Pantingan River massacre
Part of the Bataan Death March
Portion of Bataan disinterment map highlighting the site of the Pantingan Massacre
LocationBataan, Luzon, Philippines
DateApril 12, 1942
Attack type
Massacre
Deaths400 American and Filipino prisoners of war[1]
PerpetratorsImperial Japanese Army

The Pantingan River massacre (Filipino: Pagpatay sa Ilog Pantingan) was the mass execution of Filipino and American officers and non-commissioned officers Prisoners-of-War by members of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Bataan Death March on April 12, 1942, in Bagac, Bataan.[2] Several hundred soldiers from the Philippine Commonwealth Army's 1st, 11th, 71st, and 91st Divisions on the march to the north of Mount Samat where the Pantingan River crosses the Pilar-Bagac Road were taken to the riverside. Most of them were hog tied with telephone wire, shot, bayoneted or beheaded by the Imperial Japanese Army.[3][2]

The atrocity was attributed to Japanese Colonel Masanobu Tsuji. Following Tsuji's abnormal order, which was considered to be a war crime and beyond his commission, the Japanese 122nd Regiment of 65th Brigade executed the US and Philippine soldiers in the Pantingan River.[4] Colonel Takeo Imai, of another Japanese regiment, doubted the authority of the order. Imai ignored the cruel order and did not execute anyone.[5][6][7]

Survivors of the massacre include Lt. Manuel Yan who later became the head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and ambassador to Thailand. Another survivor, Capt. Ricardo Papa, a G-3 Officer of the 91st Division later became a Chief of Police in Manila.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "FILIPINO SURVIVORS TELL OF SLAUGHTER; 400 Captives Killed on Bataan in Mass Outrage, Officers Testify at Homma Trial Homma Again Identified Officer Visibly Moved Japanese Is Convicted". The New York Times. 11 January 1946. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b Jackson, Nathan; Guiora, Amos (July 2021). "When Things Go Awry: Command Responsibility, Death Marches, and Unforeseeable Circumstances and Unforeseeable Circumstances". American Journal of Trade and Policy. 8 (2/2021): 12. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  3. ^ Mariano Villarin, We remember Bataan and Corregidor: the story of the American & Filipino defenders of Bataan and Corregidor and their captivity (Gateway Press, 1990), 176.
  4. ^ Norman, Michael & Norman, Elizabeth (2009-06-09). Tears in the Darkness (revised ed.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0374272609 / Mr.Imai Takeo "Shinajihen No Kaisou" (in Japanese) P.178-180
  5. ^ Mr.Imai Takeo "Shinajihen No Kaisou" (in Japanese) P.178-180
  6. ^ Nelson, Jim. "The Causes of the Bataan Death March Revisited". The US-Japan Dialogue on POWs. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  7. ^ East, Bob (2021). Mindoro and Lingayen Liberated: The Deliverance of the Philippines from the Japanese in WWII (PDF). United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-5275-6677-4. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  8. ^ Leocadio De Asis, The Thread of Fate: A Personal Story in Philippine-Japanese Relations (Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines: Philippine Foundation of Japan Alumni, 1986)., 16.

Categories