino soldier and that he was a student going home.
I knew two men who were on the march. One was put in slave labor in Japan. I asked the other one how he survived the march he said: "I don't know I was 18."
After the barn was burned / demolished to kill a few rats Manila was “Liberated”. Yamashita was taken out after a short trial. Like Saddam years later. His driver, a Pilipino, was sufficiently frightened to reveal where some of the gold were buried . … among some 175 caves & tunnels all over the archipelago, these were treasure looted from a dozen Asian countries, ( most of it China’s ) worth Gazzillions. It was the reason America had enticed Japan with a prettified Pearl Harbor. MacArthur shared some of the recovered loot with Hirohito & his gang which later formed the LDP. Japan was propped up as a battle axe against China & North Korea. Philippines got its Independence. And the Willy’s Jeep to form some kinda mass transportation system They did love us, the best they could, these Americans, not unlike the Katsila and its instigator, the Vatican. Please see Gold Warriors by Peggy & Sterling Seagrave . A great read, tells us how/why Greggy ended up with Irene.
A bunch of people being stuffed into railroad cars during Bataan Death March, reminds me of how the Nazis committed atrocities in the Jewish Holocaust. People were packed into trains and carted off to concentration camps. There, many of them were packed into gas chambers to the point they could barely move around, and then gassed to death - which took many agonizing minutes for them to die.
And still today, Japanese has not apologized or even acknowledged what they did! I'm just saying ALL of Japan shares in this tragedy they did! And shame!
Yes, Japan has apologized for its actions during World War II: 1993, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologized for Japan's war crimes against the Philippines during a meeting with President Ramos
From Malinta tunnel my grandfather was among the prisoners of war caught by the Japanese imperial army and a Bataan death march survivor He was retrieve by my Mother and relatives at Capas Tarlac my grandfather was very sick when retrieve all this was told to me by my grandfather when he was still alive late 70's.
The Bataan death march was clearly a horrific war crime whose perpetrators should have been brought to justice, however the doctrine of command responsibility imposed by the Allies after WWII is realistically nothing more than victor's justice. Had the Allies lost the war and the same principles used to judge their commanders, Douglas MacArthur would have been hanged as a war criminal.
We had an older Hispanic man in the tiny little town I grew up in, in South Texas. My father pointed him out to me when I was a little kid, and he told me to NEVER disrespect that man, because he had survived the Bataan Death March, and being a POW of the Japanese until the end of the war. I wish I knew what his name was, as I don't remember, and 1 thing about my father, he might be the most evil man I ever knew, but he would never lie. You might laugh at that notion, but the things he did to us, he had no problem with people knowing...
As you should know the US attacked the Philippines 124 years ago and killed 500 000 poor innocent country people. Later they made it a colony. The 7 th, of December 1941 in Hawaii was the 8 th in Manila. But it was the very same day. There is a thing called data line. The speaker is in idiot to say "1 day later. The japanese intended to strike near Manila at the same hour as in Pearl Harbour. But they could not take off right in time, due to bad weather and were 3 hours late. So, Mac Arthur had 3 hours to prepare his forces, But he failed miserably.
No such thing as a data line. It's called the international date line. They didn't have cell phones. They used radios with codes. Those radios did not transmit or receive from long distances. The had to go between towers within the line of sight. Meaning they couldn't go past the curvature or the earth. When they got news of the Pearl Harbour attack. Before he could do anything, he needed conformation of the attack. Or he could have been the one that started a war with Japan. Once he got conformation, he was told to be ready for a possible attack. This back and forth radio communication took about 2 hours. He only had about 1 hour to really do anything. The US never attacked the Philippines. It was acquired by the Americans after Spain lost the Spanish-American war. Don't try to make up history when the truth can be found online by anyone with a simple search. There was fighting during the time it was an American territory.
@@danor6812 The Filipinos were fighting a revolutionary war against Spain about the same time as Spain and the US were at war. The US government initially aided the Filipino rebels against Spain. They brought the leader of the Filipino resistance, Emilio Aguinaldo, back to the Philippines from his self-imposed exile to again lead their resistance against Spain. Unbeknownst to the Filipinos, the US and Spain signed a peace treaty with Spain wanting to save face and avoid losing at the hands of the natives, ceded the troublesome Philippine territories to the US in exchange for cash. A mock Battle of Manila ensued in which the Spaniards “surrendered” to the US, because (dear me) they couldn’t stand losing to the natives whom they saw as inferior. Once the Filipinos realized they were double-crossed by the US, a war broke out between the former allies in which the US came out on top, but not after a short-lived protracted war which saw atrocities committed by both parties but more so on the part of the US.
@@Teriyaki418 You seem to be forgetting, or maybe skipped over the part where American took the Philippines because after the Spanish American War, they would have been a open territory. Free to other countries to colonize. Which is why there was a French, British, Germany and Japanese ships off the coast waiting to rush in and claim the islands. If the Americans didn't get it from Spain. American didn't want the Philippines at the time. We didn't want any colonies. They accepted the Philippines knowing they would be an independent country in the future. Those other countries would never have given them up. I won't go into why they would not have been recognized as their own country, as Cuba was. The Philippines was supposed to get their independence in 1940. It was all set. Then Japan invaded China and Korea. Which stalled it because it was feared they would invade the Philippines, which they did in 1941.
@@danor6812 hmmm….. yeah…typical imperialistic rationalization on the benefits of colonialism. Yes-all European powers at that time carved up all the land masses they can grab, and the US did harbor imperialist ambitions at one time. “From to sea to shining sea” and on to the Pacific it went. A power vacuum would have definitely ensued after Spain vacated and yes the Filipinos would have never have gotten the chance at self-determination, because that’s the way the world worked during those times. But is that really a good justification to dominate other nations or people? The Filipinos were doing just fine before Spain. A moral reckoning ensued in the US when they saw the quagmire in the Philippines. Many great American thinkers and leaders of the time started questioning their motivation. The US just overthrew its imperial masters, now it’s trying to become one. They realized that their actions in the Philippines were inconsistent with the ideals set forth by their founding fathers. This history is lost on most Americans and it’s one they’d rather forget. I had the pleasure of talking to the late former VP Walter Mondale, and he expressed his regret over the whole situation. This is why history is important so we can learn from it. The Americans after all turned out to be benevolent masters compared to the Spaniard overlords. This fact is not lost on most Filipinos to this day as there are plenty of goodwill left towards the Americans.
How can a highly educated and experienced professional soldier, plead ignorance of what was going on under his nose. A poor excuse for such atrocities under his command.
Command responsibility doctrine says that a Commander, like Homma, is responsible for everything that happens under their command, whether or not they have direct knowledge of acts of their troops. This is the justification for executing Homma, whether or not he knew of the atrocities.
And he was far from the Worst. General Yamashita was on another level. Homma had actually said "The United States has ruled well, we must rule better". Didn't save him.
I have been subscribed to your channel for well over 18 months. I love each video you upload. I have also learned much from your research. Thank you so much for all you do. I have one question of you, may I ask what your nationality is? Your accent is a cross between English and Australian. Thanks once again for your contribution.
Filipino here. We need to rise above meme-ry and shock treatment when trying to educate people about their history. Let's not embellish. Let history speak for itself without undue emphasis on one side of the story only. Gen. Masaharu Homma, like Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, was a seasoned military officer who fell victim to a disorganized Philippine campaign. He was very much aware of Japanese spies' reports that MacArthur's forces were spread wide and thin all over Luzon, and that the Americans were moving to abandon the Philippines so that they can take a stand in Australia. The defenders of Luzon consolidated in Bataan and Corregidor and put up a valiant struggle. That there are many casualties is to be expected in any jungle warfare between light infantry (Fil-Am soldiers) and heavy infantry (Japanese tanks and personnel carriers). Nevertheless, Homma quickly moved to the negotiating table as soon as he got confirmation that MacArthur had escaped Corregidor. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright wanted to surrender Corregidor only as Bataan had already fallen by then, but Homma insisted that his surrender be effective for all US troops in the Philippines to avoid further bloodshed. Homma honored Gen. Douglas MacArthur's "open city" declaration for Manila and ordered his troops to groom up and to remain in formation to psych them out of looting the city. Homma ordered his men to treat Filipino civilians as friends deserving of respect. Unfortunately, his superior Gen. Hisaichi Terauchi disagreed with this treatment and sent poison reports to Tokyo about his conduct. Within his own ranks there was growing unrest too - a very common problem throughout the Japanese campaign in the Philippines, which would also later on cost the life of Yamashita. This subversion led to his subordinates issuing orders in his name for the illegal execution of Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos and former Speaker Manuel Roxas. By the time Homma found out about the falsified orders, he was too late to save Abad Santos although he did manage to save Roxas. The problem that spawned the Death March came about as a result of there being more prisoners of war (72,000) than the Japanese forces were prepared to house and to feed (40,000). Homma was also too preoccupied with trying to conquer Corregidor using cannon fodder reinforcements - ill-trained Japanese reserves - and just assumed that his officers were treating their prisoners well. If all this sounds like a command responsibility issue, consider the words of Gen. Arthur Trudeau, a member of the tribunal which condemned Homma: "There's no question but that some men who were either weak or wounded were shot or bayoneted on this Death March. The question is how many echelons of command up is a person responsible to the point where you should condemn him for murder or crime, and that is what General Homma was accused of ... We need to cogitate about our wisdom in condemning General Homma to death. I must admit I was not much in favor of it. In fact, I opposed it but I could only oppose it to a point that allowed him to be shot as a soldier and not hanged ... I thought he was an outstanding soldier." As for the concept of command responsibility itself, consider the words of Col. Harry E. Clarke, the lawyer who defended Yamashita against similar charges: "The Accused is not charged with having done something or having failed to do something, but solely with having been something...American jurisprudence recognizes no such principle [i.e. command responsibility] so far as its own military personnel are concerned...No one would even suggest that the Commanding General of an American occupational force becomes a criminal every time an American soldier violates the law...one man is not held to answer for the crime of another." And let's not forget the common denominator between these trials: Douglas MacArthur. His "I shall return" and "I have returned" speeches sealed his place of legend in the Filipino imagination. But he is universally regarded as an /Az Hold/ for whom everything had to be a grand gesture, from his retreat to Australia to his landing in Tacloban despite the infighting between his forces and the local guerillas who did most of the work on the ground.
So you believe he didn't know about the death march even thought he was in command at the time? You have a lot to learn about military doctrine. The one in command does know what's happening and giving the orders that were carried out.
@@danor6812 my grandfathers fought in the war, sir, and their sons including my father were soldiers. I think I know enough. At the very least I know that the Philippine campaign was messy as surprise battles often are. And no, I don't believe Homma intended for the death March to be carried out in the way it was. That is the point of the charges - the Americans wanted Homma to take the blame for the actions of his soldiers, whether he was aware of them or not. In any case, simply insisting that Homma knew _everything_ about his soldiers' actions and indeed giving orders to effect the same in a very messy Philippine campaign is just crazy, especially when there is no evidence to support it.
Most brutal when japanese throw a baby up the air and when goes down was met with a japanese bayonet. It is so brutal and it happened in the phililpines during WW2.
I have a box set called the world war there is an episode called banzi which showed the baataan deth march when i saw this i could not understand how humans could inflict such misery and suffering on other human beings
He or his family should not have been allowed to speak on how he was to be executed, the human beings who were killed by him were starved,tortured and executed by him and those under his command, they were given no choice.
I'm a Filipino but just a question? In Pearl Harbor only 29 japanese aircraft..but they destroyed and killed 2,740 plus soldiers(History) While in our country Phil's. When Mc Arthur fleed to Australia...The numbers of Fil.Soldiers who surrendered in Bataan we're almost 73,000 while the Americans we're almost 12,000...They died during the Death March..The sad thing was..The numbers of Japanese soldiers were only 35,000 all over the Phil's.
" In Pearl Harbor only 29 japanese aircraft but they destroyed and killed 2,740 plus ... " I think you may have misunderstood. To clarify: only 29 of the Japanese planes were shot down; the rest (the total number was 353) were the ones who completed the attack. We were so ill-prepared, I don't even know how we shot down the 29!
poor masaharu homma killed by firing squad that is so brutal. he paid for all the killings there were hundred thousands filipinos died in the battle at manila.
Every death on the Bataan death march belongs at the feet of MacArthur just as much as the Japanese. When Washington knew war was coming soon they knew the Philippines would be the site of a major battle and knew it would be months before reinforcements or supplies could be sent. So right away they sent battle plans, extra supplies, ammunition and food to the Philippines throughout the second half of 1941. They sent bombers and fighters to help keep the Japanese navy away. The plans they sent told MacArthur to put the troops on rations and to start stockpiling every bit of food, water, ammunition and medical supplies on Bataan. When the Japanese landed on the Philippines he was to put up a fighting retreat and get as many troops and Philippine fighters as possible to Bataan. From there with Corregador providing some long range artillery support they should be able to hold out for a year or more until reinforcements arrived. When MacArthur saw the plans he ripped them up and came up with his own. He took all of his food, ammo and supplies then divided it up into small batches then stashed it in caches all over the Phillipines. When he received word that Pearl Harbor had been attacked he did... nothing. He left his entire air force all bunched up at the air bases making them easy targets. He didn't put forth the smallest effort to keep them safe. The next day they were completely destroyed. Then when the Japanese landed and the fighting started he declared that Washingtons plan was the right way to do it afterall, gathered up as many soldiers as he could and set out for Bataan. He knew he had very little ammo and supplies because he had stupidly divided them up and stashed them. There was a store of rice in Manilla meant for the civilians of over a million portions. He was told repeatedly to take as much as they could because there would be very little in Bataan and it wouldn't be long before the troops had to go on starvation rations. Besides they told him if he didnt take the rice the Japanese militart definitely would. MacArthur thought he would look bad so refused to let the rice get touched. Of course the Japanese took that rice for themselves. Once on Bataan which should have been elementary to defend the Americans lost a battle right away because MacArthur was too prejudiced against the Japanese and considered them too weak to go through the mountains. Of course they did, then flanked him and forced him to retreat farther back. Then after promising to stand by his men until the bitter end he ran to Australia like a thief in the night to avoid captivity. Then a few years later he strong armed Washington to allow him to retake the Phillipines because he had promised to return one day. Retaking the Philippines wasn't necessary for the war to end. He forced it out of ego. One man's vanity cost thousands of men their lives. He was a master at manipulating the media and nearly started WW3 during the Korean War demanding Washington allow him to use nuclear weapons on China. He is a war criminal and the worst general in the history of the US military.
MY FATHER FOUGHT IN THE PHILIPPINES AND HELPED RESCUE SOME OF THE SOLDERS WHO HAD BEEN CAPTURED AND WERE BEING HELD THERE AND PRACTICALLY STARVED TO DEATH. THEY HAD TO BE CARRIED OUT BY AMERICAN SOLDIERES AS MANY OF THEM COULD NOT WALK. WHAT HE SAW HAUNTED MY FATHER ,AND MANY OTHER SOLDIERS FOR YEARS!!!
father was an infantryman of the 5 1st division usaffe survived the siege of Bataan and the dreaded death March and the pow internment camp of o donnel capas Tarlac earning for him a purple heart and the congressional gold medal yet to be given by the usva Manila, who referred us to the answering machine, which we seniors claimant don't knew how to avail of the same.
after his released from camp o donnel pow internment camp, he join the escudero guerilla outfit in our province in sorsogon, he died in 1989 after a lingering illness.
Let the truth be told that the Japanese army committed many atrocities not only against the US and Filipino soldiers but also civilians. It’s been told that the reason why Filipinos even today refer to public restrooms as “comfort rooms” is because during the Japanese occupation, the Japanese used public restrooms as spaces of respite and “comfort” for their soldiers by raping Filipino women, who were referred to collectively as “comfort” women. Both my parents lived through the Japanese-occupied Philippines and shared stories of brutalities they have witnessed, although they themselves were not victims as they still were children during that era. I have nothing against the Japanese people and have much respect for them. I have a friend who now lives in Japan and told me that the Japanese people are very nice towards the Filipinos and treat them kindly. I’m against revisionist history. Let’s be honest about the past and learn from it as the Japanese people have done.
Wrong. Japan liberated Philippines and its independence year is in 1943 with Laurel administration after Japan kicked out US. US made up Manila massacre blaming Japan. After war, US set up puppet government, Manila treaty was not fair to Philippine people.
Lt. Commander John Morrill left Corregidor with 18 guys in a 36ft open launch and successfully sailed/motored 2,000+ miles to Australia before the Japanese could take the island. There was room for a couple more men, but NO ONE volunteered. Too scared to try for freedom, and too willing to believe the Japanese would offer them fair treatment. "The War Journal of Rocky Gause'' details his escape south in an old wreck along with one other man. If you had the courage you could risk it all or die free.
The conditions of transportation of the POW’s were awful! Nevertheless I recall stories my father told me from WW2, where i.e. POW’s captured during the “Battle of the Bulge” or as Germans call it “Ardenne Offensive” were placed in boxcars like the sardines, in total some 15,000 POW without the possibility to sit, with no toilet, no water, no heating but the body heat from your fellow comrades in the winter cold of 1944-45. Then the train drove to Antwerp where it was forgotten for 4-5 days close to the train station. Only workers who checked the tracks eventually heard the pleas and screams for help by the POW’s. The workers alerted the local US command of their discovery. Would it not have been for some rain fall/snow fall in these days as the only source of fresh water, these POW would have all perished. When they released the POW’s, about 1/3 was dead, 1/3 was not able to move out of the box rails by themselves and had to be carried out. The reminder that merely made it out on their own was left stranded in the cold for hours before they received aid in form of a coffee, given to freezing, starved and dehydrated POW’s. In comparison to hear that Japanese also treated their POW in Indochina in a similar way allows the assumption that pressing POW into box cars, as inhumane as it was, to have been a “common” thing to do by all sides. Also to willingly accept the death of POW’s by doing so. And also the ratio of POW deaths seems to be similar. But I have never seen or heard any of the responsible allied generals being accused of war crimes and subsequently being executed for allowing that to happen under their watch. 🤔
" ... allows the assumption that pressing POW into box cars, as inhumane as it was, to have been a “common” thing to do by all sides." Really? You mean cramming captives (POWs and/or civilians) in there for 3, 4 or more days without food or water or a toilet? All sides? I don't know what the Russians may have done, but name ONE instance in which the British, Canadians or Americans did anything like that! ONE instance1 Stop making excuses or making false equivalences for the appalling inhumanity and brutality of the Japanese and Nazis in WW2.
@@gotmilk7926 have you actually read what I wrote apart from that comment that you quoted? The battle of the bulge happened in Belgium, participants at that battle apart from Germany were the allied troops such as the British, Americans and Canadians. That is the case I am giving to you and I have no reason to doubt my father’s recollection of the case he personally experienced. About 15,000 prisoners were put into these box cars, without a toilet, without food and without water, exactly the same way as the Japanese had done. Leaving to my deduction that it seemed to be common practice during WW2 to mistreat POW’s, that also included killing them (like in band of brothers, the Korean or Vietnam war) or mistreating them like we have many cases of up to modern time. Though I will make the assumption that this didn’t happened out of spite. Going out on a limb here, I may guess that the sending party thought it was just for a short trip and that these soldiers would be only in that situation for a few hours at the most. Though in the heat of the action they just may have forgotten to inform the receiving party that there was a “shipment” coming or there was a miscommunication in general. But we don’t know, as there was no action taken afterwards against the responsible party. But for sure we would have heard a similar response from our generals of the time as we heard from Japanese generals when it happened their side. And yes, Russians did the same. Coming back to my guess that it may have been common practice.
@@philippschwartzerdt3431 I don't doubt your version of events, as they were related to you. However, you yourself have provided plausible explanations. (The term "SNAFU" -- especially as it might pertain to the Bulge and the frantic efforts by both sides at the time -- exists for a reason.) But the overriding consideration can be viewed as matter of "Grand Plan". The stuffing of millions of Jews into ghastly boxcars for transport to death camps can be considered as an element of a "grand plan to humiliate and exterminate the Jews. The brutality and butchery of the Bataan Death March and the Rape of Nanking can be considered intrinsic to the ethos (and "grand plan") of the Japanese, who regarded surrendering troops and helpless civilians as subhuman. The Allies, whatever of their failings, never instituted or even considered such a top-down, inherently evil "grand plan". As to your deduction that "it seemed to be common practice during WW2 to mistreat POW’s" -- I'm sure it's not a wished-for prospect of troops in any war (one exception: Wehrmacht troops fleeing the Russians and looking for Allied troops to surrender to, at the end of WW2). But to compare in any way the treatment of surrendering German troops to the fate of helpless souls at the hands of the Nazis or Japanese, is the grossest of simplifications.
My Dad was in the 4th Armored Division in the relief of Bastogne. He told me after the Malmedy Massacre, the word was out to take no Kraut Prisoners. They killed them in retaliation. The Germans got wind of it and stopped murdering Prisoners because they feared the 4th Armored and other Divisions. Equal or worse retaliation is the only way to stop that kind of shit. They started taking Wehrmacht Prisoners again in February 1945... However, they didn't take any SS Prisoners until March-April of 1945. They hated the SS beyond belief. I asked Dad what SS stood for; he immediately told me "Sneaking Shit"
The Japanese have never apologized for these and other worse atrocities, like the deliberate murder of a quarter million civilians at Nanking, and still venerate the memories of the butchers responsible at the Yasukuni War Shrine.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the Philippines on the same day. The difference in dates is because of the international dateline. The 7th in Hawaii is the 8th in the Philippines.
England and the US (as most Western countries in fact), are very good at pointing and documenting 'others' war crimes, but do such poor job, documenting their own!
Just wonderful. Do elaborate on the "war crimes" of Britain and the US in WW2. Not acts of small units and individuals -- brutal episodes that happen in all wars -- but WAR CRIMES that were conducted (or simply ignored) as a policy.
Until now I am still trying to find out why Gen MacArthur was not informed immediately that Pearl harbor was bombed. A whole day past before the Japanese planes arrived in the Philippines and bombed the airfields and the harbors. Why were the airmen not out on alert and even the navy people? Just asking.
There have been wars all over the world , and Japan did their share of brutality against humanity, The young people in Japan know very little of what their country did .
Thanks for NOT showing the execution of Homma, whats the point of the title Execution of Japanese General Responsible for the Bataan death March in Philippines if you're not going to show it. Some more horseshit content from World History
I was stationed in Japan 65-70. I met a lot of Japanese veterans who served in the imperial Japanese army and navy. There were a large number of Japanese enlisted men who were good people and did not agree with the brutality which some Japanese did. One thing that I learned is that Japanese enlisted solders could be severely punished for showing any acts of kindness towards POW’s including providing rice or other.
It's a very common mistake for pronunciation which is slowly starting the permeate a lot of these videos going over the war in the Philippines but you pronounce it Bata aan not Batan. otherwise a very well resource and presented history of this man and what he is responsible for which is a horrendous crime against humanity
I can say that this was a real travesty of justice, this Man was dutiful to his Country, there was a Belief that Macarthur was looking after his own back against Homma, when you think how Many Nazi Generals and Field Marshalls got away with the Atrocities they committed , which were mainly against Civilians ( Millions), it beggars belief that Homma, who with Yamashita were probably the two most intelligent and able of all the Japanese and were Western Educated bore the brunt of Macarthurs venom, whilst the British and Australians did call for their Trials to be revisited, Yamashita and Homma had struck at the Heart of the British and Americans at Singapore and Bataan, where they had massive victories, what happened at Bataan and even worse at Singapore was wrong and a war Crime, but in War the General at the Top will not oversee everything and it is known the Kemputai were the real masters,, it is believed in British circles that Macarthur wanted Revenge, Homma was a much greater General than Macarthur and knowing people who knew both Homma and Macarthur as people thought that it was just unbelievable how Macarthur was allowed so much power. Homma like Yamashita were respected by the British Military long before WW2.
japan did not invade philippines because hirohito yamashita send letter to pres emilio aguinaldo a greetings of peace stated that they want safe passage going to japan it was agreed and signed by president emilio aguinaldo when aguinaldo signed the letter american troops arrested emilio aguinaldo and put in jail at camp murphy and now they called camp emilio aguinaldo today.
Rest in peace for the victims who died on Bataan death march 😭😭😢
And those of Nanking
And for those of Hiroshima
Ruperto Belvis, my grandfather was one of the Filipino soldiers who perished on the death march. May they all rest in peace!
@@ronalddunne3413nah nah nah 🥱🥱🥱
My father-in-law was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. During the March he escaped and then linked up with the Filipino guerillas.
His name?
@@cedricliggins7528 Masaharu Homma Jr.
@@Art-eh9ul 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for posting this. My two Uncles (ages 17 and 18) died during this march. Their bodies were never recovered. My Grandmother was first notified they were MIA, then POW, and after the war KIA. She thought the Army had "made a mistake". So, every day at every meal she would set a place for them "just in case they came through the door". She was forever looking for her boys to be coming down their lane on the farm near Ames, Iowa. She died age 53 from CVA (stoke) that the family believes was due to the stress of losing her boys.
Never forgotten, even after all these years, is the courage, dignity, generosity of the Pilipino people who fought, bled, and died with us. Thank you!
SO SAD
"So, every day at every meal she would set a place for them "just in case they came through the door". She was forever looking for her boys to be coming down their lane on the farm near Ames, Iowa. She died age 53 from CVA (stoke) that the family believes was due to the stress of losing her boys.
^this hits hard.
if only there would be war no more.
My uncle, older bro of my dad was about the same age. The last time he was heard of alive was in bataan. He probably died during the battle that led to the fall of bataan or the death march. His body was never recovered. My dad's family never felt complete as family after that. A younger brother of mine was named after my uncle who died in honor of him.
@@jojobuenaflor3568 I am so profoundly sorry for you and your entire family's loss. may he rest in peace. May your brother forever be proud of his name!
I am so sorry 😔.
My uncle was a young philippine soldier and was among those who perished in the Bataan Death March. His body was never recovered. The japanese occupation of the Philippines has caused so much sorrow and left deep scar not only to our family but to the whole country.
The Bataan Death March was one of Japans most horrific war crimes. It is our duty from both the US and Philippines to never forget such a tragedy and those responsible brought to justice. 🇺🇸
You mean, “one of many horrific Japanese war crimes”.
Unfortunately those who committed the crimes were mostly unpunished. Few were executed. The majority went home to tell war stories.
Nanjing Rape Massacre (1937)
You think so because it happen' to US POWs. The Japanese were more creative with Chinese and Koreans
How many Americans were hanged for war crimes? I don't count the Afro-American GI's in. USA Martial court had no mercy for them during WW2
I'm an American-Filipino citizen and my mother was born in Manila, Philippines 🇵🇭 in 1958 and she said that her parents were under the prisonership of the Imperial Japanese Occupation forces and they had to constantly hide in fear of murderous Japanese troops. A lot of of the Japanese troops were raping the women and executing the men and boys. About (20) years ago I had a conversation with this old man that was stationed in Manila and he was apart of the Bataan death march in 1942 and he didn't tell me much about what he personally witnessed and experienced but he def had a BIG HEART and love for the Filipino people and when I was actually kinda seeing his granddaughter at the time and I arrived at his house and he saw what kind of car I was driving which was a Toyota Avalon and he said that i ought to get a different car bc he didn't like Japanese cars and I had to ask him about his military background. He ended up telling me that he lost friends to some of the Japanese troops for their crimes against humanity and tortures. I had so much respect for that old man and he is probably not alive anymore so God bless his soul and for the Filipino people and American Service members who died under the occupation of the Japanese forces 🙏🏽
I am a filipina... my grandfather was their prisoner too. Yes its true that jap soldiers were so cruel ...but it was their deeds... japanese civilians have nothing to do the crime of their soldiers. Jap soldiers paid already the price they deserved. But let us not hate the japanese in general. i have many japanese friends who are very kind. Actually my best friend was a japanese woman that died last 2021 due to cancer. I cannot forget the love she showed me when she was still alive😢
My father older brother died in the bataan death march, his body were never recovered. I think he's just 17 yr. Old at that time, our aunt husband was lucky he escaped and fought along filipino guerrilas until the end of war. Rest in peace to all those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for the video. Far too many people know too little what happened in Pasific (inc. me). Your videos are important source of education.
Out of 75,000 thousand US n Filipino soldiers who surrendered in Bataan 18k died from the Death March. My Grandfather was there survived the March from Bataan to Camp o Donnel in Capas Pampanga. Those that too weak to continue were bayoneted to death.
I walked it in 1984 while stationed at Subic.
so you've been to Olongapo City and seen the local villages surrounding Subic Bay right? It's just cringing to know what crimes have taken place over 80+ years ago. I can't wait to return to the Philippines 🇵🇭 again soon as I'm planning on opening up an Exporting Logistics company and trying to expand my LLC to Manila
This was the kind of behavior that got the bomb bay doors opening on The Enola Gay...The citizens back home never knew of the danger the japanese military had placed them in...
He knew exactly the treatment of the prisoners....
Irrespective, he was in command, if he knew or didn't know, makes no difference .
In 1984, having been a resident photo journalist in the Philippines since 1973 and US military veteran of two tours in Vietnam, I wanted to pay homage to the people on the Bataan Death March. This was done with Max Telford, world famous ultramarathoner, and Guy Lachat, Swiss Australian humanitarian. We decided to run the route of that brutal ordeal as an ultramarathon. It WAS brutal, we had little support, followed a 74 mile route over concrete with no shade, no respite all day. By the time we were running in Tarlac near the terminus of that horrible 1942 ordeal, my mind thought the Spirits of the original marchers were there with us, although of course we had it easy compared to the suffering of the real heroes. It was a life-defining experience.
So proud of you guys for doing the homage with an ultra marathon with your two like-minded friends. Have you been back there since?
PS. I visited the Capas Memorial some years ago. I visit Tarlac every year with my wife who's a native of Tarlac to see her family members there. I'm Malaysian BTW
😢
Sixty five miles of pure savagery. Absolutely no tears shed by this 🇺🇸woman for Masaharu Homma.
While I oppose nuclear weapons, I understand the misconception about how it saved allied lives. We burned Mother Earth. Wars are occurring now and they have occurred throughout the past.
Thank you World History and thank you to your narrator. His voice is captivating and his pronunciation superb.
I understand the misconception about how it saved allied lives---you gotta be kidding me.
My grandfather, a doctor, was governor of our province at the time of the invasion. He then became the head of the resistance guerilla unit until he was captured later on the war and executed. His location pinpointed by collaborators. Nobody knows how he was killed, and where his remains were. The Japanese were pretty brutal soldiers during the war. When I was younger during the late 1960s through the early 1970s, I got first-hand information from elder people who actually fought there.
My late father (1919-1998) was assigned to field artillery of the Philippine Army in Bataan under the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). He was able to escape the Death March when some natives along the way snatched him and carried to a waiting bullcart. He was lucky to be at the right moment, he was suffering from malaria.
He joined then the guerilla movement. After the war he remained in the military until before the Korean war.
I love that MacAurther was so upset about this and saying that he needed to pay for his crimes. Right after he left everyone involved in unit 731 off the hook earlier in the year. What a POS nobody has ever been worse then spineless MacAurther.
Roughly 8 years ago at my local Sam's club I ran into a survivor of the batan death March,who was a captain in the medical department of the US army.first I thanked him for his service and that I really felt sympathy for what they went through at the time at the hands of the japanese.after talking to him for a few minutes I asked him if he could ever forgive the Japanese for what they did,he looked at me sternly and said "never I'll take my hate to my grave" ,I really felt bad about asking him that last question and I apologized to him for asking it.
The Japanese treated POWs very badly
TMAI!
Yeah and it makes the holocaust looked like child’s play
That's a gross under statement.
The story I was told is that my grand uncle, my grandfathers brother was thrown into the Bataan Death March by mistake. He was attending college in Metro Manila when the war started. At that point, he and some of his classmates decided to leave Manila and walk all the way back to the province of La Union. At some point, they ran into the march and they were thrown into the group. Supposedly they were wearing ROTC uniforms and the Japanese soldiers thought they were Filipino soldiers. Someone in their family had to go to one of the Japanese checkpoints and had to explain that he was not a Filipino soldier and that he was a student going home.
I knew two men who were on the march. One was put in slave labor in Japan. I asked the other one how he survived the march he said: "I don't know I was 18."
my grandma's brother survived the death march. he is still alive living in guam, hope someone interviews him
RIH
Masaharu Homma
(1887-1946)
Rest in hell Masaharu Homma
@@tifanyb3954 Not “rest”, it's “rot”.
After the barn was burned / demolished to kill a few rats Manila was “Liberated”. Yamashita was taken out after a short trial. Like Saddam years later. His driver, a Pilipino, was sufficiently frightened to reveal where some of the gold were buried . … among some 175 caves & tunnels all over the archipelago, these were treasure looted from a dozen Asian countries, ( most of it China’s ) worth Gazzillions. It was the reason America had enticed Japan with a prettified Pearl Harbor.
MacArthur shared some of the recovered loot with Hirohito & his gang which later formed the LDP. Japan was propped up as a battle axe against China & North Korea.
Philippines got its Independence. And the Willy’s Jeep to form some kinda mass transportation system
They did love us, the best they could, these Americans, not unlike the Katsila and its instigator, the Vatican.
Please see Gold Warriors by Peggy & Sterling Seagrave . A great read, tells us how/why Greggy ended up with Irene.
Rest in Peace Masaharu Homma, may god accept you in heaven.
@@Art-eh9ul Piss off war crime lover!!!
A bunch of people being stuffed into railroad cars during Bataan Death March, reminds me of how the Nazis committed atrocities in the Jewish Holocaust. People were packed into trains and carted off to concentration camps. There, many of them were packed into gas chambers to the point they could barely move around, and then gassed to death - which took many agonizing minutes for them to die.
They are allies now, but history should always remember that Japan was the singularly most cruel, sadistic and brutal regime in human history.
During WW2 Japanese were butchers.
No thanks to Tojo!
Americans were also butchers, they many Filipinos in ww1
And still today, Japanese has not apologized or even acknowledged what they did! I'm just saying ALL of Japan shares in this tragedy they did! And shame!
Who do you want to do the apology? People who weren't actually there? What use is there to do so?
They have apologized, but they’re hollow apologies
lol. why would they apologize for you? ahahahah abnormal.
Yes, Japan has apologized for its actions during World War II: 1993, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologized for Japan's war crimes against the Philippines during a meeting with President Ramos
From Malinta tunnel my grandfather was among the prisoners of war caught by the Japanese imperial army and a Bataan death march survivor He was retrieve by my Mother and relatives at Capas Tarlac my grandfather was very sick when retrieve all this was told to me by my grandfather when he was still alive late 70's.
Never forget victims of atrocities. Shame on Japanese Army. What about other officers?
shame on you also. keyboard warrior.
@@Art-eh9ul lame a** reply weeb
The Bataan death march was clearly a horrific war crime whose perpetrators should have been brought to justice, however the doctrine of command responsibility imposed by the Allies after WWII is realistically nothing more than victor's justice. Had the Allies lost the war and the same principles used to judge their commanders, Douglas MacArthur would have been hanged as a war criminal.
Bull shit!
The attack was not a surprise.. It was known in advance..
Not to make light of a situation but when I was scrolling I thought the thumbnail was Jeff Bezos 😂
REALLY 🤯😵
Legit
Same same
Thank you for this video.
The speaker in this video has a very good command of the English language. Bravo.
We had an older Hispanic man in the tiny little town I grew up in, in South Texas.
My father pointed him out to me when I was a little kid, and he told me to NEVER disrespect that man, because he had survived the
Bataan Death March, and being a POW of the Japanese until the end of the war.
I wish I knew what his name was, as I don't remember, and 1 thing about my father, he might be the most evil man I ever knew, but he would never lie.
You might laugh at that notion, but the things he did to us, he had no problem with people knowing...
But deliberate killings of noncombatants in Mai Lai was easily forgotten by the US public, and the meagre punishment that was given was diluted later.
I worked with a woman who as a child survived the Bataan death march.
My grandfather is ww2 soldier who died in concentration camp in camp o donnel capas tarlac .
As you should know the US attacked the Philippines 124 years ago and killed 500 000 poor innocent country people. Later they made it a colony.
The 7 th, of December 1941 in Hawaii was the 8 th in Manila. But it was the very same day. There is a thing called data line. The speaker is in idiot to say "1 day later.
The japanese intended to strike near Manila at the same hour as in Pearl Harbour.
But they could not take off right in time, due to bad weather and were 3 hours late.
So, Mac Arthur had 3 hours to prepare his forces, But he failed miserably.
No such thing as a data line. It's called the international date line. They didn't have cell phones. They used radios with codes. Those radios did not transmit or receive from long distances. The had to go between towers within the line of sight. Meaning they couldn't go past the curvature or the earth. When they got news of the Pearl Harbour attack. Before he could do anything, he needed conformation of the attack. Or he could have been the one that started a war with Japan. Once he got conformation, he was told to be ready for a possible attack. This back and forth radio communication took about 2 hours. He only had about 1 hour to really do anything.
The US never attacked the Philippines. It was acquired by the Americans after Spain lost the Spanish-American war. Don't try to make up history when the truth can be found online by anyone with a simple search. There was fighting during the time it was an American territory.
@@danor6812 The Filipinos were fighting a revolutionary war against Spain about the same time as Spain and the US were at war. The US government initially aided the Filipino rebels against Spain. They brought the leader of the Filipino resistance, Emilio Aguinaldo, back to the Philippines from his self-imposed exile to again lead their resistance against Spain. Unbeknownst to the Filipinos, the US and Spain signed a peace treaty with Spain wanting to save face and avoid losing at the hands of the natives, ceded the troublesome Philippine territories to the US in exchange for cash. A mock Battle of Manila ensued in which the Spaniards “surrendered” to the US, because (dear me) they couldn’t stand losing to the natives whom they saw as inferior. Once the Filipinos realized they were double-crossed by the US, a war broke out between the former allies in which the US came out on top, but not after a short-lived protracted war which saw atrocities committed by both parties but more so on the part of the US.
@@Teriyaki418 You seem to be forgetting, or maybe skipped over the part where American took the Philippines because after the Spanish American War, they would have been a open territory. Free to other countries to colonize. Which is why there was a French, British, Germany and Japanese ships off the coast waiting to rush in and claim the islands. If the Americans didn't get it from Spain. American didn't want the Philippines at the time. We didn't want any colonies. They accepted the Philippines knowing they would be an independent country in the future. Those other countries would never have given them up. I won't go into why they would not have been recognized as their own country, as Cuba was. The Philippines was supposed to get their independence in 1940. It was all set. Then Japan invaded China and Korea. Which stalled it because it was feared they would invade the Philippines, which they did in 1941.
@@danor6812 hmmm….. yeah…typical imperialistic rationalization on the benefits of colonialism. Yes-all European powers at that time carved up all the land masses they can grab, and the US did harbor imperialist ambitions at one time. “From to sea to shining sea” and on to the Pacific it went. A power vacuum would have definitely ensued after Spain vacated and yes the Filipinos would have never have gotten the chance at self-determination, because that’s the way the world worked during those times. But is that really a good justification to dominate other nations or people? The Filipinos were doing just fine before Spain. A moral reckoning ensued in the US when they saw the quagmire in the Philippines. Many great American thinkers and leaders of the time started questioning their motivation. The US just overthrew its imperial masters, now it’s trying to become one. They realized that their actions in the Philippines were inconsistent with the ideals set forth by their founding fathers. This history is lost on most Americans and it’s one they’d rather forget. I had the pleasure of talking to the late former VP Walter Mondale, and he expressed his regret over the whole situation. This is why history is important so we can learn from it. The Americans after all turned out to be benevolent masters compared to the Spaniard overlords. This fact is not lost on most Filipinos to this day as there are plenty of goodwill left towards the Americans.
My grandad was a survivor of the Bataan Death Squad, he live until 90. Godfearing man, he was a sniper. RiP Tatay Ado
How can a highly educated and experienced professional soldier, plead ignorance of what was going on under his nose. A poor excuse for such atrocities under his command.
Command responsibility doctrine says that a Commander, like Homma, is responsible for everything that happens under their command, whether or not they have direct knowledge of acts of their troops. This is the justification for executing Homma, whether or not he knew of the atrocities.
They never claim responsibility
Homma & Yamashita
Blame MaxArthur for lack of training and failure to fortify the islands. Dug Out Doug MacArthur shame on you!
And he was far from the Worst. General Yamashita was on another level. Homma had actually said "The United States has ruled well, we must rule better". Didn't save him.
I have been subscribed to your channel for well over 18 months. I love each video you upload. I have also learned much from your research. Thank you so much for all you do. I have one question of you, may I ask what your nationality is? Your accent is a cross between English and Australian. Thanks once again for your contribution.
Filipino here. We need to rise above meme-ry and shock treatment when trying to educate people about their history. Let's not embellish. Let history speak for itself without undue emphasis on one side of the story only.
Gen. Masaharu Homma, like Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, was a seasoned military officer who fell victim to a disorganized Philippine campaign. He was very much aware of Japanese spies' reports that MacArthur's forces were spread wide and thin all over Luzon, and that the Americans were moving to abandon the Philippines so that they can take a stand in Australia. The defenders of Luzon consolidated in Bataan and Corregidor and put up a valiant struggle. That there are many casualties is to be expected in any jungle warfare between light infantry (Fil-Am soldiers) and heavy infantry (Japanese tanks and personnel carriers).
Nevertheless, Homma quickly moved to the negotiating table as soon as he got confirmation that MacArthur had escaped Corregidor. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright wanted to surrender Corregidor only as Bataan had already fallen by then, but Homma insisted that his surrender be effective for all US troops in the Philippines to avoid further bloodshed.
Homma honored Gen. Douglas MacArthur's "open city" declaration for Manila and ordered his troops to groom up and to remain in formation to psych them out of looting the city. Homma ordered his men to treat Filipino civilians as friends deserving of respect. Unfortunately, his superior Gen. Hisaichi Terauchi disagreed with this treatment and sent poison reports to Tokyo about his conduct.
Within his own ranks there was growing unrest too - a very common problem throughout the Japanese campaign in the Philippines, which would also later on cost the life of Yamashita. This subversion led to his subordinates issuing orders in his name for the illegal execution of Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos and former Speaker Manuel Roxas. By the time Homma found out about the falsified orders, he was too late to save Abad Santos although he did manage to save Roxas.
The problem that spawned the Death March came about as a result of there being more prisoners of war (72,000) than the Japanese forces were prepared to house and to feed (40,000). Homma was also too preoccupied with trying to conquer Corregidor using cannon fodder reinforcements - ill-trained Japanese reserves - and just assumed that his officers were treating their prisoners well.
If all this sounds like a command responsibility issue, consider the words of Gen. Arthur Trudeau, a member of the tribunal which condemned Homma:
"There's no question but that some men who were either weak or wounded were shot or bayoneted on this Death March. The question is how many echelons of command up is a person responsible to the point where you should condemn him for murder or crime, and that is what General Homma was accused of ... We need to cogitate about our wisdom in condemning General Homma to death. I must admit I was not much in favor of it. In fact, I opposed it but I could only oppose it to a point that allowed him to be shot as a soldier and not hanged ... I thought he was an outstanding soldier."
As for the concept of command responsibility itself, consider the words of Col. Harry E. Clarke, the lawyer who defended Yamashita against similar charges:
"The Accused is not charged with having done something or having failed to do something, but solely with having been something...American jurisprudence recognizes no such principle [i.e. command responsibility] so far as its own military personnel are concerned...No one would even suggest that the Commanding General of an American occupational force becomes a criminal every time an American soldier violates the law...one man is not held to answer for the crime of another."
And let's not forget the common denominator between these trials: Douglas MacArthur. His "I shall return" and "I have returned" speeches sealed his place of legend in the Filipino imagination. But he is universally regarded as an /Az Hold/ for whom everything had to be a grand gesture, from his retreat to Australia to his landing in Tacloban despite the infighting between his forces and the local guerillas who did most of the work on the ground.
So you believe he didn't know about the death march even thought he was in command at the time? You have a lot to learn about military doctrine. The one in command does know what's happening and giving the orders that were carried out.
@@danor6812 my grandfathers fought in the war, sir, and their sons including my father were soldiers. I think I know enough. At the very least I know that the Philippine campaign was messy as surprise battles often are. And no, I don't believe Homma intended for the death March to be carried out in the way it was. That is the point of the charges - the Americans wanted Homma to take the blame for the actions of his soldiers, whether he was aware of them or not.
In any case, simply insisting that Homma knew _everything_ about his soldiers' actions and indeed giving orders to effect the same in a very messy Philippine campaign is just crazy, especially when there is no evidence to support it.
No one could possibly believe he had no knowledge of what went on.
Japanese Imperial brutal atrocity and cruelty are beyond believe. After watching this and 'Massacre of Nanjing".
Most brutal when japanese throw a baby up the air and when goes down was met with a japanese bayonet. It is so brutal and it happened in the phililpines during WW2.
Let's pray for our departed kababayan and allies.
Who by then death march have been the horrific war crimes occurred during world war 2. 😢
I have a box set called the world war there is an episode called banzi which showed the baataan deth march when i saw this i could not understand how humans could inflict such misery and suffering on other human beings
He or his family should not have been allowed to speak on how he was to be executed, the human beings who were killed by him were starved,tortured and executed by him and those under his command, they were given no choice.
I'm a Filipino but just a question?
In Pearl Harbor only 29 japanese aircraft..but they destroyed and killed 2,740 plus soldiers(History)
While in our country Phil's.
When Mc Arthur fleed to Australia...The numbers of Fil.Soldiers who surrendered in Bataan we're almost 73,000 while the Americans we're almost 12,000...They died during the Death March..The sad thing was..The numbers of Japanese soldiers were only 35,000 all over the Phil's.
What’s your source of only 35,000 Japanese troops in whole Philippines?
@@donjoaoresort8565 Mr.Xiao Chua(Phil Historian)34,000 Japanese.
Filipinos who Surrendered 70,000
Americans Almost 18,000
@@BernardSantillan-bi9qg Appreciate persons like you who can quote sources. Thanks.
" In Pearl Harbor only 29 japanese aircraft but they destroyed and killed 2,740 plus ... " I think you may have misunderstood. To clarify: only 29 of the Japanese planes were shot down; the rest (the total number was 353) were the ones who completed the attack. We were so ill-prepared, I don't even know how we shot down the 29!
Homma should b3 cut into small portions and feed to dogs
poor masaharu homma killed by firing squad that is so brutal. he paid for all the killings there were hundred thousands filipinos died in the battle at manila.
Every death on the Bataan death march belongs at the feet of MacArthur just as much as the Japanese. When Washington knew war was coming soon they knew the Philippines would be the site of a major battle and knew it would be months before reinforcements or supplies could be sent. So right away they sent battle plans, extra supplies, ammunition and food to the Philippines throughout the second half of 1941. They sent bombers and fighters to help keep the Japanese navy away. The plans they sent told MacArthur to put the troops on rations and to start stockpiling every bit of food, water, ammunition and medical supplies on Bataan. When the Japanese landed on the Philippines he was to put up a fighting retreat and get as many troops and Philippine fighters as possible to Bataan. From there with Corregador providing some long range artillery support they should be able to hold out for a year or more until reinforcements arrived. When MacArthur saw the plans he ripped them up and came up with his own. He took all of his food, ammo and supplies then divided it up into small batches then stashed it in caches all over the Phillipines. When he received word that Pearl Harbor had been attacked he did... nothing. He left his entire air force all bunched up at the air bases making them easy targets. He didn't put forth the smallest effort to keep them safe. The next day they were completely destroyed. Then when the Japanese landed and the fighting started he declared that Washingtons plan was the right way to do it afterall, gathered up as many soldiers as he could and set out for Bataan. He knew he had very little ammo and supplies because he had stupidly divided them up and stashed them. There was a store of rice in Manilla meant for the civilians of over a million portions. He was told repeatedly to take as much as they could because there would be very little in Bataan and it wouldn't be long before the troops had to go on starvation rations. Besides they told him if he didnt take the rice the Japanese militart definitely would. MacArthur thought he would look bad so refused to let the rice get touched. Of course the Japanese took that rice for themselves. Once on Bataan which should have been elementary to defend the Americans lost a battle right away because MacArthur was too prejudiced against the Japanese and considered them too weak to go through the mountains. Of course they did, then flanked him and forced him to retreat farther back. Then after promising to stand by his men until the bitter end he ran to Australia like a thief in the night to avoid captivity. Then a few years later he strong armed Washington to allow him to retake the Phillipines because he had promised to return one day. Retaking the Philippines wasn't necessary for the war to end. He forced it out of ego. One man's vanity cost thousands of men their lives. He was a master at manipulating the media and nearly started WW3 during the Korean War demanding Washington allow him to use nuclear weapons on China. He is a war criminal and the worst general in the history of the US military.
And yet the Japanese never acknowledge of what their done during WWII.
Crazy how the US got back Philippines in under 2 years while with Japan it took them everything they could to get it lol
The responsible Man for the Bataan Death March was Douglas Mc Arthur.
My grandfather’s twin brother died while on this march..Troy Milton..
He almost looks European, not Japanese.
Homma & Yamashita
are still comparing notes with the IJA generals who worked in Nanking.
MY FATHER FOUGHT IN THE PHILIPPINES AND HELPED RESCUE SOME OF THE SOLDERS WHO HAD BEEN CAPTURED AND WERE BEING HELD THERE AND PRACTICALLY STARVED TO DEATH. THEY HAD TO BE CARRIED OUT BY AMERICAN SOLDIERES AS MANY OF THEM COULD NOT WALK. WHAT HE SAW HAUNTED MY FATHER ,AND MANY OTHER SOLDIERS FOR YEARS!!!
father was an infantryman of the 5 1st division usaffe survived the siege of Bataan and the dreaded death March and the pow internment camp of o donnel capas Tarlac earning for him a purple heart and the congressional gold medal yet to be given by the usva Manila, who referred us to the answering machine, which we seniors claimant don't knew how to avail of the same.
after his released from camp o donnel pow internment camp, he join the escudero guerilla outfit in our province in sorsogon, he died in 1989 after a lingering illness.
Let the truth be told that the Japanese army committed many atrocities not only against the US and Filipino soldiers but also civilians. It’s been told that the reason why Filipinos even today refer to public restrooms as “comfort rooms” is because during the Japanese occupation, the Japanese used public restrooms as spaces of respite and “comfort” for their soldiers by raping Filipino women, who were referred to collectively as “comfort” women. Both my parents lived through the Japanese-occupied Philippines and shared stories of brutalities they have witnessed, although they themselves were not victims as they still were children during that era. I have nothing against the Japanese people and have much respect for them. I have a friend who now lives in Japan and told me that the Japanese people are very nice towards the Filipinos and treat them kindly. I’m against revisionist history. Let’s be honest about the past and learn from it as the Japanese people have done.
Wrong. Japan liberated Philippines and its independence year is in 1943 with Laurel administration after Japan kicked out US. US made up Manila massacre blaming Japan. After war, US set up puppet government, Manila treaty was not fair to Philippine people.
My uncle survived the death march but died a few days later in one of the Japanese prison camps.
Lt. Commander John Morrill left Corregidor with 18 guys in a 36ft open launch and successfully sailed/motored 2,000+ miles to Australia before the Japanese could take the island.
There was room for a couple more men, but NO ONE volunteered. Too scared to try for freedom, and too willing to believe the Japanese would offer them fair treatment.
"The War Journal of Rocky Gause'' details his escape south in an old wreck along with one other man.
If you had the courage you could risk it all or die free.
My Grandfather is a soldier that time he is a part of that infamous death 💀 march.
The conditions of transportation of the POW’s were awful!
Nevertheless I recall stories my father told me from WW2, where i.e. POW’s captured during the “Battle of the Bulge” or as Germans call it “Ardenne Offensive” were placed in boxcars like the sardines, in total some 15,000 POW without the possibility to sit, with no toilet, no water, no heating but the body heat from your fellow comrades in the winter cold of 1944-45.
Then the train drove to Antwerp where it was forgotten for 4-5 days close to the train station.
Only workers who checked the tracks eventually heard the pleas and screams for help by the POW’s. The workers alerted the local US command of their discovery.
Would it not have been for some rain fall/snow fall in these days as the only source of fresh water, these POW would have all perished.
When they released the POW’s, about 1/3 was dead, 1/3 was not able to move out of the box rails by themselves and had to be carried out. The reminder that merely made it out on their own was left stranded in the cold for hours before they received aid in form of a coffee, given to freezing, starved and dehydrated POW’s.
In comparison to hear that Japanese also treated their POW in Indochina in a similar way allows the assumption that pressing POW into box cars, as inhumane as it was, to have been a “common” thing to do by all sides. Also to willingly accept the death of POW’s by doing so.
And also the ratio of POW deaths seems to be similar.
But I have never seen or heard any of the responsible allied generals being accused of war crimes and subsequently being executed for allowing that to happen under their watch. 🤔
" ... allows the assumption that pressing POW into box cars, as inhumane as it was, to have been a “common” thing to do by all sides."
Really? You mean cramming captives (POWs and/or civilians) in there for 3, 4 or more days without food or water or a toilet? All sides? I don't know what the Russians may have done, but name ONE instance in which the British, Canadians or Americans did anything like that! ONE instance1
Stop making excuses or making false equivalences for the appalling inhumanity and brutality of the Japanese and Nazis in WW2.
@@gotmilk7926 have you actually read what I wrote apart from that comment that you quoted?
The battle of the bulge happened in Belgium, participants at that battle apart from Germany were the allied troops such as the British, Americans and Canadians. That is the case I am giving to you and I have no reason to doubt my father’s recollection of the case he personally experienced.
About 15,000 prisoners were put into these box cars, without a toilet, without food and without water, exactly the same way as the Japanese had done. Leaving to my deduction that it seemed to be common practice during WW2 to mistreat POW’s, that also included killing them (like in band of brothers, the Korean or Vietnam war) or mistreating them like we have many cases of up to modern time.
Though I will make the assumption that this didn’t happened out of spite.
Going out on a limb here, I may guess that the sending party thought it was just for a short trip and that these soldiers would be only in that situation for a few hours at the most. Though in the heat of the action they just may have forgotten to inform the receiving party that there was a “shipment” coming or there was a miscommunication in general. But we don’t know, as there was no action taken afterwards against the responsible party. But for sure we would have heard a similar response from our generals of the time as we heard from Japanese generals when it happened their side.
And yes, Russians did the same.
Coming back to my guess that it may have been common practice.
@@philippschwartzerdt3431 I don't doubt your version of events, as they were related to you. However, you yourself have provided plausible explanations. (The term "SNAFU" -- especially as it might pertain to the Bulge and the frantic efforts by both sides at the time -- exists for a reason.) But the overriding consideration can be viewed as matter of "Grand Plan". The stuffing of millions of Jews into ghastly boxcars for transport to death camps can be considered as an element of a "grand plan to humiliate and exterminate the Jews. The brutality and butchery of the Bataan Death March and the Rape of Nanking can be considered intrinsic to the ethos (and "grand plan") of the Japanese, who regarded surrendering troops and helpless civilians as subhuman.
The Allies, whatever of their failings, never instituted or even considered such a top-down, inherently evil "grand plan". As to your deduction that "it seemed to be common practice during WW2 to mistreat POW’s" -- I'm sure it's not a wished-for prospect of troops in any war (one exception: Wehrmacht troops fleeing the Russians and looking for Allied troops to surrender to, at the end of WW2). But to compare in any way the treatment of surrendering German troops to the fate of helpless souls at the hands of the Nazis or Japanese, is the grossest of simplifications.
My Dad was in the 4th Armored Division in the relief of Bastogne. He told me after the Malmedy Massacre, the word was out to take no Kraut Prisoners. They killed them in retaliation. The Germans got wind of it and stopped murdering Prisoners because they feared the 4th Armored and other Divisions. Equal or worse retaliation is the only way to stop that kind of shit. They started taking Wehrmacht Prisoners again in February 1945... However, they didn't take any SS Prisoners until March-April of 1945. They hated the SS beyond belief. I asked Dad what SS stood for; he immediately told me "Sneaking Shit"
The Japanese have never apologized for these and other worse atrocities, like the deliberate murder of a quarter million civilians at Nanking, and still venerate the memories of the butchers responsible at the Yasukuni War Shrine.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the Philippines on the same day. The difference in dates is because of the international dateline. The 7th in Hawaii is the 8th in the Philippines.
My great grand father was killed in the battle of bataan and they never recover his body ...
My great uncle Ernest was murdered by the Japanese during the Bataan Death March... 😢😡
It sounds from the narrative that there were indeed tears shed for the man.
Not true. It seems that there were tears shed for Masaharu Homma. RIP to the poor soldiers on that march. Terrible
Justice was done.
England and the US (as most Western countries in fact), are very good at pointing and documenting 'others' war crimes, but do such poor job, documenting their own!
Just wonderful. Do elaborate on the "war crimes" of Britain and the US in WW2. Not acts of small units and individuals -- brutal episodes that happen in all wars -- but WAR CRIMES that were conducted (or simply ignored) as a policy.
Examples? No, thought not. Get yourself an education.
Until now I am still trying to find out why Gen MacArthur was not informed immediately that Pearl harbor was bombed. A whole day past before the Japanese planes arrived in the Philippines and bombed the airfields and the harbors. Why were the airmen not out on alert and even the navy people? Just asking.
There have been wars all over the world , and Japan did their share of brutality against humanity, The young people in Japan know very little of what their country did .
3:18 must’ve been crazy to have met hitler
I'm sure his wife mourned his death.
7:24 ->
Not good for the Americans who will find out how hell can get worse when the Japanese
get news of the Doolittle Raid.
Thanks for NOT showing the execution of Homma, whats the point of the title Execution of Japanese General Responsible for the Bataan death March in Philippines if you're not going to show it. Some more horseshit content from World History
We are human beings created by Al mighty ...
I was stationed in Japan 65-70. I met a lot of Japanese veterans who served in the imperial Japanese army and navy.
There were a large number of Japanese enlisted men who were good people and did not agree with the brutality which some Japanese did.
One thing that I learned is that Japanese enlisted solders could be severely punished for showing any acts of kindness towards POW’s including providing rice or other.
Sort of like what Andrew Jackson ordered for the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears march.
Don't forget Australia and maybe other countries
1:15 he can almost pass for white
Yup. He looked Eurasian.
It's a very common mistake for pronunciation which is slowly starting the permeate a lot of these videos going over the war in the Philippines but you pronounce it Bata aan not Batan. otherwise a very well resource and presented history of this man and what he is responsible for which is a horrendous crime against humanity
In this year 2024 the world should send BB and Congress to ICJ
Guy looks like Beria or Timothy Hutton. Weird Right and Oppenheimer of course!
wow....this General is handsome compared to other Japanese generals
In his appearance he looks stockier than most Japanese and his facial features make him look part Western.
Only gay men will give notice of his appearance over his war crime
Homma was made a Scapegoat.
I can say that this was a real travesty of justice, this Man was dutiful to his Country, there was a Belief that Macarthur was looking after his own back against Homma, when you think how Many Nazi Generals and Field Marshalls got away with the Atrocities they committed , which were mainly against Civilians ( Millions), it beggars belief that Homma, who with Yamashita were probably the two most intelligent and able of all the Japanese and were Western Educated bore the brunt of Macarthurs venom, whilst the British and Australians did call for their Trials to be revisited, Yamashita and Homma had struck at the Heart of the British and Americans at Singapore and Bataan, where they had massive victories, what happened at Bataan and even worse at Singapore was wrong and a war Crime, but in War the General at the Top will not oversee everything and it is known the Kemputai were the real masters,, it is believed in British circles that Macarthur wanted Revenge, Homma was a much greater General than Macarthur and knowing people who knew both Homma and Macarthur as people thought that it was just unbelievable how Macarthur was allowed so much power. Homma like Yamashita were respected by the British Military long before WW2.
japan did not invade philippines because hirohito yamashita send letter to pres emilio aguinaldo a greetings of peace stated that they want safe passage going to japan it was agreed and signed by president emilio aguinaldo when aguinaldo signed the letter american troops arrested emilio aguinaldo and put in jail at camp murphy and now they called camp emilio aguinaldo today.
full watching thumbs up new friend ❤
this movie, the uniforms worn...... showed me a shit load of Brits & Auzies rather than American troops.
Homma and Sgt.Shultz of HOGAN'S HEROES HAVE something in common..
"THEY KNOW NOTHING!"😅😂
Most of japanese were not the one who are cruel but their allied koreans.
Pure bullsh*t.
Does nothing for my opinion of MacArthur, a person driven by his overinflated ego.
If it were not for the actions of Truman and MacArthur the war would have lasted many more years .
A scapegoat for MacArthur's incompetence.