April 9, 1999
By Daniel Perez/El Paso Times Ritchley,
an El Paso native, was a young soldier in the Philippines when World
War II broke out. He was among the 75,000 U.S. and allied soldiers who
were captured by the Japanese military and forced into the 65-mile
Bataan Death March that started 57 years ago today. The retired
Air Force technical sergeant said an unknown fortitude kept him going
for the three days and nights it took to complete the march. Stopping
might get you shoved with a rifle butt; more likely it got you a bullet
or a lethal thrust from a bayonet. An estimated 30,000 allied soldiers
died during the march. "It was rough, especially for the young
guys who hadn't been there very long," he said. About half of his
630-member 28th Material Squadron perished during the march. "They
weren't acclimated to the humidity and the heat. A lot of them died. I
don't know what kept me going." The Northeast El Pasoan survived
the march and talked about it Thursday in the den of his Mountain Ridge
home. The 86-year-old remembers being sent to work in a coal mine and
suffering physical abuse at the hands of his captors - one in
particular. After being freed, Ritchley and two fellow former prisoners chased the barbaric guard who extinguished cigarettes on their backs. After they caught him, Ritchley took the guard's 4-foot-long sword and cut off the guard's head on the second stroke. The moment was captured by a cameraman. The photo is one Ritchley keeps in plastic in his wallet. He couldn't say why, but he said he still keeps his eye out for another former captor. He
still has the sword; dried blood still stains the tip. Other mementos
include the list of POWs from Camp 23 sealed in glass and framed by
ornate dark wood. The start of the march will be commemorated with at least two events in the region. A
short Recognition Day ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. today next to the
Prisoner of War Memorial at Fort Bliss National Cemetery. Participants
will include the Eastwood High School Junior ROTC Honor Guard and
members of the school's marching band to perform "Taps." About 100 people are expected, Gerald Vitela, cemetery director, said. Roughly
2,000 runners and walkers are expected to participate in the 11th
annual Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range. The
event will start at 6 a.m. April 18 at the Frontier Club. Military,
college ROTC, veterans and family members of prisoners who were part of
the original march are expected to traverse the "unfriendly" 25-mile
course that includes mountainous and sandy terrain. This year's
event will include a seminar by New Mexico State University ROTC cadets
who've researched the Bataan Death March and interviewed survivors. The
veterans - Ruben Flores, Weldon Hamilton, Michael Pulice, Ward Redshaw,
Winston Shillito and Lorenzo Venegas - will attend and be available for
questions and comments. The one-hour seminar, which will include a short film, will start on the hour from 2 through 5 p.m. "It's
going to be dynamite," said retired Army Col. Gerald Schurtz, commander
of an ex-POW chapter in Las Cruces. He's among the organizers of this
year's memorial march. His father, Paul W. Schurtz, and uncle, Gerald
V. Greenman, were both captured in the Philippines and were in the
forced march. The memorial activity, with the theme "Lest We
Forget," is important to New Mexicans because many of those captured
were from that state's National Guard unit. When activated, it became
the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment. The motto isn't just to
remember the prisoners, but is a warning to the U.S. military to never
be caught flat-footed and unprepared for battle, as when World War II
began. Ritchley, his health
failing, didn't plan to attend either event. He just planned to
celebrate the anniversary by visiting VFW Post 8550, 4714 Titanic, to
drink his two beers. It's the only time he drinks anymore. Among the loose papers and cards in John H. Ritchley's wallet is a yellow, dog-eared photograph of one man's justice.
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