Some of the marchers were marching to commemorate the life of a father, grandfather, uncle or a relative of a friend. For motivation some said they kept in mind the Bataan soldiers and their suffering. “Every time you start feeling tired, you think about them and this is nothing compared to what they had to go through.”  

The following information was given out to the marchers, so it would be easier for them to enter the event area the morning of the march. “Motorists are asked to have their vehicle pass prominently displayed in their windshield and to have their IDs ready when they are entering the post” “Passengers must also have their IDs ready. Personnel who do not have a picture ID will experience lengthy delays outside the gate while their information is completely checked. Motorists should not be surprised if they or their vehicle(s) are searched. “Everyone is subject to search.” Marchers should plan on arriving at the gates no later than 4:30 a.m. Motorists coming in from the El Paso gate are asked not to come in after 4:45 a.m., or they will run the risk of being stuck in traffic. Martin Luther King Avenue will be closed to all traffic at 5:30 a.m. …

Katy, our neighbor, had given Steve and Rick stickers for the march. Steve had picked out the one with the Garmin saying. Between Holan giving Steve a Garmin watch for Christmas and the lack of food and sleep, it turned out to be very appropriate. Steve and Rick spent the night at a hotel in Las Cruces, NM so it would not be as far to drive the morning of the race. It was late (around 11:15) when they got to the hotel because of a late dinner and the drive. After checking into the hotel, Steve continued to have chills so Rick kept adjusting the temp to keep him warm. As the night went on they did not get much sleep. The hotel started serving breakfast at 3:00 for those doing the Death March. Steve went down and got something to eat but Rick did not. These are the …

From the start line (blue star at the South end of the map) the routes go counterclockwise. The numerically marked (1-12) blue drops indicate the water points. The red stars indicate medical stations. On the 26.2 mile course, Steve and Rick did, proceeds Northwest from Water Point 4/8, circling a small mountain known as Mineral Hill. Returning to Water Station 4/8, marchers travel south along the paved road covered earlier in the route. The course then veers West along dirt and sand trails, coming up the backside of the White Sands community returning to the finish line. The area known as the “Sand Pit,” featuring deep sand comes after Water Station 9. but, the dirt trails elsewhere along the route can be sandy and dusty as well. This is particularly true of the stretch between Water Station 1 and Water Station 3. This is a map of the “staging” area …

It is Friday and time to pick Rick up at the airport. After collecting Rick, we head to White Sands Missile Range, NM, about an hour drive from El Paso, to pick up the registration packets for Sunday. The Missile Range is secluded and nestled at the base of two large mountain ranges with nothing around it for 50 miles. Its isolation is expected since it was the testing ground of the Trinity Project, the test of the Atomic Bomb during World War II. Steve was not feeling well. It had all started on Monday with diarrhea but things turned really bad this morning. He thinks that, after starting the day with vomiting, he has picked up some food poison from his Mexican food last night. We are hoping things improve by tomorrow so he can carb up for the march on Sunday. Registration packets could be picked up starting …

No Mama, No Papa, No Uncle Sam The Bataan Memorial Death March is a challenging march through the high desert terrain of White Sands Missile Range, conducted in honor the the heroic service members who defended the Philippine Island during World War II, sacrificing their freedom, health and in many cases their lives In April 1942, after General Edward King surrendered the Philippines’ Bataan Peninsula to the Japanese, the largest surrender in U.S. history since the Civil War, almost 800,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers, after a 98 day siege, were forced to march for 10 days more than 65 miles to an internment camp.  The disease ridden and malnourished prisoners were largely denied food and water. Those could keep up were bayoneted, shot for sport or beheaded. By the of the journey, thousands of men had died. “This picture, captured from the Japanese, shows American prisoners using improvised litters to …