Filipino American National Historical Society

No commemoration can be considered too small when the sacrifice has been as big as the Bataan Death March, which spanned six days over 90 miles, starting on April 9, 1942 at Mariveles, The Philippines, and ending at Camp O’Donnell (later moving to Camp Cabanatuan).

The Five Corners Branch Library hosted an exhibit of photographs honoring those American and Filipino soldiers from Hudson County who were veterans of World War II Philippines, for a two-week period – Monday, June 18th to Friday, June 29th – in its 2nd Floor exhibit area.

The graphic documents displayed depicted wartime Philippines by Americans from Hudson County and the Filipino veterans that settled in New Jersey. This exhibit also commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Bataan Death March, the grueling travel by foot forced upon over 75,000 POWs (66,000 Filipinos & 11,796 Americans) when the Japanese captured the southern area of the Bataan peninsula.

The photographic exhibit is sponsored by the Filipino American National Historical Society, New Jersey Chapter, and is supported by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities as part of an introduction to oral history veteran’s project.

According to the Society’s president, Nestor Palugod Enriquez, these photographs create real-life understanding of the people from New Jersey that “sent their sons and daughters to a distant outpost to keep the battlegrounds outside the shores. The sacrifice of the civilian, men and women working in Bayonne, Camden shipyards and other war factories will not be forgotten, either.”

The Opening Reception was held on Monday, June 18th at 6 p.m, with the exhibit being available for viewing during the Five Corners Branch summer hours.
For information on the Filipino American National Historical Society, contact NJ Chapter President Nestor Palugod Enriquez by e-mail, www.filipinohome.com, or by telephone, 201-332-6410. Mr. Enriquez is in search for the very few remaining veterans who participated in the battles in the Philippines for this oral history project.