46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO RECOMMEND THAT THE SURVIVORS OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH BE HONORED FOR THEIR DEVOTION TO DUTY BY THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS AND PRESENTED WITH THE MEDAL OF HONOR.

WHEREAS, the members of the 200th coast artillery regiment of the New Mexico national guard were among the first American forces to engage the Japanese imperial army during the invasion of the Philippine Islands; and

WHEREAS, they 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, nine hundred of the one thousand eight hundred New Mexicans deployed survived 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 the survivors of the "Bataan Death March" by presenting them with the medal of honor; and

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