Bataan Day honored the 32 Port Clinton men who were forced to walk in the Bataan Death March. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

Shortly after Virginia Carr’s parents passed away, she was sorting belongings in their basement and discovered her father’s Army uniform. Her father, Virgil Janes, was among the 32 Port Clinton men who fought in the Battle of Bataan against Japanese forces during World War II and was one of only ten of that group that survived the Bataan Death March. The march was a traumatic 65-mile forced walk that took prisoners of war (POW) across the Philippine province of Bataan.

On Nov. 15, Bataan Memorial Elementary School hosted Bataan Day, a day of remembrance and honor to the brave 32 sons of Port Clinton who served and sacrificed for their country. Carr and Jane’s niece, Linda Sutherland, attended the event.

Virginia Carr, left, and Linda Sutherland look at Carr’s father’s Army jacket on display at Bataan Memorial Elementary School. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

The conditions of the Bataan Death March were torturous. The men walked in extreme heat and humidity, with little food or medical care. Many died of starvation and some were killed, “just because,” said Bataan Day speaker Jonathan Marvicsin.

Carr had no idea her parents had kept her father’s Army uniform for so long, but it wasn’t the only secret he kept.

“He did not talk much about Bataan,” she said. “I’m sure it affected him. The fact that he didn’t talk about it tells a lot.”

Virgil Janes was one of the few men who survived the Bataan Death March. His jacket, shown here, is on display at Bataan Memorial Elementary School. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Occasionally, Janes would share brief stories that expressed the horrors of his experience. He told Carr about the Hell Ship that transported POWs, where the close confines were nearly suffocating.

“My dad told me that one time he tried to get a friend an aspirin because he was sick, and he got caught. He was forced to kneel on gravel with his pants off for hours,” Carr said.

The discovery of her father’s jacket created a new connection to his service and sacrifice.

Students share information about the Bataan Death March on Bataan Day. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

“I was in tears. I didn’t know my parents kept it all these years,” she said.

Janes’ jacket is on permanent loan to Bataan Memorial Elementary School, where it is on display with other Bataan artifacts. Carr is grateful that the school maintains the display and hosts Bataan Day every year to keep the men’s memory alive.

“It’s touching,” Carr said of Bataan Day. “This was my school. I remember seeing my dad staring at it when they first built it. I think he was proud, that they built something that honored him and the other men.”

Bataan Day speaker Jonathan Marvicsin spoke before a large crowd who gathered to honor the Port Clinton men who suffered in the Bataan Death March. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Bataan Day paid homage to the 32 men from Port Clinton who were forced into the Bataan Death March, and it served as a way to ensure that students understand the solemn significance to their school’s name. Like them, the men were once young children whose lives revolved around school and play. On Nov. 29, 1940, those men departed Port Clinton for an unknown future full of horror and sacrifice. Most didn’t return.

Bataan Memorial Principal Morgan Siefke said the men were ordinary men who responded in an extraordinary way.

A student prepares to walk through the crowd with a pinwheel to honor a Bataan Death March victim. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

“They were extremely brave, courageous and fearless,” she said.

Marvicsin, an Army veteran, told the story of the Bataan Death March and ended with a challenge to the students. He encouraged them to pause the next time they walked past the Bataan monument in the front of the school and reflect on the men it honors.

“The next time you walk by the memorial, take a moment to think about what you learned today. Think about those brave men,” he said. “You will be honoring the memory of their sacrifice.”