Bataan survivors gather to share stories
Paul Kerchum, a Bataan Death March survivor, poses for a photo after telling spectators about his involvement in the BDM at the Post Theater, White Sands Missile Range, N.M. March 21, 2015. On April 9, 1942, after Gen. Edward King surrendered the 75,000 American and Filipino troops at the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, the troops were forced on what was later named the Bataan Death March. During the 65-mile march, prisoners of war were beaten, starved, and thousands died or were killed. Many of those captured were from New Mexico’s National Guard. For that reason, every March at WSMR, thousands of participants march either 14.2, or 26.2 miles in honor of those who made the march, or made the ultimate sacrifice. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Emily A. Kenney/Released)