My Hitch in Hell: A Soldier Recounts the Bataan Death March in WWII
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2025
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, after the fall of the Philippines in World War II, more than 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers were captured by Japanese forces and forced to endure the brutal Bataan Death March. Over 30 percent of these POWs died in captivity, compared to just three percent of Allied POWs held by the Germans. In his powerful firsthand account, Dr. Lester Tenney recounts one of WWII’s darkest chapters and his miraculous survival against all odds. A special thanks to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans for providing this archival audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:15.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. |
| 0:23.6 | Most of us know that on December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. |
| 0:31.9 | However, less know that hours later, on December 8th, they also invaded the Philippines, a U.S. territory at the time. |
| 0:41.6 | One of those soldiers in the Philippines was the late Dr. Lester Tenney. |
| 0:46.4 | Here's Dr. Tenney at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, telling his story. |
| 0:52.5 | We'd like to thank the museum for graciously allowing us to use this audio. |
| 0:58.2 | Let's get into the story. |
| 1:01.8 | And for me give us some information. |
| 1:04.4 | The first tank battle of World War II was on December 23rd at the city of Agu, A-G-O-O, up at Lingyan Gulf. |
| 1:15.6 | General Wainwright asked for a company of tanks to meet the Japanese. |
| 1:20.6 | When we got up to our Bivouac area, our post-ordance brought us enough gasoline for five tanks. |
| 1:30.9 | And so five tanks went into battle instead of a company of tanks. |
| 1:36.3 | I know what I'm talking about. |
| 1:38.4 | I was in one of the five tanks. |
| 1:41.0 | Let me tell you some about tanks. |
| 1:42.6 | For those of you who are not familiar with tanks, you don't, you can put that tank out of commission with one shell. |
| 1:49.0 | One shell. |
| 1:51.0 | All you have to do is hit the track. |
| 1:54.0 | Ben Morin was the lieutenant in charge of our lead tank. |
| 1:58.0 | The lead tank was hit right away. |
| 2:01.9 | Once it was hit in the turret, the second shell hit a track. |
... |
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