Yuma Marines march in honor of Bataan vets

White Sands Missile Range, N.M. - Four Yuma Marines recently completed the 2008 Bataan Memorial Death March here.

The annual march is held to remember the World War II imprisonment of American and Filipino service members who surrendered to Japanese forces in April 1942. For days, the prisoners of war marched across 90 miles in the Philippine heat with little food and water.

The four Yuma-based Marines, carrying 35-pound packs, completed the 26.2-mile course in 9 hours, 51 minutes.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Randolph Mann, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Francisco Camilo, Gunnery Sgt. Fred Suniga and Cpl. Jose Garciacastro, who work at Yuma's Installation Personnel Administration Center, have been training for the hike since October 2007.

The opening ceremonies of the 19th annual march recognized all of Bataan's survivors and victims as well as those participating in the march.

"Today is about more than just a march or a marathon. Today is about an epic that should never be forgotten," said Army Brig. Gen. Rick McCabe, White Sands Missile Range commanding general.

"Your mission is not just to successfully complete this event, but it is to carry an important message and legacy into the future."

The team set off at a run, passing some of the 4,400 participants, the most of any of the past marches. Each person was equipped with a microchip that recorded their overall time and time between each check point.

"The plan was to run the first six miles, but the change in altitude really caught up to us," said Mann, a West Springfield, Mass., native. "After about 2 1/2 strong miles, we really began to fade."

Elevation for the majority of the course was around 4,000 feet above sea level. While ascending Mineral Hill, the hikers climbed to more than a mile above sea level before heading back down.

"The lack of oxygen really took its toll," said Mann. As they circled Mineral Hill, Suniga began to fall back from the group because of a swollen ankle.

"I wasn't able to put my boot back on because my ankle was so big," said Suniga. "The docs were talking about making me call it quits. I said, 'heck no!'"

The team continued without Suniga so he could be treated. After conquering the hill, the team still had seven more miles to go, including a portion of the trail known as "the sand pits."

"In the sand pits, my legs gave out. It was slightly uphill, but it got me real good," said Garciacastro, a Brewster, Wash., native who carried a Marine Corps flag the entire race.

Once Suniga, a Phoenix native, rejoined the team they headed to the end where Suniga's children joined them for the final steps of the march.

The Marines collapsed on a portion of grass a couple hundred feet past the finish line and didn't move for two hours, as their friends and family brought food and refreshments.

"Thirty-five pounds on your back, 26 miles-that's no joke," said Garciacastro, as the group relaxed on the ground.

"That's a lot whether you have a lot on your back or not," added Camilo, a Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, native.

The months of training in Yuma helped out significantly, said Garciacastro. "We ran out of oxygen but I know already that my muscles will be fine within a week. After our first hike in training I was sore for an entire month," he said.

Despite temperatures in the low 80s, gusty winds hampered the participants' momentum at times.

"This is my fifth time doing this, and it's never been so windy," said Felix Lugo, a former Army specialist who has carried an American flag every year.

The event was easily summed up by Mann, a former drill instructor, during the daylong drive back to Yuma.

"It's the toughest thing I've ever done."


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Lance Cpl. Gregory Aalto writes for The Desert Warrior, the newspaper of the Marine Corps Air Station, from which this story is reprinted.