Annual Bataan Remembrance Ceremony April 9th

Each year on April 9th, New Mexicans gather to honor one of the most significant chapters in the state’s military history during the Bataan Remembrance Ceremony, presented by the New Mexico National Guard in partnership with the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services.

The ceremony commemorates the 1,800 soldiers of the New Mexico National Guard’s 200th and 515th Coast Artillery Regiments stationed in the Philippines on Dec. 8, 1941, when Japan launched a surprise attack just hours after Pearl Harbor. Originally deployed for training, these New Mexicans soon became part of a combined American and Filipino force defending the Bataan Peninsula against Japanese invasion.

After four months of intense fighting, Allied forces, outnumbered and running out of food and supplies, surrendered on April 9, 1942. Thousands of American and Filipino troops were taken prisoner and subjected to the

brutal Bataan Death March.

The ceremony will take place before the eternal flame at the Bataan Memorial Building on Thursday, April 9th, at 11:00 am, 407 Galisteo Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501.