ABSTRACT
The Japanese assumed that only twenty-five thousand to thirty-five thousand military people were on Bataan. The number of people in Bataan at the time of the surrender was closer to 105,000. The number that actually started the infamous Bataan Death March has been estimated at 65,000 Filipino servicemen, 28,000 civilians, and 12,000 Americans—considerably more than the Japanese had estimated. Actually, after looking at a map of the Philippine Islands and especially of Bataan, it is easy to see that the Japanese could have saved themselves a great deal of trouble. The Japanese assumed that the enemy forces were in good physical condition and capable of a sustained march without much food or water. The Japanese guards fired several shots at point-blank range into the men's prostrate bodies. The Japanese guards, also unable to bear the horrible smell, closed the doors to the warehouse, put a padlock on them, and kept watch from outside.
