They began arriving at dawn at Daingerfield Island, huddled against a sharp April cold clutching hot coffee cups, the steam rising in chill coming off the Potomac river that flows along Alexandria, Virginia. Gray clouds hovered as the spirited crowd lined up at the registration table, ignoring intermittent drizzles and greeting old friends. Most were familiar faces. A couple of parents brought their toddlers, bundled safely against the elements.
But the more than 200 who gathered on this grassy spot by the river weren’t deterred by threats of pouring rain. As they have done in the last four years, they came to honor the 78,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war who were forced to endure the infamous Bataan Death March. They walked for days under much worse conditions — a blazing sun, rugged roads, with little food and water. Ten thousand died.
On April 12, a busload of cadets from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis mingled with Filipino American community supporters, families of veterans, and members representing the Filipino Young Professionals, National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), Philippine American Chamber of Commerce, Philippine Nurses Association of Metropolitan DC (PNAMDC), the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 5471 and the VFW Auxiliary, the UP Alumni Association and the Philippine Embassy.
Organized by FilVetREP, the day-long event commenced with a stirring call from FilVetREP Chairman Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (Ret), inspiring messages by Ben de Guzman of the DC Mayor’s Office of Asian & Pacific Affairs and Philippine Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Jaime Ramon T. Ascalon, Jr.
As the runners and walkers prepared to march, a rallying call sounded from the stage: “Marchers, give me your attention. Hear their cry, in their own words. ‘We are the Battling Bastards of Bataan. No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam. No aunts, no uncles, no nephews, no nieces. No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces and nobody gives a damn.’ Let our cry be known, we all give a damn.”
“We all give a damn!” The marchers roared back as they sprinted from the starting line. Many participants went all the way to complete 14 miles. Others did what they could.
“I chose the 6-mile route this time, and it was such a rewarding experience,” said community leader Cristina Sison. “This is a powerful celebration of Filipino American solidarity and a tribute to the heroes who sacrificed so much.” Sison walked with 10-year-old daughter Savi.
The 5th BMDM on the Potomac ended with a catered Filipino lunch. Participants expressed their resolve to return again next year. – Jon Melegrito
Photos by Bing Branigin, Richard Villa Mercado, Cristina Sison, Paul Tanedo
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The Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP), is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, community-based, all-volunteer national initiative whose mission is to obtain national recognition of Filipino and American WW11 soldiers across the United States and the Philippines for their wartime service to the U.S. and the Philippines from July 26, 1941 to December 31, 1946. For more information about Filipino WWII veterans and how to get involved, visit our website at www.filvetrep.org or find us on Facebook or Twitter.