The Bataan Death March Memorial Walkway - Veteran's Park, Las Cruces, NM - World War II Memorials / Monuments on Waymarking.com

The Bataan Death March Memorial Walkway - Veteran's Park, Las Cruces, NM

Heroes of Bataan
by Kelley S. Hestir
This monument is dedicated to those who died, and those who survived the terror of the Bataan Death March in 1942

"Heroes of Bataan" portrays Filipino and American prisoners of war entwined in their struggle to survive the Death March. They look back to what has passed, down to what is present and ahead to what might be.
The footprints are symbolic of the many soldiers who began the march and the few who finished. The impressions were made from the feet of those who survived.
I honor them all.

On April 9, 1942, American soldiers defending the Philippines were ordered to surrender. The Japanese quickly assembled all POWs and started them on the infamous seven-day, 65 mile Bataan Death March. Approximately 70,000 men started the march. Disease, hunger, thirst and abuse by Japanese soldiers made each mile more deadly. More than 1,000 Americans and possibly 15,000 Filipinos died before reaching Camp O'Donnell.

The following is written in one of the stones in the Walkway:

"We are the battling bastards of Bataan;
No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam,
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces;
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces.
And nobody gives a damn.
Nobody gives a damn."

by Frank Hewlett

The plaque about the footprints states:
"This diagram identifies the barefoot impressions of 38 survivors of the Bataan Death March.
The footprints were made by pressing rubber castings of the men's bare feet into the wet cement of the walkway. The names of these men are listed below."

Heroes of Bataan
The New Mexico Story
More than fourteen hundred New Mexicans fought with the 200th Coast Artillery (CAC) Regiment defending the Philippines and the Bataan Peninsula at the beginning of World War II. The regiment received the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters for its heroic performance during the battle.
The War Department cited the 200th CAC as 'the best anti-aircraft regiment in the United States Army' before the war started. General Jonathan Wainwright, the 200th's superior commander, credited the 200th CAC with being the first unit to fire on the enemy and the last organized unit still fighting at the time of its being surrendered.
After their ordered surrender in 1942, New Mexico had the highest per capita Japanese prisoner of war population in the nation.

The Bataan Death March Memorial Monument is the only federally funded monument dedicated to the victims of the Bataan Death March during WWII. The monument was dedicated in April 2001 and was designed and sculpted by Las Cruces artist Kelley Hestir. Memorial is located in Veterans Park along Roadrunner Parkway.

Date of Dedication: 04/01/2001 Property Permission: Public Website for Waymark: [Web Link] Location of waymark: Roadrunner Parkway Las Cruces, NM USA Commemoration: Heroes of the Bataan Death March Access instructions: Not listed Access times: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Include a photo containing, at minimum, the monument and your GPSr. We'd prefer a photo containing YOU at the monument, but we understand that some people are camera-shy.
Also include a bit about your visit here.

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