Officials Ramp Up For Commemorative Bataan Death March

From therepublic.com -Tios Pepe and Jose were supposed to get spruced up on a recent Saturday before the wet weather interfered. They're expecting company. They are two of the three faces on the Bataan Memorial Monument, at Veterans Memorial Park, and were among the 1,800 New Mexico National Guard members who survived the Bataan Death March, in April 1942, and lived the rest of their lives with nightmares of all the horrific experiences they endured. But the spirits of Pepe and Jose, with all of those New Mexicans, Americans and Filippinos who suffered — and died — at Bataan has been immortalized among the three larger-than-life bronze statues and the footprints in cement of actual Bataan veterans that are included in the monument. Unveiled 10 years ago, a re-dedication of the Bataan Memorial Monument will be staged March 24 at Veterans Memorial Park. "We're doing this to help educate the children, and the new residents who have come to live here the past 10 years, who may not know the history of Bataan," said Las Crucen Joe Martinez, a nephew of tios Pepe and Jose.  More News New Mexico

Officials Ramp Up For Commemorative Bataan Death March