Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Bataan Death March

Orangeburg, NY, March 24, 2022/Philippine-American Cultural Foundation/ -- On Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 1:00 pm, the Philippine-American Cultural Foundation will host at Bataan Road in Orangeburg, New York a symbolic Bataan Death March (The March) and memorial ceremony to the Am-Fil forces who endured and died on the Bataan Death March 80 years ago in April 1942 at the opening of World War II in the Pacific.

People will gather for The March at 12:30 pm in front of the Tappan Zee High School, 15 Dutch Hill Rd, Orangeburg, New York. The March, joined by reenactors, will be followed by a program at 2:00 pm at Dominican College, Hennessy Center, Holt Room, 470 Western Highway South, Orangeburg, New York, that is close to Bataan Road. There will period entertainment and Filipino food.

The Honorable Elmer G. Cato, Consul General of the Philippines in New York will be the Keynote Speaker. Also speaking will be Elaine Xiaojiang Fan, Director of Asian American Affairs of the New York State Government, Rockland County Executive Ed Day, and Ambassador Harry Thomas, former United States Ambassador to the Philippines. Special recognition will be given to all members of the military, current and former, in attendance.

Active-duty troops of the 31st Infantry Regiment from Ft. Drum, New York, a unit whose predecessors fought valiantly on Bataan will attend in addition to locally based National Guard and Reserve units. Both American and Filipino veterans’ groups from throughout the Metropolitan area will participate. They will be joined by representatives from the Ukrainian-American community who now fight a similar battle against invaders.

Attendees will be able to view the four Congressional Medals of Honor awarded to those who defended the Bataan Peninsula from December 1941 to April 1942. After the memorial ceremony, from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm there will be a symposium discussing the history of the early defensive battles against the invading Japanese in the Philippines.

Bataan Road, meant to be an inspiration to American troops, is the last remaining street from Camp Shanks, the largest Embarkation Camp to the European Front during WWII.

Jerome Kleiman, Event Organizer
Cell: 845-641-4217
Email: jeromekleiman@att.net