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.