A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO RECOMMEND THAT THE NEW MEXICO PRISONERS OF WAR OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH BE HONORED FOR THEIR DEVOTION TO DUTY BY THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS.

WHEREAS, New Mexico military forces were among the first American forces to engage the Japanese imperial army during the invasion of the Philippine Islands and were the last to be captured at the fall of Bataan and Corregidor in April 1942; and

WHEREAS, thousands were force-marched sixty-five miles in the infamous "Bataan Death March"; and

WHEREAS, they were held as prisoners of war and transported to Japan, Manchuria and other locations, and most of them were used as slave labor and denied proper nutrition and medical care; and

WHEREAS, thousands of New Mexicans deployed suffered captivity and subsequently became known as "the battling bastards of Bataan";

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to recommend that the United States congress honor and recognize all the prisoners of war of the "Bataan Death March" by presenting them with recognition in keeping with military tradition and commensurate with their sacrifice and devotion to duty by awarding either a bronze star or a combat infantry badge; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation.