In the University of New Mexico documentary, 'Colors of Courage, Sons of New Mexico, Prisoners of Japan, I first “met” Evans Garcia, courtesy of his proud granddaughter, Dolly Romero, by chance at a private screening of the film.
Bataan Day is celebrated in honor of the American and Filipino troops who defended the Bataan peninsula in the Philippines against the Japanese during World War II. EPA/JERRY CARUAL
Evans Garcia today
Evans’ story of surviving Bataan, the death ships and being a prisoner of the Japanese taken eventually to Japan is told in the film, along with so many boys of New Mexico. The filmmakers show the hard sacrifices the 200th and 515th Coastal Artillery made when World War II ramped up in the Pacific theater.
The Hispanic contributions made in World War II for America were overwhelming. The excellent documentary is directed by Tony Martinez, also the son of Eddie Martinez, a Bataan Death March survivor, 200th C.A. Battery 'A' was narrated by Oscar winner Gene Hackman, and illustrates the devoted service of New Mexico's 200th and 515th Coast Artilleries that lost nearly 50 percent of their units in the Bataan Death March.
It also details the horrific Japanese death ships transport of the soldiers, and 3 ½ years at the hands of the Japanese in prisoner of war camps.
Soldier Evans Garcia was born in Dona Ana, New Mexico on June 19, 1913. His work ethic was established by the age of 10, when he began working in his grandfather’s alfalfa field, minding the horses that transported the alfalfa into a bale-making machine.
He attended New Mexico State University in 1934, but did not graduate, as he chose to work full time to help out his Mother. He volunteered for the Army at a late age, 27, becoming a member of the historically rich 200th Coastal Artillery, Battery H of the New Mexico Army National Guard, which was sent to the Philippines in September of 1941.
The 200th was born from the early New Mexican Calvary that was dispatched to Cuba to fight with Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders.” When New Mexico became a state in 1912, several decades later the Calvary was federalized and the 200th became one of the most ethnically diverse National Guard battalions in the United States.
The men of the 200th were among those who fiercely fought in key battles after the Japanese attacked the Philippines on December 7, 1941, keeping the Japanese army from taking the islands quickly as they had planned too.
Their tenacity gave the US military time to re-fortify and plan for the European front, possibly changing the course of the war. These brave soldiers were responsible for the defense of the islands of Luzon, Corregidor and the harbor defense forts of the Philippines.
These “sons of New Mexico” were captured by the Japanese and forced to surrender, becoming prisoners of war and forced to endure the infamous Bataan Death March.
Evans Garcia spent 42 grueling months in prison camp, but kept his hope and spirits intact by his devout faith; his unwavering optimism and belief in helping his fellow soldiers buck up and stay strong, despite the daily brutalities they all faced.
Martinez’s documentary features the only known interview with one of the perpetrators of those war crimes on Bataan, a Japanese soldier who confirms details of the numerous atrocities on the Death March.
Listening to the Japanese soldier describe how the Japanese soldiers honed their torture skills on a blindfolded American soldier, learning how to decapitate slowly in an exercise called “meat cuts”, is beyond comprehension.
The Japanese had lived up to their reputations from the Manchurian invasion of 1931, and their follow up invasion of China in 1937 where they bayoneted screaming babies and women in the villages. These facts were fresh on the minds of the frightened prisoners of war in Bataan, who knew too well the Japanese past war crimes.
The conditions the Americans encountered and the aftermath of the battle were unique. They fought in a malaria-infested region, near starvation and surviving on half or quarter rations with virtually no medical assistance. They fought with outdated equipment and practically no air power.
On April 9, 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces. The Americans were Army, Army Air Corps, Navy and Marines. Among those seized were the 200th Coast Artillery, New Mexico National Guard.
They were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles. Thousands died. Filipino villagers risked their own lives trying to give the suffering marchers water; some were killed right in front of their families.
Those who survived faced the hardships of a prisoner of war camp. They were then horded into the “death ships” that were unmarked as POW ships by the Japanese, where the men were force in tightly standing up the entire sea voyage that took weeks, always at risk of being fired upon by American ships not knowing what lay in their cargo holds. No water, no food, and the results were the worst of it for many men, as American soldiers went mad from thirst and drank urine and blood of deceased soldiers. Those that survived this were headed to more misery: POW work camps in Japan.
Dr. Tobias Durán, along with Martinez and producer Scott Henry, who both wrote and directed the documentary for the Center for Regional Studies at the University of New Mexico in 2002 and 2003, have together created an important historical marker and a must see film for all interested in World War II and the actual events that transpired.
They went to Bataan and the Philippines for the film, interviewed more than 30 Death March survivors, experts and historians.
The Army ROTC Department at New Mexico State University began sponsoring the memorial march in 1989 to mark a page in history that honored New Mexico's 200th and 515th Coast Artilleries, the most decorated units of World War II.
Dolly finishing the March in New Mexico
Since its inception, the memorial march has grown from about 100 to some 4,000 marchers from across the United States and several foreign countries. While still primarily a military event, many civilians choose to take the challenge.
Marchers come to this memorial event for many reasons. Some march in honor of a family member or a particular veteran who was in the Bataan Death March or was taken a prisoner of war by the Japanese in the Philippines.
Family and friends of Evans Ramirez Garcia and the New Mexico State University Foundation, Inc. have established the Evans Ramirez Garcia ROTC Scholarship at New Mexico State University.
The first award was given March 24, 2007 to a NMSU ROTC student at the annual Bataan Memorial March Ceremonies at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The scholarship fund is structured in such a manner that the award will be given annually in perpetuity to a deserving ROTC student at the Memorial March.
The most recent Bataan Memorial this last March in White Sands had survivor Evans Garcia there once again to signed books, shirts, programs, posters, contestant numbers and completion certificates by the hundreds. Garcia also got to welcome his granddaughter, Dolly, who marched this year.
Dolly at the finish
Garcia was also proud to honor to the very first recipient of NMSU ROTC Evans Ramirez Garcia scholarship to Cadet Anthony Filosa III. Filosa hails from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where Evans once lived after age 16.
Evans and the first recipient of his scholarship, Cadet Anthony Filosa III
For more information, contact UNM CRS at (505) 277-2857 or crsinf@unm.edu .
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