Why was the US unable to prevent the Bataan Death March?

Answer 1

The Japanese Army forced civilians and captured military to walk 80 miles in the Philippines without food or water for the first three days. This is a very hot climate. Plus, the Japanese beat, stabbed, and killed any of the prisoners that fell behind. The way the people in this march were treated became the focus of war crimes trials at the conclusion of the war.

Answer 2

The US could not ship more troops to the Philippines to help the existing troops there because their ships had been bombed and some sunk at Pearl Harbor. That was the goal of the Japanese. They wanted to cripple the US Naval Fleet so it could not come after Japan on their campaign to take over the Pacific islands and nations.

It took time to rebuild enough ships to move troops to the islands. Meanwhile Australia and the Dutch East Indies needed immediate help so the US could not get back to the Philippines in a timely manner. The Americans, Australians and Filipinos had to suffer under the Japanese. But, keep in mind no one on earth ever knew ahead of time that the Japanese would be so cruel and murderous to POWs of any type anywhere. This was learned later during the war when some escapees told the US what was happening to the POWs around the Pacific and Asia.

The worst part was not just the abandonment of the troops but they had world war one type of weapons and they did not have enough ammo or food to last past six months. Many of the men who survived the POW camps and were liberated admitted that had they known what would happen to them they would have shot up the Japanese with the little ammo they had left and never surrendered. They would rather have died than suffer the way they did. Most were never the same.

Answer 3

The Bataan Death March was stopped by the survivors of it reaching their prison camps. Those who could not march were killed, usually by bayoneting or beheading.