BATAAN

 

          There have been many wars throughout American history. There have been many wars that America was in that involved Asian country. Like World War I, World War II, The Korean War, and the Vietnam War. There was one battle of World War II that changed the course of history and it happened right after the Attack on Pearl Harbor; that battle was known as the Invasion of the Philippines and after that event was the Bataan Death March. Some might not know how bad the Bataan Death March was because it wasn’t really discussed in books or talked during class. It was probably something that nobody talked about because it was considered a taboo. 

          When Kevin C. Murphy wrote “Inside the Bataan Death March: Defeat, Travail, and Memory,” the aftermath of what happens to the Japanese unfolds and becomes clear. Before looking at the text, Murphy indicated that the Bataan Death March was a defeat, a travail, and a memory but However, he did not say it was a victory for both sides. Both sides have lost a significant number of soldiers and on the opposite side, the Japanese committed a war crime. On to Murphy’s novel, in chapter 4 titled “Chaos Meets Kata,” this section is about what happened after the Bataan Death March in the Japanese side. “For Japanese, vulnerable to nature’s violence, inured to the demands of cooperative labor, and subject to a heritage of strict authoritarian rule. 

          Looks like when the Japanese made the allied soldiers their prisoners, they broke a code they were supposed to follow. Japanese are often as unable as they are willing to deal with foreigners without significant trauma. Four decades after the Bataan Death March, nearly two thirds of the Japanese population expressed unwillingness to have any contact with foreigners.  Although they were on the side of the Axis, they shouldn’t have done something like this, a war crime.