WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., - The story of World War II's notorious Bataan Death March simply cannot be told without including the Soldiers of the National Guard.
Many Guardsmen from across the country were among the 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war, who were forced by their Japanese captors to trudge 60 miles across the Bataan peninsula to prison camps in 1942. The harrowing march was characterized by extreme conditions, little food and water, wide-ranging physical abuse and even murder.
Some survived. Many others didn't.
That's why organizers of the annual Bataan Memorial Death March, which honors those veterans each year at White Sands Missile Range, simply wouldn't be the same without participation from as many National Guard Soldiers as possible.
"To me, the National Guard is an absolute essential element to this event," said Monte Marlin, the public affairs officer with White Sands Missile Range. "Many Soldiers in the Philippines were National Guard Soldiers. This is a National Guard story, and it's important that the National Guard Soldiers of today share in it and participate in it."
The memorial march took place on March 20 with 13 five-person teams in the National Guard category from across the country marching 26.2 miles through desert trails to elevations as high as 5,300 feet. There were four National Guard "light teams" and nine National Guard "heavy" teams.
Members of the heavy team wore 35-pound ruck sacks, while light teams participated in their Army combat uniforms, including boots.
There was at least one other National Guard team that participated as a co-ed team in the overall military team category and many other National Guard members who marched as individuals among the 5,700 overall participants, which included military from all branches and across the world, and many civilians.
In the National Guard light category, the Missouri National Guard came in first place with a time of 5 hours and 40 minutes, with the Indiana National Guard coming in second with a time of 6 hours and 41 minutes.
In the National Guard heavy category, the New York Air National Guard came in first with a time of 6 hours and 14 minutes and the Missouri National Guard came in second and one minute behind at 6 hours and 15 minutes.
The participants at the memorial march trekked near the base of the Organ Mountains, alternating between the dirt roads of the missile range and old blacktop roads. They navigated an area known as "the sand pit," which offered some of the most challenging terrain of the entire course. Dirt roads gave way to steep-banked arroyos filled with ankle-deep sand.
The participants also huffed their way up a seemingly never-ending steep hill, which was tucked away among the remnants of mining claims scattered along the hill's base.
But when the harrowing 26.2-mile trek through the stifling New Mexico desert was over, all the Guardsmen wanted to talk about were what they described as the real heroes of the day - the veterans of Bataan.
Capt. Alan Brown, command historian for the Missouri National Guard, was the team leader for the first-place finishing light team. Brown, a marathon runner at age 46 from Jefferson City, Mo., has participated in the event once before two years ago.
While Brown was pleased with his team's finish, he said the day was really about honoring the survivors, many who attended the event.
"This is about honoring their legacy," Brown said. "They were the sheer definition of the American Soldier. This is better than a marathon. This is a good cause and that's what makes it special."
Sgt. Nick Yarham of an Iowa National Guard aviation unit in Mt. Joy, Iowa, agreed.
"It gave me the opportunity to say thanks to the guys who went through something harder than I ever will probably have to go through," said Yarham, an aircraft mechanic with 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation's Company B. "It was heart-warming. I definitely have a greater appreciation for what they did."
Combat rescue officer 1st Lt. Bryan Walsh marched at event for the first time. Walsh is a member of the New York Air National Guard's 103rd Rescue Squadron in West Hampton, N.Y. Walsh said it was very rewarding.
"The program memorializes those guys that came before us, and that's the main reason we wanted to do it," Walsh said of his team. "But we also used it as a training tool. Our unit's getting deployed in a couple of months and we trained for the march for four months. You never know when something like this might come in handy. It's helping us be prepared for anything.'
Maj. Craig Gatzemeyer, who serves as the training officer of the 70th Troop Command for the Missouri National Guard, was the team captain for the second-place heavy team. Gatzemeyer participated in the event this year for the fifth time.
While the competition is enjoyable, Gatzemeyer said he continues to participate because he wants to honor the veterans who survive and those who have died in the years since.
"If you go one time and hear these tributes to the Bataan Soldiers and hear them do roll call, it's really special," Gatzemeyer said. "You see these survivors and shake their hands and read about the struggles they went through, you just can't wait to go back next year. It gets more significant each time."
1st Lt. David Kegg of the Indiana National Guard's 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment, called the event a "humbling" experience.
"What the veterans went through at Bataan was so much harder than what we did," Kegg said. "They didn't have food or water and people cheering them on. They were just trying to survive. But if it helps keep the memory alive, them I'm probably going to do it again next year."
Spc. Jennifer Boutelle was one of two females on the Missouri National Guard co-ed team. She said her hip flexors and calves locked up at several points during the march, but she wasn't about to give up.
"The march was not easy," she said. "It was hard. But my team-mates really helped motivate me to keep me going. I thought about the sacrifices the veterans at Bataan made, so I knew I couldn't give up. What we did doesn't even come close. But when we crossed that finish line and those veterans were waiting to shake our hands, I don't even have the words for it. I'm glad I was a part of it, because it's so much bigger than me."