Bataan Death March survivor dies

Another of the last survivors of the Bataan Death March has passed away, various reports said.

 

According to KOAT Albuquerque, 96-year-old Elias Saavedra of San Rafael, New Mexico died Wednesday morning (US time). He was the last survivor of the Death March from the state's Cibola County. 

 

A separate report from Associated Press quoted Saavedra's son, Alfred, as saying his father -- who battled a number of illnesses -- died of natural causes in his home in San Rafael, where he went back post-war. 

 

Saavedra, who served with the New Mexico National Guard's 200th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II, was among the 1,800 men from that state who was forced into what became known as the Bataan Death March.

 

The death march involved some 75,000 Filipino and American soldiers, who endured a 104.6 kilometer trek to prison camps in Tarlac – while deprived of food, water, and medical care – after US forces surrendered to the Japanese in Bataan and Corregidor Island in April 1942.

 

According to a testimony on the Cibola County Historical Society website, the San Rafael native became "a Grants businessman" after returning to his hometown, and was known not to talk about his experience, even when he participated in commemmorative events. 

 

Saavedra will be buried in San Rafael with full military honors on Saturday (US time), the KOAT report said. — Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/RSJ, GMA News