Dozens gather to remember New Mexicans who served at Bataan, 82 years later

Apr. 6—More than 1,800 New Mexicans fought the Japanese army in the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines.

In the end, after the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March and years in prisoner of war camps, 813 of those World War II soldiers never made it home.

Now, eight decades after Bataan fell, only one of those New Mexican soldiers is still alive: Valdemar DeHerrera. He turned 104 in September.

For the 82nd anniversary, dozens gathered Saturday morning at Bataan Park in Albuquerque — where the soldiers' names are etched in stone pillars — to memorialize those who served.

One by one, the relatives of those who had fought in the battle stood and said the soldier's name, followed by "here," as the soldier would in a roll call.

Names like Evans Garcia, Ernest Montoya and John Mirabal.

"Every single gentleman that's listed on one of these pillars has passed away, except for Mr. DeHerrera," Agapito J. Silva said. Silva's father, Bataan survivor Agapito E. Silva, died on Father's Day 2007 at the age of 87.

Silva asked those in the crowd to find a name on the pillar.

"Touch the name and hold it to your heart, hold it to your memory," Silva said. "We can't forget."

He then recalled something his father said after the pillars were erected in 2002: "One day my children will have children. I want them to be able to come to this park, point to my name and say, 'There is Agapito Silva, my grandpa. He was in Bataan.'"

During the event, organized by the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Foundation of New Mexico, a sign was hung that said "Free Bataan" and relatives laid a wreath at the memorial.

The families gathered huddled against the whipping winds that made the American and New Mexico flags fly straight as "Amazing Grace" was played over bagpipes.

Silva said his father, who knew DeHerrera personally, was told by doctors that he would never have children, and probably not live a full life, due to what he endured as a prisoner of war, such as malaria and other diseases.

"So he lived to 87 and had seven kids," Silva said with a laugh.

Ramon Flores, a history teacher at the University of New Mexico, told the crowd how the U.S. military did not take the threat from Japan seriously and, as a result, did not prepare or adequately warn the troops at Bataan.

Flores said it was made so that those at Bataan — and Pearl Harbor — were "caught with their pants down" on Dec. 8, 1941. He said the incoming Japanese bombers were spotted from 130 miles away, but "the bulk of American aircraft were left on the tarmac, ready for Japanese target practice."

"Unfortunately, when I finish, you might be disturbed or infuriated... but the story of what happened in December 1941 is infuriating," he said.

Flores added, "These people were betrayed, betrayed by their own country and left in an impossible situation."

He then warned of a conflict currently brewing in the Western Pacific, one that he believes will lead to a confrontation between the U.S. and China. Flores asked aloud if the country had learned its lesson in the fall of Bataan, to take threats abroad seriously, to be prepared.

"The question that this day presents is: did we learn the lesson?... I'm sure that, wherever our ancestors are — que descansa en paz — that they are posing the same question to us," he said.