On the wall of the mountain behind the Colonnade. This is the sixth among the seven plaques on the wall.

Plaque

A rectangular bronze plaque commemorating the US and Philippines Armed Forces for defending the Bataan Peninsula from January to April 1942. The inscription is written in English in raised lettering. The insignia of the Departments of the Army and the Air Force National Guard Bureau is the relief above the commemoration message. The plaque is dedicated on April 9, 1998.

The Battle of Bataan (Tagalog: Labanan sa Bataan; January 7 – April 9, 1942) was fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Japan. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II. In January 1942, forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy invaded Luzon along with several islands in the Philippine Archipelago after the bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor.

The commander-in-chief of the U.S. and Filipino forces in the islands, General Douglas MacArthur, consolidated all of his Luzon-based units on the Bataan Peninsula to fight against the Japanese army. By this time, the Japanese controlled nearly all of Southeast Asia. The Bataan Peninsula and the island of Corregidor were the only remaining Allied strongholds in the region.

Despite their lack of supplies, American and Filipino forces managed to fight the Japanese for three months, engaging them initially in a fighting retreat southward. As the combined American and Filipino forces made a last stand, the delay cost the Japanese valuable time and prevented immediate victory across the Pacific. The American surrender at Bataan to the Japanese, with 76,000 soldiers surrendering in the Philippines altogether, was the largest in American and Filipino military histories and was the largest United States surrender since the American Civil War's Battle of Harpers Ferry. Soon afterward, U.S. and Filipino prisoners of war were forced into the Bataan Death March. The U.S. soldiers were from the multiple branches of the U.S. military: Army, Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marines. The POWs would not see freedom until 1945 when U.S.-Filipino forces recaptured the lost territory. 

Source of information: en.wikipedia.org, bataanmarch.com

Dedicated to the memory of the men

and women of the Armed Forces of

the United States and the Philippines

who defended the Bataan Peninsula

from January 1942 to April 1942.

The American and Filipino people will

never forget their courage and sacrifice.

Dedicated April 9, 1998

By

Lt. Gen. Edward D. Baca

Chief, National Guard Bureau