BRO Pushes Hunt for Way To Aid Bataan Prisoners

Nearly $2000 Contributed for Plan As Army Reveals Regiment Captured

(AP) APR. 18, 1942 — With the bulk of more than 1400 of its sons officially given up as lost on Bataan Peninsula, New Mexico moved in grim earnest Friday to seek means of sending them food and supplies through the Japanese lines . . .

Although barely a week old, the BRO was in possession of contributions already nearing the $2000 mark, said Dr. V. H. Spensley, chairman of the organization and the man behind the idea.

From New York, Chicago, and Oklahoma came messages and pledges of co-operation.

The grim realities of war were driven home when official sources said Friday it could be presumed New Mexico's own 200th anti-Aircraft regiment was on Bataan when it was overwhelmed by the Japanese invader. The loss reached into every principal city and town in the state.

Spensley said he had been amazed at the reception given his proposal to send medical supplies, food and clothing to “The boys out there.”

“We had hoped that possibly the idea might grow to a statewide basis,” he said. “But the attitude of persons outside New Mexico who have dear ones in the Philippines has exceeded anything in our expectations.

“We are not ready to undertake formation of the BRO on a national scale, but we would be highly pleased to see the plan spread to other states.”

Unusual Crowd Expected for Tilt In Tingley Park

Benefit Believed Likely To Attract Others Than Ardent Fans

By Paul Weeks

Albuquerque Journal Sports Writer

APR. 26, 1942 — The Albuquerque Dukes and the Army Air Base Kellys, regarded here like the Cubs and the White Sox in Chicago, will hook up in an exhibition at Tingley Park Sunday afternoon, before what is likely to be the strangest crowd ever to sit in on a game in these parts.

All receipts from the game will go to Bataan relief, and that is expected to attract customers who never saw a baseball game outside of the sandlots in their lives — much les ever raised their voice at an umpire.

Mothers, fathers, cousins and friends of the gallant men lost on Bataan plus dignitaries of the city's civilian and military life will be on hand at 2:30 when Dr. V. H. Spensley, chairman of the Bataan Relief Organization, opens the affair with a few words over the public address system.

Following the January 28, 1944 release of a joint Army and Navy report of Japanese atrocities against prisoners of war compiled from the sworn statements of a group of escaped prisoners — information kept secret for over a year — the Associated Press reported on the meeting of 34 Bataan relief organizations headed by Dr. V. H. Spensley in Washington, DC on February 10, 1944:

Senator Chavez, (d., N. M.) told those in the meeting that they had “the solemn and serious business” of seeing to it that relief goes to prisoners of the Japanese.

“Toward this end, leave no stone unturned,” he urged. “Contact your representatives in congress . . . Do not hesitate to pester them to the point of mutual exasperation, if need be.”

Chavez said that “because for the first time in history an American general has had to lay down his sword, is no reason that something should not be done” for the men trapped by the Japanese.

He advised the organization to “act in the thought that a dutiful government will do what it can.”

“We insist that something be done,” he declared. “You have the right to express yourselves and petition — that's what your boys died for on Bataan.”

Chavez said that “a month or so ago someone in the FBI called me up and asked me if I couldn't do something to get Dr. Spensley to keep quiet.”

He said it was alleged that Dr. Spensley was lowering the morale of New Mexican families, many of whose sons died or were captured in the Philippines, thru his activities and criticism of government policy.

Charlton to Remain On Relief Plea Job

(Full Article)

AUG. 5, 1943 (AP) — Washington, D.C. — Brig. Gen. R. C. Charlton, state adjutant general probably will stay in Washington temporarily to act as liaison between the war department and relatives of New Mexico's 200th, lost with the fall of Bataan and Corregidor.

Blythe McCollum, Charlton, and Dr. V. H. Spensley, chairman of the Bataan Relief Organization, have conferred with Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Gen. George C. Marshall, chief of staff, and the provost marshal of the army.

“We feel a lot better about our boys,” McCollum said. “We've found out that every thing possible is being done and that plans are being worked on for getting food and medical supplies through although officials are not at liberty to disclose such plans.”