Bataan Death March 2009

Sunday, March 29^th, 2009 16 Cadets from the University of Wyoming Army ROTC participated in one of the most difficult races in the United States. The Bataan Death March in New Mexico is designed to be difficult and requires mental and physical fortitude.

April 1942, thousands of American and Filipino soldiers embarked on a 90 mile forced death march following the fall of the Philippines. Along the route thousands died from exhaustion, disease, malnutrition, and by Japanese soldiers. Conditions never improved for these brave soldiers who were tortured and murdered by their captives. 54,000 of the original 75,000 reached their destination in what was to be known to the world as the Bataan Death March.

For 20 years now, soldiers and civilians from all over the world gather in White Sands New Mexico to honor those brave men who perished on the 90 mile trek and to meet those who survived. The survivors tell ghastly stories of their experience; one can only imagine the agony and pain that they endured. In the name of those heroes, thousands test their will and determination by attempting a 26.2 mile march through the high desert of New Mexico. "The spirit of Bataan and of all the victims and veterans was ominous and could be felt by all who attended" said Abner Gonzalez.

For the past three months, cadets from the University of Wyoming Army ROTC Battalion have trained rigorously for this event. Led by Cadet Casey Dschaak, the cadets trained six days a week starting well before most people in Laramie even woke up. The cadets trained in several different categories. The military heavy division requires the  participants to wear the Army Combat Uniform, combat boots, and carry a rucksack that must weigh at least 35 pounds. In addition to the five man heavy team there were five cadets that ran the course individually with a rucksack and five that ran the course in the military light division, wearing a camel back. After three months of training these cadets ran more than 260 miles in and around Laramie and were prepared for the race.

For the returning cadets the course was still as tough as they remembered. "You remember every hill, turn, and obstacle. You know that it only gets worse" said Cadet Nemec. It was not any easier for the new cadets; one cadet said "Nothing but the actual race could have prepared me for this. It was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life." The course can be broken into different sections. The first is a 7 mile stretch of relatively flat ground followed by a hill that seems to last forever. Cadet Cranmer said "When I got to the hill all I could see was a road that went straight up the mountain for what seemed to be forever." The hill is approximately 4 miles long. Once at the top of the mountain you must then run down. This may seem to be easy at first, but the downhill portion is about six miles long and the beating ones' joints must absorbe soon becomes overwhelming. Once off the mountain, you enter the sand trap. This is two miles of beach sand that some think the creators of the race imported to make that section more difficult. Just before you enter the sand trap every joint in your body hurts, once you leave it every joint still hurts but now all your muscles burn. Cadet Cranmer said "By far the worst part is the sand trap." Then you reach mile marker 23 and you think it's almost over but you then spend the next 3.2 miles running along a wall that never ends. At mile 26 you get to the end of the wall and the finish line is only 300 meters away. All pain leaves your body and all you can think about is crossing the finish line. There are hundreds of supporters that are cheering you on. It is an overwhelming moment. The entire time, with as much pain as you may be feeling, you know that it does not even compare to the agony of the actual Bataan Death March.

For the second year in a row Wyoming Army ROTC won the ROTC military heavy team division, finishing in 6:13. The team included Logan Dannemiller (Sheridan, Wyoming), Dustin Wambach (Guernsey, Wyoming), Geoffrey Dean (Colorado Springs, Colorado), Casey Dschaak (Belle Fourche, South Dakota), and Benjamin Nemec (Houston, Texas). Also, Luke Meyer (Cheyenne, Wyoming), finished first in his age group for military heavy. Katie Cranmer (Meredith, New Hampshire) and Rowdy Fichtner (Burns, Wyoming) finished first in their age group for military Light. Overall Wyoming took first place in 4 categories. The other who ran in the heavy category included; Christopher Kaiser (Avon, Indiana), Levi Coulter (Laramie, Wyoming), Zebulun Coulter (Laramie, Wyoming), Bryan Radkey (Dubois, Wyoming), and MSG Mathew Origer (Estherville, Indiana). The other light participants are; Abner Gonzalez (Killeen, Texas), Cheyenne Walsh (Chugiak, Alaska), James Vaughan (Longmont Colorado), and CPT Dean Hunhoff (Cheyenne, Wyoming).

Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2009