Memorial Reception for Private Jose G. Jaurequi 062826, Part 1 and photos of the event

Photos  and article by Mary Alice Murphy

[Editor's Note: Th is part 1 of the reception.  Writing this article has been a challenge that this photographer and author has been working on for weeks, but her notes and the audio have been hard to decipher and she has had to do a lot of research to make sure of correct spellings of names and places.]

Beginning at 2:30 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, 2026, 84 years after the death of Private Jose Garcia Jaurequi, as a Japanese prisoner of war as part of the activities ,including Bataan Death March, in the Philippines during World War II, a memorial reception in his honor took place in Silver City, NM at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center. 

Dr. Larry Jaurequi, a nephew of Jose, organized the event, with the help of the Silver City LULAC Council 8003. Fred Baca of the council served as master of ceremonies. 

Jose was part of the 12,000 members of 200th and 515th Coastal ArtilleryRegiments, sent to the Philippines to protect it from the Japanese invaders after Pearl Harbor.

The soldiers in the two regiment (many of whom were from New Mexico), after running out of supplies and food, were ordered by Maj. General Edward P. King to surrender to the Japanese, along with thousands of Filipino soldiers who fought alongside the Americans. At least 600 Americans and up to 18,000 Filipinos lost their lives as a result the several-day forced march of about 65 miles of the prisoners from Mariveles to San Fernando and other camps, followed by being imprisoned in Camp O'Donnell and Cabantuan, and some who died in the Hellships on their way to prison in Japan. 

A large number of those attending the event were relatives of Jose, some local, but many traveling from California to Dr. Larry Jaurequi coming from the east coast. They gathered at one point for a group photo.

Baca announced the posting of the colors by the Veterans Coalition of Grant County color guard. Angelica Padilla sang The Start-Spangled Banner and the blessing was given by Deacon Mike Jaurequi.

Baca named many of the special guests in the audience, who included several locals who spoke—Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, State Sen. Gabriel Ramos, State Rep. Luis Terrazas, the new Western New Mexico University President Dr. Jose Coll, as well as Bayard Mayor John Ojinaga and Silver City Mayor Simon Wheaton-Smith. He also introduced the national LULAC President Ramon Palomares, and local leaders like Mike Lopez who started the March for the Heroes that takes place every year. 

In a long tribute to veterans, Baca apologized ahead of time if he got emotional, because although he is not a veteran himself, he is close to veterans. "I honor them for all the service, I had an uncle that was killed in Anzio, in 1944. He is buried up there. An uncle was in the war. My dad served in the European theater. You know we can never stop giving to our service people. Any time we see them, we need to honor them. We're reminded every day of what they do. We have liberties. We have freedoms. They just didn't come. These people fought for them because they are the foundation of how we live. We need to give the veterans every benefit that they deserve, and our leaders need to fight for this up in Santa Fe, in Washington D.C."

He invited Lt. Gov. Morales to speak. 

"We're very proud to pay tribute to the many years of service that people like Benny Altamirano, Dianne Hamilton, Manuel Herrera, and of course  Rep. Tommy Foy and family, who are are here," Morales said.  It truly is special when we talk about having one hand in the present and one hand in the future, but always to remember and to respect where it is that we've come from, from the past, and those that have helped shape who we are today. I had an opportunity this last week, actually over the last three weeks, to go to D.C. and put a lot of time into working for our veterans and advocating for our military bases and advocating to make sure that all of our veterans have the services and benefits that they're entitled to. I was reflecting, looking around, just how proud that I am to be a product of this community." He mentioned several people in the audience with whom he had worked or had as teachers, or had known all his life.

Morales also welcomed New Mexico Department of Veterans Afford Deputy Secretary Eric James. 

James thanked everyone for being there. He noted that a monument to those who served in the Philippines and experienced the Bataan Death March are honored by the name of the building he works in in Santa Fe, where the monument is located. "Let's not let their sacrifice go unrecognized. And those of us that are fighting for the bill [that Martinez will speak on] carry that in our hearts every single day. Do not give up until we get this accomplished."

Rep. Luis Terrazas said it was a great honor to be invited to speak at this event  to recognize all those who serve, those who survived the Bataan Death March and all the things they did for their community and the nation's freedom. "This group of young men who were forced into the Bataan Death March, such as this young man, Jose Jaurequi, who passed away at 20 years old. We don't know what he would have done with his life, so we thank him for his sacrifice and we thank all those who serve. " He noted it was not a partisan thing, as shown by the former Rep. Rudy Martinez, who was present,  and the late former Rep. Tommy Foy, who survived the Bataan Death March and returned to serve his community in the legislature. 

Terrazas also noted that his daughter is a sergeant in the Air Force, who has recently served in Okinawa. "I think of how easy it is for us to communicate today, via phone and computer. Back in World War II, communications were few and far between. Families didn't know what their sons and daughters were involved in. It had to be hard for them."

"Thank you, Rudy Martinez, for everything you've done. God Bless you all; God Bless America and God Bless the USA."

Jody Jaurequi spoke about the Grant County 200th/515th Coastal Artillery Regiments. Many of those from Grant County,  who joined in service to fight in World War II, became part of the two regiments and thus got caught up in the Bataan Death March. He listed the names of local men who went off to serve and ended up in the March. He told who died and who was liberated. 

Former Rep. Rudy Martinez spoke about what he is involved in at the moment, and that is an effort to get the Congressional Gold Medal issued to the the 200th/515th Coastal Artillery Regiments for their extraordinary service, courage, sacrifice and achievements that made a lasting impact on the nation. He invited everyone to contact their congressional representatives to support the bill that is under consideration. 

Larry Jaurequi, using a PowerPoint presentation with a number of slides,  presented the  military journey of Private Jose G. Jaurequi, his uncle, who turned 20 years old on June 28, 1942, and died that day as a result of the activities that preceded and followed the Bataan Death March. 

Larry noted that Jose was born in Jalisco, Mexico, to Gavino and Adelina, who migrated from Jalisco and ended up in Silver City, where they started a small restaurant in the Chihuahua Hill area.  Jose enlisted at 19 years of age to the New Mexico National Guard, Battery G. He trained at Fort Bliss. 

"On December 8, 1941 in the Philippines, within a few days, they broke up that unit into 200th and 515th Regiments. The reason they did that is part of them went ahead and went to the north part of Luzon, and some of them went to the south near Manila. They were stationed at Fort Stotsenburg Army Post. Next to the Army Post was Clark Field, and Clark Field was a very strategic area for airplanes. 

"Now we remember that the attack at Pearl Harbor was to take out the naval fleet of the United States within hours. Then the Japanese went and directed their squadron to take out the airbase in the Philippines. Within hours they went ahead and did a surprise attack in the Philippines at Clark Field. What was going on at that time is that in this area the Japanese came in and were bombing the air bases. They were flying at an altitude of about 2,000-3000 feet. They surprised this unit, the air defense, who were shooting at an altitude of about 1800 feet. They were shooting gunnery that was 1903 World War One armor gunnery, so they were not bringing down the planes unless the planes came down lower than that. So they were at a great disadvantage. Following the attack on Clark Field, the Japanese landed in the north part of Luzon around December 22, 1941. General MacArthur, at that time, implemented a plan  that basically, was a need to evacuate the northern part of Luzon and  parts of Manila. 

"Now, when we say evacuate, you're talking not only the soldiers; you're also talking civilians. So, at that time, this regiment, the 200th, was now reassigned to hand-to-hand combat, and they were in the rear before when the Japanese were coming and advancing in another part of Luzon. Part of the plan was to change the advancement to the peninsula. So this regiment was about 20 miles in the rear to detain the advancement of the Japanese. These soldiers began to do hand-to-hand combat. They were using a Springfield rifle, and the Japanese were using sophisticated automatic weapons. Some of the analogy is they were shooting BB guns at these guys that had sophisticated armory, and they were a great disadvantage. 

"The regiment held off the advancement to allow nearly 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers to successfully withdraw into Bataan, and about another 30,000 of the civilians from keeping to be captured or executed. After this went on for a while, General Edward King, at the point where the troops were no longer able to withhold the advancement of the Japanese, King ordered the surrender of the Americans and Filipino soldiers on April9, 1942. 

"What people don't know is what was going on. It was approximately about 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers, and hence became the Bataan Death March. And what happened to the Bataan Death March is there were two beginning marches, and there were 18,000 and down here at Mariveles there were 60,000. You take 60,000 you take 18,000 you end up with 78,000. 

"So this group started marching this way, and then this group target marching down in a different direction. They intersect in Palau. And out of the 70-80,000 we do know that about 25,000 Filipinos perished in the March, and about 6,000 Americans before they made it up to Camp O'Donnell. 

He showed a photo of the boxcars that they had to go when they were moving toward Camp O'Donnell.

"Now, most of you probably know this, but these boxcars were basically cattle cars, which means about eight steers or eight cattle were in these cars. For humans probably 40 men could be in there. They put in 120 and what resulted in that is suffocation. These soldiers were already experiencing illness in terms of dysentery, malaria, and many of the soldiers in these boxcars did not survive. 

"General Edward King on April 9th, prior to the surrender, went to his commander and says, 'We can no longer sustain this battle. We're having soldiers who are dying; starvation is happening.' There's a blockade outside the the area, outside the Bataan area, by the Luzon area. 'So let your soldiers know that we're going to put up the white flag on the ninth of April. Those that want to surrender will now commence to be a POW. We do have word that the Japanese will honor us in terms of the Geneva Convention terms for prisoners, and those that do not want to surrender may make their way to Corregidor island. 

"And so my uncle, among others in the 200th and 515th, decided 'we can still sustain the fight. We want to continue. We think we can win this battle.' So my uncle Jose and some of the soldiers from New Mexico made their way across the channel to Corregidor Island. 

"Now we had an opportunity," Larry Jaurequi said. "We have two gentlemen here with me today. We were in the Philippines last month, and we were part of a documentary that they were filming on behalf of General Wainwright. It's called 'The Lost or the Forgotten General.' And my uncle is going to be featured in this documentary, and you'll hear some of the comments from some of the gentlemen that will follow me. Uncle Jose at that point says, 'I'm not going to lay down my arms. I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to go across the channel, and I'm going to be on Corregidor Island.' 

"Well, we went across the channel, while we were there, and I can tell you that it's very treacherous, and the white caps are very high. To this date, we're not even sure how they got across because the Japanese patrol boats were in that area. So that being the case, my uncle was not part of the Bataan Death March. The Bataan March surrender was on the ninth. They started marching on the eighth and the 11th. But my uncle Jose went ahead and went to Corregidor Island, and at that point they fought a few weeks up to a month, under Gen. Jonathan Wainwright. So right on May 6th, what happened to this group? They ended up in an area called Ninety -Seventh Garage, (?) which was probably two or three length of football fields with a landing pad already, and they kept those soldiers there for about a week or so. No water. They were just basically there, and a lot of them were dying there. My uncle went ahead with some soldiers into Manila Bay, and they were part of what's called the March of Shame.

"The March of Shame was a propaganda of the Japanese, who basically filmed these soldiers without any boots. Okay, there were 12,000 of them that came out of Corregidor Island, and they marched up and down the street, and they were being filmed. And the film was going back to the Japanese and saying, 'We have conquered the Great American soldiers.' 

"Jose went to Bilibid prison, and it was basically a dungeon with shackles, and it was infested with rodents, and there was rampant disease going on. He came out of there, and into a tunnel and that's how he came out from Corregidor Island. This is the March of Shame, and here now is what happened: Corregidor Island number one, and Manila number two, and then over here in San Fernando is where these soldiers came from Mariveles. They came to this. They came over this way. They went up over here. And that's what is the Bataan Death March. 

Pointing out places on a map, Larry Jaurequi continued:"What you also need to know is the Bataan Death March took. about four days, maybe five. So when that was happening on April 10, April 11, Jose and other soldiers from New Mexico were over already fighting on Corregidor, up to the surrender of May 6 by General Johnathan Wainwright. So they come here, they leave here, they go to San Fernando, Pampanga, and they get on the box cars. Boxcars go here. Same thing happened here. Over to Camp O'Donnell. So what goes on now is Jose is now in Camp Cabanatuan-he is here. Okay, as Jody was saying earlier, his battery G still exists. 

"Now, backing up a little bit, soldiers in the hundreds were dying daily. This camp when my uncle arrived, execution was going on, and so my uncle and a group of soldiers says, 'We're going to get out of here. We've got to do something.' So they went ahead and developed an escape plan, and they did that with overwhelming odds. Well, they were caught, and 12 soldiers, including my Uncle Jose, were executed today, 84 years ago. He was executed on June 28, 1942, at his 20 -year-old age. His remains lie in the Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri, and he has eight names on him. There's my uncle, and there's eight names, and his remains are there in St. Louis. 

"Today, our family felt it was important after a year of effort on my family's part. LULAC was involved in this. That we have unveiled a bench, at the St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery today to bring my uncle's spirit back to Silver City, and with that (he showed a photo), I want to say that there he is. There's my grandmother. There's my youngest brother, and here we are. And we're real proud to say that my uncle was able to receive the medals that you see on the screen."

After applause, he said: "It's now my honor to acknowledge someone who's become a friend of mine and an amazing person. And what a gentleman he is! "

The next part will continue with Larry Jaurequi introducing the next speaker, and readers will hear from that speaker.

To pause the slide show, mouse over the image.