A memorial ceremony for the so-called "Bataan Death March," in which American soldiers and Filipino soldiers captured by the former Japan Army in the Philippines during the Pacific War are said to have walked more than 100 kilometers and many people died, was held on Mount Samat in the Philippines, one of the fierce battle sites.
The "Bataan Death March" is an incident in April 1942 at the beginning of the Pacific War, when the former Japan Army captured the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon Island in the Philippines, forcing about 4,7 captured American and Filipino soldiers to walk more than 100 kilometers to the POW camp, resulting in many deaths.
In the Philippines, the day when the U.S. Army and the Philippine Army surrendered to the former Japan Army is designated as a national holiday, and a memorial ceremony for the victims is held every year at the spiritual bottle of Mount Samat, which became one of the fierce battlefields.
In addition to President Marcos of the Philippines, the Japan Ambassador and the U.S. envoy also attended this year's ceremony, and the three of them comforted the spirits of the victims by laying flowers on the bottles.
At the ceremony, President Marcos said, "Those who once faced each other on the battlefield are now working together for peace," and called for security and economic unity among the three countries, including Japan and the United States.
A 3-year-old former Filipino soldier who experienced the Pacific War who attended the ceremony said, "I used to hate the old Japan army because they killed people, but the war is over and I don't hold a grudge now."