What was the Bataan Death March?

• A. A code-breaking operation
• B. The forced march of American and Filipino prisoners by the Japanese
• C. A campaign in North Africa
• D. A naval battle in the Pacific

Answer: (B)

The Bataan Death March was the forced march of American and Filipino prisoners of war by Japanese forces after the surrender of the Bataan Peninsula in 1942. Prisoners were compelled to march about 60 miles from Mariveles to Camp O’Donnell with little food or water and under brutal treatment, and thousands died from heat, disease, and exhaustion along the way. This event illustrates the extreme mistreatment of POWs in the Pacific theater and is remembered as a stark war-crimes example from World War II. It wasn’t a code-breaking operation, a campaign in North Africa, or a naval battle in the Pacific.