Remember – Service | Sacrifice
As World War II is fast fading from America’s first hand memory, we remember the most somber day in POW/MIA history. The Harrodsburg Tankers of Kentucky joined the Allied Forces in the Philippines, and valiantly held their ground against the Japanese in spite of low rations, malnutrition, and fatigue. On April 9, 1942, they were ordered to surrender Bataan. In the 90 mile “Bataan Death March” that followed, the prisoners were marched at night, and then forced to sit in the sun during the day without their hats. Those who fell behind in the march were executed on the spot.
William Gentry, one of the soldiers from Harrodsburg, Kentucky, said he was given seven canteens of water in the 11 days of marching, along with one ball of rice about the size of a baseball. Many in the 192nd Tank Battalion who survived the infamous March died from starvation and disease in the brutal prisoner of war camps.
Today, there stands a tank in Harrodsburg, KY honoring the men of 192 Tank Battalion, to serve as a visual remind of the cost of freedom and of lives sacrificed to preserve that precious right. Nearly all the surviving members of the 192nd Tank Battalion are gone, and many of those who chose to share their stories have since passed away. As one member of the B Company explained, “You’re asking me to tell you about something that I’ve spent the last fifty-five years trying to forget.”
To read more about the memorial visit: https://www.kynghistory.ky.gov/history/4qtr/Harrodsburg+Tankers.htm
Prayer by Dr. Philip S. Bernstein
