Reply #14: Yeah, he pointed out the piss poor planning by MacArthur

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while retreating - leaving behind a shit load of supplies.
My former girlfriend's dad was in the Bataan death march - lost his best friend, executed by the Japanese for his exhaustion. George weighed 180 pounds at the time they surrendered and by the time he escaped, he weighed 90 lbs.
They were being transported by a freighter, in the hold of the ship, to another island. They were jammed in there and it was extremely hot with little air through the hatch. Some of the men were freaking out, screaming, etc. The japenese told them to be quiet or they would close the hatch.
Several of them continued to yell, so some of the Americans, fearing the hatch would be closed and they would all suffocate, killed one of their own to shut them up.
An American plane bombed the freighter, not knowing there were p.o.w.s on the ship. The Japenese abandoned ship, as it was sinking. George climbed out the hatch, ran to the galley, threw some food in a bad and jumped overboard. He had seen two islands in the distance, picked one and swam for it.
A Filipino man picked him up out in the water and hid him for weeks until he could get the U.S. military in for a rescue.
George went back to the Phillipines in the 90s (I think) and met with the man who pulled him out of the water. He also went to the Bataan death march memorial where he found his friend's name. His wife told me that this was the only time she ever saw George cry during their entire marriage.