ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Families and supporters will take part in a memorial march in Alexandria, Virginia Saturday to honor the Filipino and American soldiers who endured the Bataan Death March.
In April 1942, between 60,000 to 80,000 Filipino and American soldiers were forcibly taken by the Imperial Japanese Army. The prisoners of war were forced to march 66 miles. Ten thousand prisoners died, 9,000 of whom were Filipinos.
More than 100 people have signed up for the memorial march which will begin and end at the Marina on Daingerfield Island. The march will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 1 p.m.
People can walk 14, 10 or six miles to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Bataan Death March.
Among those marching is Gina Ortiz Jones, Under Secretary of the U.S. Air Force and the highest-ranking Filipino American official in the Biden Administration.
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