Listen as Dr. Bleil tells about the initial Japanese attack on the Philippine Islands which happened at the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack. Dr. Bleil was a Army Air Corps aircraft mechanic but was pressed into the Infantry on the Bataan Peninsula to fight the Japanese Imperial Army who were on the attack all over the Southwest Pacific. He was given only 15 minutes of infantry training, he was issued a WW I weapon the 1903 Springfield rifle. He quickly found a 27 Caliber machine gun and fought for his very life for the next two and a half months while loosing about 50 lbs from lack of food. All the men on Bataan were surrendered on April 9th 1942 by Gen. James King the Artillery Officer who thought he would be court martial-ed after the war. If he had not countermanded Gen. MacArthur orders the Japanese would have slaughtered about 75,000 Filipino and American troops. After the surrender the Japanese started the infamous Bataan Death March which Dr. Bleil will describe in great detail.
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