Date of Award
9-21-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
History, MA
First Advisor
Erik Gilbert
Committee Members
Edward Salo; Gary Edwards
Call Number
LD 251 .A566t 2018 W37
Abstract
In the spring of 1942, two contingents of American troops surrendered to the Japanese at Bataan and Corregidor in the Philippines. On June 1, the Japanese began concentrating American prisoners at Cabanatuan #1 in Central Luzon. During the first six months, over 2500 prisoners died at the camp from disease and starvation. However, two major turning points occurred that eventually saw the monthly death toll drop to single digits. In August 1942 there was a sixty-six percent drop in the camp’s monthly death toll. In March 1943 there were just nine deaths and the mortality rate remained very low for the rest of the camp’s existence. Current literature attributes the fall of the death rate to new and better camp leadership. I contend that it was due to an influx of medicine, the end of the rainy season, payment of officers, and most importantly, International Red Cross aid.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Walker, Will Edward, "Stemming the Tide of Death: American Prisoners of the Japanese at Cabanatuan #1 in the Philippines, 1942" (2018). Student Theses and Dissertations. 490.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/490
