![]() ![]() They suffered from starvation, having to sleep in the harsh conditions of the Philippines. The prisoners of war were forced to march through tropical conditions, enduring heat, humidity, and rain without adequate medical care. The Bataan Death March is remembered as an absolute tragedy. By the time the Filipinos and the US troops finally surrendered on April 9, 1942, the Philippine scouts were in a very bad position. During the Battle of Bataan, troops suffered from disease, hunger, wounds, and deaths. Unfortunately, those promises never materialized, which left Filipinos largely defenseless in the wake of the Japanese. Commanding General Douglas MacArthur understood what was going on and promised the Filipinos there would be extra troops, planes, and supplies coming to help them. These soldiers had to make these sacrifices in order for forces heading into the Pacific to have supplies. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, troops were placed on half rations. The USAFFE were able to hold the Japanese successfully until December 1941. Their main objective was to serve as a buffer between the Japanese and the American colonial possession of the Philippines. Once the United States entered World War II following Pearl Harbor, the USAFFE were tasked to push back against the Japanese and to delay Japanese action at the mouth of Manila Bay. They were well respected in the Philippines and by the US Army, setting them up to play an important role in the security and the defense of the Pacific during World War II. In July 1941, the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) is created, consisting of a majority of Filipinos (about 100,000) and US soldiers (about 20,000). This also allowed Filipinos to enlist in the US Army, which was a big deal to some Filipinos who saw themselves as Americans and a part of the United States-not just a colonial possession. By 1920, the Philippine Scouts formally became a part of the US Army, which was a point of pride for a lot of Filipinos.īy 1941, before the United States formally entered the war, the Philippine Scouts went through a number of very intense trainings and were seen as a very elite, highly trained military unit. For example, the Philippine Scouts were established in 1901 and gave Filipinos the opportunity to help protect and defend the Philippines and the United States in the Pacific. One service was being able to serve in the in the United States and for the United States. At the same time, there were other Filipinos who took advantage of some of the programs that the United States established while the Philippines were America's colonial possession. There were Filipinos who continued to fight against the United States well into the 1900s, trying to push back and gain their independence as a free and sovereign nation. The United States ended up purchasing the Philippines from the Spanish as part of a settlement of the war, and then the Philippines became a colonial possession of the United States. Unfortunately for the Filipinos, that is not what happened. Many Filipinos fought alongside with United States troops, thinking that when the war was over the United States would grant their independence. The Philippines was a colonial possession of the Spanish beginning in 1521, and they remained a possession of Spain until 1898-when the United States won the Spanish-American War. ![]()
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