Surrender on Corregidor

I am writing this letter to request your newspaper remember a time in history, in the Philippine Islands on May 6, 1942.

On that day, Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainright surrendered his troops on Corregidor Island to Gen. Homma of the Japanese Imperial Army. This was the second surrender in the Philippines within a month. Bataan was surrendered on April 9, followed by the infamous death march.

After being put aboard cattle boats, the troops who had surrendered on Corregidor were paraded through the streets of Manila in disgrace and loaded aboard boxcars so tightly crammed in that if you fell down, you would be trampled to death. Then started a second march of death, in which as many as 8,000 died.

Those of us who are left feel this nation has not given honor to these heroes. They deserve to be honored for making the supreme sacrifice so we would be a better nation.

I was a medic and stationed where these marches ended. We had very little medicine, and many were sick with malaria, dengue fever and dysentery. We saved what few we could, but in the camp 100 Americans and 500 Filipinos died daily.

Glory is really not all these heroes need. We must see that their story is told, and their sacrifice must be put into history books. Only about 5% know about this slaughter at the end. More than 30,000 died.

BOB F. PARADISE, U.S. Army, Retired, Camarillo