Pleasanton VFW Post 6298 will commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Bataan Death March on Saturday, April 17.
The VFW will lead a 26-mile hike through the Tri-Valley to honor the thousands of American and Filipino soldiers who suffered and died during the forced march in April 1942.
After surrendering to the Japanese after more than three months of fighting, an estimated 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers were forced to march more than 60 miles through the scorching jungle heat of the Philippines. Thousands died because of the brutality of their captors, who starved and beat them, and bayoneted those too weak to walk. Thousands more later died in Japanese prison camps.