| Original caption: “A Jap[anese] guard with a fixed bayonet stands guard over these American soldiers along the route of the infamous death march from Bataan. This dramatic photo, a grim revelation of Japanese savagery, was stolen with others by loyal Filipinos during the three-year occupation.” The United States Air Force identifies this photo as the end of the Death March in Camp O’Donnell. The person facing the camera in the center of the photo is identified as United States Army Air Force Master Sergeant Charles B. Causey (August 1, 1902 – October 24, 1944), flight line maintenance chief of the 20th Air Base Group at Nichols Field, Luzon. Causey survived the Battle of Bataan, an attack from a guard on the Death March, and 3 years in a prison camp before being loaded onto the “hell ship” Arisan Maru. For 2 weeks, Causey, along with nearly 1,800 other American Prisoners of War, was on a course from Manila to Japan. On October 24, 1944, the United States Navy submarine USS Shark (SS-314) torpedoed and sank the transport in the South China Sea. Causey died in the attack, along with 1,791 others, marking it as the most significant loss of American lives at sea. The man in the center has also been identified as United States Army Air Force Sergeant Preston J. Hubbard (October 5, 1918 – February 17, 2016) by the Clarksville, Tennessee, News. He enlisted on June 13, 1941. Hubbard served with the 409th Signal Company. Starving to death, Hubbard was sent to Japan on the “hell ship” Nissyo Maru on July 17, 1944, enduring weeks of lack of food and water. Nissyo Maru arrived in Japan on August 6, 1944. Hubbard survived working as slave labor in factories in Nagoya until he was liberated in August 1945. He was discharged from the Army in February 1946 and earned his doctorate in History after World War II. Next to Hubbard, the soldier facing left was identified by the Clarksville News as United States Army Air Force Corporal Paul G. Inzer (December 6, 1925 – December 12, 2008), 409th Signal Company, of Knoxville, Tennessee. Captured in April 1942, Inzer recalled the circumstances of taking this photo. He believes it was taken at the start of the Bataan Death March. “When Bataan fell, we were at Little Bagiuo, a few miles north of Mariveles, the tip of the Bataan Peninsula. I was ordered to man the Field Telephone Switchboard so that the Commanding Officer would know the exact location of the Nips at all times – so he would know exactly when to destroy all vital equipment and information. You see, Major General Edward P. King Junior (July 4, 1884 – August 31, 1958) surrendered all forces on Bataan near the front where most combat was in force. While the 409th Aviation Signal Corps was performing its duty in Little Bagiuo, a number of miles behind the front. I was, personally, captured while performing my duty, manning the field switchboard.” “The Nips ordered me to load the switchboard on a truck and for me to get on as well. One of the two nips drove while the other sat in the back with me, all the way to Mariveles. We stopped at a group of about four houses, and both of them went inside, forgetting about me. So, I jumped off the truck and ran for my life.” “I wandered through the jungle underbrush for at least twenty-four hours, and finally, I was on the main road headed north. Never thinking about food, sleep, or anything else, except for the Nips. Would I be killed? I was sure I would be. There was no one or no vehicles on the road; it was clear of any activity. I was alone, no different than the underbrush I had been struggling through. I was constantly looking over my shoulders, frightened out of my skull. Just then, I saw, way up the road, a car off the road in a ditch, and a Nip [Japanese soldier] was standing in the middle of the road with his hands on his hips, staring at me. I was too scared to turn and run; anyway, it was too late to run — he had seen me. I approached him and the car. He was looking at me all this time. He said to me, ‘I’m glad you came along, now we can push the car from the ditch,’ which we did.” “After the car was back on the road and the driver was in the driver’s seat, waiting for the Officer or non-commissioned officer who had been talking, He turned to me and said, ‘Thank you very much for your help.’ Pausing for a second, he questioned me, ‘How old are you, son?’ I was thinking all the time that he would swing that big knife at me any moment — but no, he was very friendly. Finally, I replied, ‘I’m eighteen, sir.’ Looking at me with a big grin on his face, he said, ‘Sure…you are, and well, thanks again.’ And at that, he turned and got into the car and drove away, leaving me with a whole lot of relief.” “Walking north, I turned to look over my shoulder, and I saw a soldier stepping into the road, the same as I had an hour or so before. He spotted me and came running towards me. I didn’t know whether to run or just drop dead. I stood there, frozen stiff with fear. As he narrowed the gap between us, I saw he was one of ours.” “We walked together for a mile or two when we rounded a corner in the road where we saw six rough-looking Nips. We stopped and just stood there, unsure of what to do. I started to turn, and the guy I was with grabbed me and said I wouldn’t if I were you. The Nips motioned for us to come near them, so we did. They gave us a musette [bag] and motioned for us to cut grass for their horses. Up the road, a few hundred yards in front of us, there was a large group of American soldiers sitting around -just waiting. We joined them. That is how the Death March got underway for me.” Inzer sailed from Manila on July 4, 1944, for Japan on the Steamship Canadian Inventor, a captured vessel nicknamed the Mati Maru (“Wait Wait Ship”). After 62 days in the hold, Inzer survived to land at Moji, Japan. Forced into an abandoned coal mine under dangerous and horrific conditions, Inzer witnessed Americans crushing their own legs to avoid working in the mine. He finally refused to enter and was beaten senseless by guards. He was again beaten by guards for stealing food. Inzer bore scars and bruises for months afterward. This photo was nationally syndicated in early March 1945. Newspapers indicated that Filipino guerrillas stole this and other photos from the Japanese. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1448.jpg |
| Image Size | 3.44 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 6146 x 6062 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Marine Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 15, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Bataan |
| State or Province | Luzon |
| Country | Philippines |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | 127-GR-111-114542 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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