WORLD WAR II ATROCITY VICTIMS BURIED

FEB. 14, 1952 — Flags cover coffins of 123 American service men who were buried in a mass ceremony at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery today. The men were among 150 prisoners of war burned or shot to death by their Japanese guards on Palawan Island in the Philippines in December 1944. More than 300 relatives attended the service in which Catholic, Protestant and Jewish chaplains participated. It was the largest mass burial in barracks history.

Alberto Pacheco was one of only eleven escaped survivors of the Palawan Massacre. Six New Mexicans died in the flames on December 14, 1944 — five were 200th Coast Artillery men. Listen as he describes his escape to Corregidor at the surrender of Bataan.

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Leo Padilla

Hoten POW #589

1922 - 2010

“I wasn’t comfortable for years and years with what I had seen... I wouldn’t talk about it... I had nightmares. I’d wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and falling out of bed.”

There was that young red-headed soldier, maybe 20 years old, from the Midwest — killed by a firing squad ... He watched another young man spend hours digging a hole, and upon completion, fall into it with a fresh bullet hole in the back of his head.

“I drank the water from the side of the street. When I got through drinking, I looked up and I saw a couple of dead bodies in front of me. It was . . . it was terrible.”

“We were just kids,” he said. “By the time it was over, we were different people...”

Rick A. Maese for the

Albuquerque Tribune

Padilla & Gov. David Cargo

MAR 10, 2010 — “Leo Padilla will be forever celebrated as a national hero for his courageous effort for first defending against a Japanese takeover of the Philippines, and then for enduring one of the most horrific episodes of brutality ever imposed upon mankind. The free world today owes a great deal to Leo and his fellow soldiers who endured the tortures of the Bataan Death March so the world could remain free. We’ve lost a true hero.”

— New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services Cabinet Secretary John Garcia

See: Mukden POWs

Photos courtesy of Patty Mancha

Bataan-Corregidor Memorial

Deming, New Mexico

Deming, then a town of 5,241 people, contributed 83 Guardsmen, plus 10 in other units, to the defense of Bataan and Corregidor. Thirty-eight did not return.

— Eva Jane Matson

The Bataan-Corregidor Memorial was the inspiration of Thelma Pelayo, wife of Lee Pelayo, and Ruth Brown, curator of the Deming Luna Membres Museum. It was designed by artist Michael Ochoa.

When the monument was dedicated on 19 April 1991, the City of Deming declared a holiday, schools closed so students could participate in the activities. More than fifty former prisoners-of-war were in attendance.

Juan B. Peña

As A Track Student
Santa Fe Indian School

From Santa Ana Pueblo, Juan Peña was the first Indian in the 200th Coast Artillery to lose his life — killed in action on Bataan. He was the son of former Pueblo Governor Manuel Peña, who, on hearing of his son's death, said in part:

“I hate war. I feel the loss of my son very much. I feel the same for every American boy who has lost his life and to those who will leave their homes.

“On behalf of the Indians in New Mexico, I wish to say to the public that we Indians are doing everything we can to help win this war. We have many of our sons in the the air, on the oceans, as well as on the land. We are buying War Stamps and Bonds; we are planting much more this year.

“To each of you, I ask that you give every effort to win this war quickly. I pray every night before retiring, for every soldier and all those who are helping.”

Tom Perea Reported Safe In Philippines War Zone

FEB. 21, 1942 — The War Department Friday replied to a letter from an anxious Albuquerque mother who was worried about the safety of her son in the Philippine war zone. Mrs. Estevan Perea, 200 East New York, was told that her son, Tom Perea, was “not shown on any casualty list,” and that she would be notified in case of emergency. The letter pointed out that under the “present situation” the War Department cannot know the present status of any enlisted man, and that mail service with the Philippines has been “temporarily suspended.”

* * *

Tom Perea would perish in Cabanatuan prisoner of war camp on July 18, 1942.

Michael Pulice

Mike Pulice was one of only 82 POWs who survived the sinking of the Shinyo Maru on September 7, 1944. He swam for more than 24 hours through shark-infested waters with a severely injured leg, and was later rescued by Philippine Guerrillas. Pulice provided personal testimony for the Japanese war crimes trials in 1946. He was also designated the Army representative to accept the first 3cent Bataan memorial postage stamp presented by President Harry S. Truman.