On April 9th, 1942, after months of brutal fighting in the Philippines, American and Filipino

forces on the Baton Peninsula were finally forced to surrender to the Imperial Japanese Army.

Exhausted, starving, and ravaged by disease, more than 70,000 prisoners of war were taken

into custody. With little preparation and even less regard for their condition, the captives were then ordered

to march north deep into Japanese-controlled territory.

The journey that followed would become one of the most infamous war crimes of the Second World

War. It would be so horrifying that it would come to be known as the Baton Death March.

So as always, viewer discretion is strongly advised.

Long before the United States entered World War II, the Philippines already held enormous importance

in the growing conflict in the Pacific. At the time, the islands were an American possession,

and their location made them strategically valuable. Sitting along key routes in Southeast Asia,

the Philippines gave the United States a foothold in the Western Pacific and a position to project power across the region.

And recognizing the importance of defending the islands, the U.S. began strengthening its military presence there in the months before the war.

In July of 1941, the U.S. Army created the United States Army forces in the Far East, often referred to as Yusafi for short.

The organization brought together American troops stationed in the Philippines with the forces

of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, and the result was a force made up of roughly 120,000

men. Most of these soldiers were from the Philippines, many of whom had only recently been

mobilized and had limited military training.

American units formed a much smaller portion of the force, but provided much of the leadership

and organization.

The two groups were expected to work together to defend the islands if war ever broke out

in the Pacific.

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