Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. (April 17, 2024): In a solemn and dignified ceremony, Senior Airmen Allen Aragon, left, and Anthony Harvey fold the U.S. flag to pay homage to the sacrifices of the 27th Bombardment Group who fought in the World War II Battle of Bataan.
The 27th Bomb Group was one of several air units dispatched to the Philippines in a final effort to build up its defenses against a Japanese invasion. They were one of the last units to arrive in Manila before the Japanese attacked on December 8, 1941. The speed of the Japanese assault forced the planes belonging to the 27th Bomb Group to divert to Australia, leaving the rest of the group on the Philippines to fight as infantry, something for which they were not trained.
Members of the group fought alongside other U.S. and Filipino troops who held on for three months despite a desperate lack of supplies. Eventually, they were forced to surrender and had to endure the infamous Bataan Death March. In one of the most horrific war crimes committed during the war, over 80,000 American and Filipino troops were forced to march sixty-five miles in searing heat resulting in the deaths of thousands of POWs.
After fighting in the Philippines and Java in 1941-42, the unit was sent to North Africa where it eventually became the 27th Fighter Group that flew missions in Sicily and Italy.