Share Your Story
Bataan Rescue producers David Axelrod and Peter Jones found many veterans -- former POWs and their rescuers -- with indelible memories of their wartime experiences.
"That death march was just plain murder," remembered ex-POW Bob Body. "...As you walked along you could smell, the odor was terrible from guys that had been left a day or so ahead of time, and laying in the sun, you know, and they left them people laying there. It's still hard for me to believe that this actually happened, and it is still hard for me to believe that I went through that."
"One of the duties that I had in the morning was to walk down through the [prison] barracks and take care of those men that had died, recalled former POW Tommie Thomas. "...One of my obligations was to remove his dog tags and put one dog tag down his throat as far as I could get it and I had a little forked stick that I used to push it right down to his throat. And the reasoning for that was for purposes of identification at a later date."
"Sometimes I wonder how I did it," said former POW Ralph Rodriguez of the 30-mile march after the rescue. "You have to remember, [the Japanese] were behind us, we could hear them shooting, they were trying to break through."
Share Your Story
Do you have stories of World War II, from the front lines, the home front or anywhere else?
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