We’ve featured Mount Samat Shrine last year and this WWII monument is a tribute to all the Filipino and American soldiers that died when Bataan and Corregidor fell to the Empire of Japan and also for those that succumbed later during the infamous Bataan Death March. Well, there is a very simple monument in Capas, Tarlac (where the Death March prisoners where ultimately brought to) as a memorial specifically for the Death March itself and this is the Death March Memorial.
This memorial is a simple inverted-V-shaped concrete monument (quite visible in Google Maps) with a bas-relief sculpture at the base depicting the inhumanity of the Death March. The monument is poorly maintained and has become a mere playground and park for the residents of the area. The monument is located along MacArthur Highway about 7 kilometers from Bamban Bridge on the route going to Baguio from Manila. I’m sure a lot of travelers to Baguio have seen this monument but don’t recognize its significance.
This photo gallery contains some nice pictures of the monument and its sorry state of maintenance. Fortunately, there is a newer and better-maintained (and more fitting) tribute to the heroes of the Death March over at Camp O’Donnell several kilometers to the northwest. We’ll be featuring this new Death March monument sometime in the near future.
Download KML file (for Google Earth)
2 people have responsed to “Old Capas Death March Monument”
Interesting. By the way I like the combination of popular places and somewhat obscure ones on this site.
On another note, the Lakbayan site (which is how I found this blog) – I am hoping I can save the data so we can keep track of our travels? Or can we do that already? Thanks!
@Tina, glad that you like the blog!
About Lakbayan, you should’ve saved the “update” URL that is shown in the results page. That URL let’s you update your travel map. 