Bataan Park - Bremerton, WA
N 47° 35.724 W 122° 37.154
10T E 528625 N 5271403
Bataan Park, at 1827 Sylvan Way in Bremerton, is dedicated to the many American and Filipino soldiers who were forced to participate in the infamous Bataan Death March of World War II.
Waymark Code: WM18NYA
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 09/01/2023
Views: 0
Located on less than an acre of land at the corner of Sylvan Way and Olympus Drive, Bataan Park is described as a small "pocket park" in East Bremerton. There is a picnic shelter with tables and benches, and the grassy, tree-lined park slopes dramatically downhill to the west, with views of the Olympic Mountains.
This quiet park memorializes one of the most horrific incidents of World War II, the Bataan Death March. Following World War II, the Filipino-American Association of Bremerton sought to find a place in the city to honor the sacrifices of the Filipino and American soldiers who fought together at the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II, and who experienced the subsequent march in which between 60,000 and 80,000 prisoners of war were forced to march nearly 70 miles. Those who fell were bayoneted to death.
In the late 1960s Bremerton City Parks & Recreation provided an empty corner lot which Vicente Barrios, then-president of the Fil-Am Association, and the organization worked to clear for the eventual creation of Bataan Park. The park was dedicated on Saturday, April 10, 1976, and the remembrance day has been held there every year on the Saturday closest to April 9th, the day following the Battle of Bataan on which the march began.
The park contains several monuments. The primary one is a metal plaque attached to a large boulder, which reads:
BATAAN PARK
"IN MEMORY OF THE FILIPINO AND AMERICAN
SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT AND DIED IN BATAAN,
PHILIPPINES DURING WORLD WAR II, AGAINST THE
JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY TO SAVE DEMOCRACY."
DONATED BY: MR. & MRS. ARTEMIO RECTO - PHILIPPINES
A nearby plaque bears the seal of the American Ex-Prisoners of War, an organization that began as the Bataan Relief Organization, with its representation of the scales of justice and the motto "Non Solum Armis" (Latin: Not by Arms Alone).
Another plaque honors the life of Fil-Am president Vicente Barrios, whose efforts made Bataan Park possible. The plaque reads:
VICENTE BARRIOS
SEPT. 18, 1905 - SEPT. 3, 1993
IN APPRECIATION FOR HIS MANY
SERVICES DEVOTED TO THE CITY OF
BREMERTON, TO THE STATE OF WASHINGTON,
AND TO THE FILIPINO AMERICAN
COMMUNITY OF KITSAP COUNTY. HE WAS
INSTRUMENTAL IN MAKING THIS SITE
BATAAN PARK.
THE FIL-AM ASSOCIATION OF KITSAP COUNTY
1994
Finally, Habitat for Humanity of Kitsap County placed a stone monument in the park memorializing both Bataan and 9/11, which reads:
Built in memory
of those we lost.
September 11, 2001
Bataan Death March, 1942
Type of Resource: Memorial
Other from above - Please Specify: Filipino and American servicemen
Date if Relevant: 04/10/1976
Relevant Position in Armed Forces:
Army
Nationality: American, Filipino
Relevant Website: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
You must post an original picture with your visit, preferably with yourself in the shot.