Camp O'Donnell
"Hell is only a state of mind; Camp O'Donnell is a place."
-Camp O'Donnell prisoner, sometime between 1941-1942
Of the 75,000 prisoners that marched, only 54,000 of them made it to Camp O'Donnell. The prison camp used to be a training facility for Filipino soldiers before the Japanese occupation. But when the Japanese seized the Pearl of the Orient, Camp O'Donnell became the prisoners' worst nightmare.
The POWs were treated as horrible as they were during the March. Whenever a soldier passed by, they would have to salute him; those who didn't comply were beaten, sometimes to death. If the Allied prisoners did not do the work given to them by the Japanese prison warden, they would be hit with whatever object the guards had with them at the time. If the prisoners were too close to the fences, they would be shot, even if that was where they were sent to work at. Their excuse for this: the prisoners tried to escape.
The men were starved and dehydrated. The food given them was not enough, and the water they drank was disease ridden. Sickness was the main cause of death for these men. Dysentry, malaria, and beriberi were only a small fraction of the ailments that plagued the prisoners.The so called medical centers were just places where men went to spend their final days. Medicine was promised, but it was never received by the resident doctors who were also prisoners.
The death rate of the Allied soldiers was high in Camp O'Donnell. In the first week of imprisonment, the American death rate was 20 prisoners a day. The next week, 50 deaths a day. For the Filipinos, the death rate was six times higher. The death toll was catastrophic for the Allied soldiers. By the end of their time at Camp O'Donnell, an estimated 21,600 Allied POWs were dead, around 1,600 American fatalities and 20,000 or more for the Filipinos. Yet, this was only a temporary holding station, for their real prison was at Cabanatuan.
-Camp O'Donnell prisoner, sometime between 1941-1942
Of the 75,000 prisoners that marched, only 54,000 of them made it to Camp O'Donnell. The prison camp used to be a training facility for Filipino soldiers before the Japanese occupation. But when the Japanese seized the Pearl of the Orient, Camp O'Donnell became the prisoners' worst nightmare.
The POWs were treated as horrible as they were during the March. Whenever a soldier passed by, they would have to salute him; those who didn't comply were beaten, sometimes to death. If the Allied prisoners did not do the work given to them by the Japanese prison warden, they would be hit with whatever object the guards had with them at the time. If the prisoners were too close to the fences, they would be shot, even if that was where they were sent to work at. Their excuse for this: the prisoners tried to escape.
The men were starved and dehydrated. The food given them was not enough, and the water they drank was disease ridden. Sickness was the main cause of death for these men. Dysentry, malaria, and beriberi were only a small fraction of the ailments that plagued the prisoners.The so called medical centers were just places where men went to spend their final days. Medicine was promised, but it was never received by the resident doctors who were also prisoners.
The death rate of the Allied soldiers was high in Camp O'Donnell. In the first week of imprisonment, the American death rate was 20 prisoners a day. The next week, 50 deaths a day. For the Filipinos, the death rate was six times higher. The death toll was catastrophic for the Allied soldiers. By the end of their time at Camp O'Donnell, an estimated 21,600 Allied POWs were dead, around 1,600 American fatalities and 20,000 or more for the Filipinos. Yet, this was only a temporary holding station, for their real prison was at Cabanatuan.