Contact:	Dr. Tobias Durán, 277-2857
May 16, 2002 DOCUMENTARY BY UNM CENTER FOR REGIONAL STUDIES SENDS NEW MEXICO WORLD WAR II VETS BACK TO SITE OF BATAAN DEATH MARCH Two New Mexico veterans of the infamous Bataan Death March will return to the Philippines on Tuesday, May 21 as part of an historical documentary project sponsored by the Center, announced Dr. Tobias Durán, director of the University of New Mexico Center for Regional Studies. The two veterans, Evans Garcia of Albuquerque and Manuel Armijo of Santa Fe, will be accompanied by a video crew who will interview them about their experiences as they re-visit several Death March sites plus Camp O’Donnell, Cabanatuan, Biblibid Prison and the Manila Cemetery. “Manuel Armijo and Evans Garcia are among few living World War II veterans of the New Mexico-based 200th Coast Artillery, many of whose members perished during the Bataan Death March or thereafter as prisoners of the Japanese,” Durán said. “They have an important and compelling story to tell. The Center for Regional Studies is very pleased that it will be able to document this history in order to educate present and future generations of Americans about the courage and bravery of these admirable men, and the horrors they endured as they served their country so honorably.” Armijo is very eager to make the trip. “This will be my third trip to the Philippines,” Armijo said. “The first was in 1941, and the second was in 1985 for the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Manila. But this time will be special because it will be my first chance to revisit Camp O’Donnell, and to retrace my steps on the Death March. I may even see the place where I fell after a Japanese guard knocked me to the ground with a rifle butt for walking too slow. If my friend Eddie Martinez hadn’t picked me up and carried me, I would have been bayoneted and left to die then and there,” he said. “The Bataan Death March is an important chapter in New Mexico’s military history. I want to get a law passed that would require New Mexico history textbooks to include the story of the 200th Coast Artillery during World War II.” Garcia also is excited about the trip and the documentary. “It’s important for children to learn about these events. This documentary will give them a first-hand account of what occurred on the Death March, and it will be accessible in libraries. World War II was a great war. It took the efforts of many, many people on several fronts to achieve victory,” Garcia said. “I especially look forward to the chance to visit some of my buddies at the cemetery and pray for them.” Garcia also returned to the Philippines in 1985 in the same group of veterans as Armijo. “But I’m glad I have lived long enough to go back again. The trip in 1985 was a tour that took us to places that were not of as much personal interest to us as the itinerary this time around,” Garcia said. The Center for Regional Studies plans to finish the documentary by the end of this year. ###

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