Photo By Command Sgt. Maj. Ryan Matson | Spc. Adam Gross, 1209th Medical Company (Area Support), ruck marches during the 1st...... read more read more
The New Mexico National Guard’s 1209th Medical Company (Area Support) carried a well-known piece of home with them overseas when they hosted the 1st Annual Bataan Memorial Death March on Powidz Air Base in Powidz, Poland, March 6.
“One of our TAG’s (The Adjutant General’s) biggest things when we left to come here was, ‘leave a piece of New Mexico here in Poland,’” Sgt. Chris Pawlowski, a medic with the 1209th from Albuquerque, New Mexico, said. By hosting the event in Poland, the 1209th was able to accomplish that.
Ironically, Pawlowski was participating in an event honoring brave Polish citizens and Soldiers of World War II when he came up with the idea to honor American World War II prisoners of war here in Poland.
“We were on a 10-mile pilgrimage with the Polish Army, and we were talking about how it would be cool if we could do the Bataan Death March here,” Spc. Mallorie Terrell, a cook in the 1209th from Las Cruces, New Mexico, said.
During the pilgrimage, Terrell, Pawlowski and some fellow American Soldiers walked with Polish citizens and Soldiers to a neighboring town to commemorate the Polish Soldiers during the Polish Uprising of World War II who snuck through the woods to capture German Soldiers.
This experience gave Pawlowski the idea to bring the Bataan Memorial Death March an event held annually at White Sands Missle Range in New Mexico each year to commemorate the American World War II servicemembers who were force-marched 65 miles to confinement camps in the Philippines by the Japanese Army, to Poland. The 1209th is mobilized to Poland to provide medical support as part of Atlantic Resolve.
The Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands, New Mexico, is a grueling marathon through the desert in which participants run or ruck march the course. The event is special because participants are afforded the chance to meet some of the last remaining survivors of the march in World War II. Since the Bataan Memorial Death March in White Sands was recently canceled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Terrell and Pawlowski’s event may be the only Bataan memorial march to take place this year.
Pawlowski said he had provided medical support for the event in New Mexico, and had even had the honor of wheeling out some of the last few survivors of the historical event to meet participants, but he had never participated in the event himself.
The Polish came out to support the event. Eleven Polish Soldiers joined the 40 American participants. The event, which was organized by Terrell, did have some minor differences between the event in New Mexico.
The distances were slightly different, since Terrell said she could only get a 4-mile loop on the airfield to use. For this reason, the march was 24 miles for the full distance, and 12 for the half. Unlike the hilly course in New Mexico, the course on the airfield was flat. As in the event in New Mexico, participants could participate in the heavy (with a ruck sack weighing at least 35 pounds) and light (no ruck sack) categories.
Terrell said about 10 people completed the half, but the majority of the Soldiers completed the full 24-mile course. Besides hosting the event, the 1209th also provided medical support at points throughout the course.
The 1209th took home top finishes in two of the three categories. Spc. Adam Gross, a medic from Albuquerque, carrying the 1209th guidon, won the heavy full-distance category. Sgt. Joshua Colenda, a medic with the 1209th from Angel Fire, New Mexico, won the full-distance light category wearing his boots, uniform and a fighting load carrier and water with a time of 5 hours and 20 minutes. He said participating in the event meant a great deal to him.
“The influence of the Bataan Death March on New Mexican military culture is hard to overstate,” Colenda said. “Tributes exist in the form of murals, street names, photographs and just about anything you can think of. It’s something we have been exposed to a lot, but I hadn’t gotten around to doing it. So when I read that our unit would be coordinating one I signed up.”
“During the March, I kept thinking how cool it was that we were participating in a New Mexico custom halfway around the world.”
The most important thing Terrell said she got out of taking the time to put the event together was a knowledge and appreciation of the actual Bataan Death March from World War II.
“I really didn’t know anything about it before this,” Terrell said. “They marched for three days and were tortured, decapitated. And I learned about the survivors we still have with us today.”
Before the event, Pawlowski read a short summary on the history of the U.S. Soldiers who fought in the Philippines in World War II and those who were force-marched across the island.
“I didn’t know anything about that before he read that,” Pfc. Evan Morrison, who finished third in the 12-mile category, said. “It was a real eye-opener for me and it provided a lot of inspiration not to quit or give up.”
At the end of a brisk, slightly rainy day – perfect conditions for ruck-marching, the Soldiers had not only completed a grueling challenge, but gained an understanding of the history of World War II as well.
RESULTS (TOP FINISHERS):
Heavy, Full 24-Mile Category Finishers
1) Spc. Adam Gross, 1209th Medical Company (Area Support)
2) Spc. Thomas Leonard, 542nd Transportation Company
3) Spc. Christopher Bond, 542nd Transportation Company
Light, Full 24-Mile Category
1) Sgt. Josh Colenda, 1209th Medical Company (Area Support)
2) Sgt. Christine Javier, 1209th Medical Company (Area Support)
3) Spc. Autumn Tenorio, 1209th Medical Company (Area Support)
Heavy, Half 12-Mile Category
1) Spc. Koby Pollard, 729th Composite Supply Company
2) Capt. Daniel Kovacs, 724th Transportation Company
3) Pfc. Evan Morrison, 542nd Transportation Company
| Date Taken: | 03.06.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 03.15.2020 10:09 |
| Story ID: | 365247 |
| Location: | POWIDZ, PL |
| Web Views: | 1,187 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Something from home: New Mexico National Guard unit brings Bataan Memorial Death March to Poland, by CSM Ryan Matson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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