(Deming) – A new monument recently was placed in Veterans' Park in Deming.
The new monument has the name of every New Mexico soldier who was held as a prisoner of war during the World War II Bataan Death March, and sits next to an existing monument depicting two soldiers walking in the death march.
During World War II, U.S. troops surrendered to the Japanese in the Philippines. New Mexico's loss was greater than other states because the 200th/515th Coast Artillery Anti-Aircraft Regiments were comprised mainly of troops from New Mexico.
Eighty-three of those men were from Deming.
The troops were forced to walk for miles with little food or water available. Troops were tortured without reason and often murdered for no cause. The Bataan Death March took place from 1941 until the end of the war in 1945.
Deming resident Thelma Pelayo has spent much of her life trying to educate the public on how the Bataan Death March affected Deming and New Mexico in the early 1940's.
Pelayo said her brother and her husband, Lee, were both prisoners of war in the Philippines.
She said they both signed up to join the National Guard in 1941 in the museum, which used to be the National Guard building.
Veterans’ Park is adjacent to the museum at 301 S. Silver.
The new monument has the name of every New Mexico soldier who was held as a prisoner of war during the World War II Bataan Death March, and sits next to an existing monument depicting two soldiers walking in the death march.
During World War II, U.S. troops surrendered to the Japanese in the Philippines. New Mexico's loss was greater than other states because the 200th/515th Coast Artillery Anti-Aircraft Regiments were comprised mainly of troops from New Mexico.
Eighty-three of those men were from Deming.
The troops were forced to walk for miles with little food or water available. Troops were tortured without reason and often murdered for no cause. The Bataan Death March took place from 1941 until the end of the war in 1945.
Deming resident Thelma Pelayo has spent much of her life trying to educate the public on how the Bataan Death March affected Deming and New Mexico in the early 1940's.
Pelayo said her brother and her husband, Lee, were both prisoners of war in the Philippines.
She said they both signed up to join the National Guard in 1941 in the museum, which used to be the National Guard building.
Veterans’ Park is adjacent to the museum at 301 S. Silver.
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