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Helpless in Bataan

by Megan Pierce  
12/16/2006 / Miracles

In the early days of World War II, my great uncle, Sgt. Robert E. Witt of the 200th Coast Artillery was captured by the Japanese in April of 1942 after fighting in the Battles of Bataan and Pampanga. During his confinement in a POW camp, Sgt. Witt would have a part in the most inhumane torture known to a prisoner of war. The Bataan Death March was an atrocious act forced upon the starving, sick American soldiers, which took the lives of more than 10,000 prisoners. The Japanese did not limit torture and starvation to the confined barbed-wire camps, but also practiced their cruelty on forced marches through the harsh geography of the Philippines. One of the most infamous and appalling forced marches was the Bataan Death March of 1942.

The Japanese, however, saw no reason to follow the natural rules of humanity in the treatment of their prisoners. While marching the 90-mile trek across unknown land, the allied prisoners were forced to stop by fresh streams of water, but were not allowed to drink. Some ignored the Japanese and threw themselves at the water, only to be executed moments later. Many men helplessly fell back on the roadside, without attempting to rise to their feet. For six days, the terror was repeated, until the exhausted soldiers reached San Fernando, where the march ended, and the POWs were crammed into box cars and taken, by train, to Camp ODonnell. The soldiers in the POW camps witnessed starvation, disease, exhaustion, and torture. Among the illnesses were malaria, dysentery, beriberi, and scurvy, which proved to be deathly if not treated. Because the only medical stations that were available to the soldiers were used only in inhumane medical and scientific experiments, treatment of diseases was unavailable. Starvation, in and of itself, was but a minor role used by the Japanese to extinguish the remaining prisoners. Beatings were common, as were unnecessary executions. Common torture would haunt the prisoners every day in the camps, until it eventually took hold of their lives, resulting in the constant state of fear and terror. The horror known only to Sgt. Witt remained with him until his death at Camp ODonnell on May 26, 1942. Survivors of the terrible conditions at the camps would later tell their story to unknowing family members and friends. Robert would not be among them when they returned home.

In his last letter dated March 2, 1942, Sgt. Witt wrote to his mother, Eda Witt, about homecoming after the war. I may be a little early for this, but you can keep this part of the letter on file for when I do get home. Here is the first dinner I would like to have you cook for me after I get off the train. You can invite anyone you wish to, but ah, yes, the menu- lets see now, a nice pork roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, pickles and olives, Waldorf-Astoria salad, creamed wax beans, applesauce, sweet-potatoes and a pineapple juice drink. For dessert: coffee, one of your chocolate layer cakes, (is three layers too much?) one of grandmas apple pies and a big dish of chocolate pudding with lots of whipped cream. Do you think it's possible, or am I asking a little too much? After three and a half years of waiting for their son to come home with the other men who were capture on Bataan, Corregidor, and other islands in the Philippines, the Witts hoped for the safe return of their son. When news of his death reached his home in Chicago, Roberts mother spoke with several survivors, and discovered that her son had indeed survived the death march, but was later taken to a hospital by his friend, Sgt. Robert Bell, just before Witt died of starvation and malaria in the brain at Camp ODonnell. Sgt. Bell told Eda Witt that Robert was held against a wall, and maggot-infested rice was shoved into his mouth. Because he wouldnt eat the worm-ridden rice, Robert was slowly starved to death. Eda Witt reflected on the life of her well-behaved son who loved to play baseball and ping-pong. Roberts belongings were never returned, and any death certificates were destroyed. We can only be thankful that Robert missed three years of torture. Mrs. Witt replied.

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