Do Not Forsake Us!

"Courage is a quality God has seen fit to dispense with utmost care. The men of Bataan were His chosen favorites."
Major General Edward P. King, Jr., USA, Commanding General, Luzon Forces, 1942

"Brothers and Compadres"

The roots of the New Mexico National Guard go back to the militias assembled by early colonists in the 1600's to fend off Indian attacks. After New Mexico came under U.S. occupation, those militias served the same purpose. During the Civil War, New Mexico's homegrown soldiers joined up with Union troops from California and Colorado to fight invading Confederates. 

After  World War I, the New Mexico National Guard consisted of The 111th Cavalry Unit, one of the few that still used horses. It appealed to young outdoors men who wanted to ride horseback, shoot weapons and soldier like their forefathers had.

The troops trained yearly at Camp Luna in Northern New Mexico, the only time that the entire regiment would gather. They used horse-drawn wagons, while learning combat tactics and firing their artillery pieces.  Their equipment was a motley collection of World War I hand-me downs and regular Army castoffs.

The men of the 111th Cavalry were a microcosm of New Mexican society, Anglos, Hispanics and Native Americans alike. They came from varied economic and educational backgrounds, some felt obligated to serve, while others were simply trying to make ends meet during the great depression.

"That Mexican outfit."

By 1940, America was starting to mobilize. Changes came fast for The New Mexico National Guard, The 111th Cavalry was designated as the 200th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft). The horses and wagons were replaced by  trucks, generators, 3-inch guns, spotlights, 37-millimeter guns and radio equipment.

The 200th Coast Artillery's regimental headquarters was in Deming, Headquarters Battery was also based in Deming, other batteries came from Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Gallup, Clovis, Carlsbad, Silver City and Taos. The regimental band was based in Albuquerque, as was the medical detachment. They shipped out  to Ft. Bliss, Tx. late that summer to begin training for a war that was yet undeclared. 

On January 6th. 1941, the 200th. were federalized and integrated into the regular Army. The unit's racial make-up didn't go without notice, "that Mexican outfit" as they were called, rated above average with Army brass. Considered the top ranked anti-aircraft unit in the Army, they were selected for deployment overseas.

In the late summer of 1941 The 200th sailed from San Francisco to Honolulu. There they learned that their destination would be the Philippines, some 8,000 miles away from their homes in New Mexico. Most were slated for a six month tour of duty, but for the survivors it would five years before they returned home.

 "An easy post for a soldier"

The 200th was stationed at Fort Stotsenberg, north of Manila, there they served as anti-aircraft defense for Clark Field and its fleet of bombers and fighter planes. To their chagrin, they were forced to do so with the same outdated and now busted-up equipment that they had trained on back in the states. The men set out with grim determination to repair or replace what they could.
The  200th Coast Artillery's stay in the Philippines had been idyllic. Days were spent training and fixing their antiquated guns and equipment. The work day would usually end after their lunch break. The rest of the day was filled with athletic events, siestas or evening trips into Manila to savor the nightlife.
On Dec. 8th, 1941 (Dec. 7th. across the International Dateline) The Japanese launched attacks, first on Pearl Harbor and then on the Philippines. The soldiers braced themselves knowing that the American garrison was a trip wire, a speed bump set in place, not to fend off the attack, but to slow it down. 

"First in spite of hell"

Since the first reports of the attack on Pearl Harbor, American fighter planes had been flying  holding patterns above Clark Field. The plan was for U.S. bombers escorted by fighters to launch an attack on Japanese forces at Formosa. The fighters running low on fuel, landed for refueling, it was an ill timed move.

Jim Lujan was the first to hear the airplanes coming, like the other Native American's serving in the 200th Coast, he had the knack for picking up the sounds of the engines from a distance. As he scanned the horizon he quickly realized that those were not American planes that he heard. Within minutes air raid sirens sounded, a nervous rush of activity quickly followed, the men of the 200th Coast Artillery, manned their guns and looked to the sky. The New Mexico National Guard, activated into federal service nearly one year prior, found itself at the doorstep of hell.

"First to Fire"

Japanese aircraft swooped in dropping bombs and raining bullets, for the first time the men of the 200th fired their guns with live rounds. The American fighter planes were caught on the ground along with the Bomber squadron, all were decimated. At the end of the first day of battle, the 200th had downed five enemy planes, however two New Mexico soldiers lost theirs lives that day.

That night as Japanese attacks continued, the men of the 200th were split up, creating the 515th Coast Artillery, which was rapidly deployed to Manilla where intense Japanese air attacks were taking place. Born in combat, the 515th would be forged in fire.

For almost a month, the 200th defended Clark Field, on Jan. 1st. 1942 a retreat  to the more defensible Bataan Peninsula was ordered. Bringing their big guns along, they became infantry soldiers. The 200th was assigned to secure the bridges at Calumpit, once the retreat was complete they blew the bridges and took up defensive positions. The 515th, also found itself on the move, retreating from Manilla, towards Corregidor where they would be part of the force that came under siege after Gen. King's surrender.

"All For Country"

By April of 1942, American forces were in dire straits. They had held back the Japanese, but with many suffering from malaria and surviving on half rations or less with almost no medical care, they were at the end of their rope. Slowly they were being funneled south, they would soon have their backs against the ocean.  As casualties mounted, the men of the 200th and 515th found themselves thrown in with other units in the desperate fight for survival.

On April 9, 1942, the Luzon forces, under the command of Gen. Edward King  surrendered to the Japanese. These men, who numbered in the tens of thousands were herded by the Japanese to a central collection point at Balanga, from there they were marched 31 miles to San Fernando, where they were packed onto rail cars and shipped to Capas. Their final destination would be Camp O'Donnell, an abandoned American post that would serve as their prison.

Some of the first Americans captured were transported by trucks to San Fernando, but as the number of prisoners grew, the Japanese who were running low on fuel, resorted to a forced march.The Japanese command had calculated that it would take three day to cover the 70 miles on foot. Under orders to maintain this schedule Japanese officers drove the malnourished and dehydrated men relentlessly through the heat. That set the stage for an onslaught of inexcusable brutality by the Japanese.

"The Death March"

The Bataan Death March was not one long continuous march, it was a series of marches. The Japanese would gather men at Balanga and start them down the road in groups of a thousand or so. It would take over a week to move all the men from Balanga to Camp O'Donnell.  Some of the men in 200th & 515th were not subjected to the Death March. At least 100 arrived at Camp O'Donnell by truck. Some were held at Bilibid Prison in  Manila, others were assigned to details in other parts of the Philippines, some even escaped to join up with guerrilla groups in the mountains. 107 made their way to Corregidor, after Wainwright's surrender they were force marched through Manila, loaded on boxcars and shipped to Cabanatuan prison camp.

The Japanese had the option of being humane to their captives, but they chose not to do so. Their excuse that a soldier who surrenders is less than human, did not wash. Their officers and soldiers were the bi-product of a brutal society that placed little value on human life, their own or that of others. Even with the passage of time, Americans...New Mexicans must never forget this.

During the march, the men were beaten, they were denied water even when marching alongside flowing streams. Instead, they were made to drink out of maggot infested puddles, the penalty for stopping to fill a canteen was death. The fatigued and starving men had to keep moving, those who fell were bayoneted or run over by trucks. They were forbidden to talk or even look at their captors. Japanese officers rode through the men on horseback practicing with their samurai swords, killing a number of soldiers. Clean-up crews of Japanese soldiers followed behind the march, clubbing, stabbing or shooting any stragglers.

At San Fernando they were loaded into sweltering boxcars, packed like sardines. The men who succumbed  while in the cars, died on their feet.  Once the prisoners arrived at Camp O'Donnell, conditions weren't much improved, there was little food, water and no medicine to speak of.  Men were dying at the rate of 30-50 per day, thousands would eventually die at O'Donnell and Cabanatuan.

"The Measure of a Man"

They said Miguel "Moppy" Chaires was crazy, but to his fellow soldiers, especially those of the 200th Headquarters Battery, he was crazy as a fox. He was a little odd, but no one thought him insane, least of all the U.S. Army. Did some internal coping mechanism kick in that allowed him to survive his captivity or did he feint his condition?  The Japanese seemed to regard mental illness as being contagious, so when Moppy started running around on all fours barking at the top of his lungs, they gave him wide berth. At Cabanatuan, the guards took little interest in his comings and goings, he was no different than a dog.  Moppy took advantage of this oversight to wander out  of the camp and scavenge for food and medicine. Through his efforts several men who might otherwise be dead, lived to see their loved ones again.  Miguel Chaires survived the war and captivity, returning to his home in Deming. He was welcomed as a hero, Moppy never had to buy another drink again, it was the worse thing that could've happened to him. It wasn't long before he was wandering the streets of Deming in a drunken stupor. As the years went by, Demingites forgot about the incredible risks he had taken for his fellow soldiers. His brothers in arms of the 200th & 515th never forgot and when he passed away in 1975, he was laid to rest with full honors. 

 As the war wound down, it became apparent that the Americans would re-take the Phillippines. The Japanese started shipping the pows off to Japan or Manchuria aboard ships. These vessels were no better than the boxcars the men had been packed into at San Fernando. Many died during the journey, while others died when the unmarked ships were sunk by American bombs. The survivors were forced to work in mines and factories while suffering every form of depravity imagined.

Thousands of the men who survived combat, the death march, imprisonment, torture, the death ships and slave labor died within a year of returning to the states after the war. The prolonged hardships had compromised their health beyond repair. Most other survivors, although they would suffer from lifelong ailments related to their captivity, went on to live long and productive lives.  

"We are the battling bastards of Bataan,
No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam;
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces;
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces;
And nobody gives a damn."

"They were the first to fire and the last to lay down their arms and only reluctantly doing so after being given a direct order."  
(Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright, commander of the North Luzon Corps, praising the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery units.)