JCI Bamban/BHS Veterans’ Week Observance

By AnacBamban

We at the JCI Bamban Kayabe/BHS firmly believe that our veterans of WWII deserve the highest respect and admiration for their sacrifice and love of freedom in their fight against foreign invaders. The names of these veterans be their Commonwealth Army (USAFFE), Philippine Scouts, or USAFFE and Hukbalahap guerillas etched in the history of our struggle as a nation must be remembered, the living and the dead. Theirs is a legacy of heritage that must be calculated in the heart and spirit of our generation. It is in the concept of historical and cultural paramount that the organization, the Bamban Historical Society was created and established. Hence, it is just fitting that such Veterans’ Week, the 67^th Anniversary of the Araw ng Kagitingan be celebrated and observed by us in the highest form of participation.

JCI Bamban Kayabe, with its sister organization, the Bamban Historical Society, earmarked three special projects for the Veterans’ Week. Operation Bayang Matangkilik has been launched as a brainchild of Rhonie Dela Cruz, himself a product of veteran family. Coordinating with the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor and concerned government agencies, a delegation was sent to Mt. Samat on April 7, 2009 where the Shrine of Valor (Dambana ng Kagitingan) is located. That big cemented cross overlooking the whole Bataan Peninsula symbolizing the extreme battlefields between Filipino-American forces against the Japanese invading army in 1942. In the end of the battle for Bataan, more than 70,000 Filipino-American soldiers were surrendered to General Homma. The aftermath is what is now known as the Bataan Death March; a 120 kilometer march without food, water, and medicines for the dying soldiers and battle-weary and hungry prisoners of war from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga. The march started from April 10, 1942 up to April 15; or a minimum of three-day march. From the train station of San Fernando, the prisoners were cramped in hot, steel box car and were transported to Capas, Tarlac. From the train station, another eight kilometers of March of Death endured the prisoners. Along the route of the Death March were silent massacres conducted by the Japanese guards against helpless prisoners. However, the earth open up and Hell Hole sprouted from the former USAFFE encampment that was Camp O’Donnell. More than twenty six thousand Filipino prisoners and five thousand Americans died at O’Donnell.

The delegation was warmly welcomed by various veteran organizations like the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. US Ambassador to the Philippines, Kristie Kenney and Director of the US Department of Veterans Affairs Jon Skelly joined the delegation during the ceremony. The next day, April 8, 2009, JCI Bamban Kayabe/BHS sent another delegation to the Capas National Shrine, site of the former Hell Hole O’Donnell for a sacred observance of the Araw ng Kagitingan. The delegation brought the surviving veterans of Bamban and their families. During the ceremony, no less than Usec. Ernesto Carolina of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Mr. Johnson of the office of the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and Tarlac Governor Vic Yap joined the JCI Bamban delegation. Atty. Rafael Evangelista, National Commander of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor thanked the delegation for the support and participation and most importantly, the sincerity in promoting the legacy and heritage of our veteran-heroes of WWII.

In the final program of the JCI Bamban Kayabe, an exhibit for WWII was launched at the foot of the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, the site of the 40^th Division Memorial on April 8 (Holy Wednesday) in the afternoon up to April 9 (Good Friday). The exhibit shows images and photographic mural of the Battle of Bamban in 1945 (Liberation) with the Filipino, American, and Japanese military during the campaign and the town as it was ravaged by the result of the great battles for the control of Bamban Hills and Clark. Hundreds of visitors and tourists went to the exhibit hall inside the memorial and were impressed with the collections as a portal to the history of the place that was as sacred to the pilgrims as to the Filipino, American, and Japanese soldiers who shed blood and tears in that place called Grotto, Hill 500, and Hoshino-yama.