The three websites that I used to conduct my research were:
History.com
This website is considered credible because (1) it allows you to contact the author, (2) is still being updated to this year by the 2014 at the bottom, and (3) it has more than three hyperlinks that work."
history 1900's.com
This website is also credible because (1) it has more than three hyperlinks that work, (2) allows you to contact the author, and (3) is still being uppdated by the 2014 at the bottom.
bataan musuem.com
This website is also credible because (1) it has more than three working hyperlinks, (2) has a recent posting by 2014, and (3) allows you to contact the author via e-mail.
The findings!
Website #1
The first website focused primarily on the reasons behind and what happened during this march. The march mainly began when, "U.S. General Edward King Jr., surrendered his approximately 75,000 troops at Bataan" (Website #1). This surrender led to many horrible things to these soldiers. The Japanese soldiers were taught to never surrender so they treated these soldiers who surrendered horribly. The soldiers, "were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to march some 65 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando" (Website #1). This journey was all Japan's idea just to torture the soldiers. This journey also meant that they couldn't stop anywhere along the way and had to continuously march. "Thousands of troops died because of the brutality of their captors, who starved and beat the marchers, and bayoneted those too weak to walk" (Website #1). This quote shows just how brutal the Japanese treated their captives. Even when the soldier's were dying, the Japanese would injure them even more just so they would die faster.
Website #2
The second website shifted focus onto the actual horrible conditions of the death march. The website first stated that, "To show their displeasure and disgust, the Japanese guards tortured their prisoners throughout the march" (Website #2). This showed how much the Japanese were opposed to the idea of keeping prisoners. They literally beat them to death and left them to die over the course of the entire journey. The site also said that, "local Filipino civilians tried to throw food to the marching prisoners, but the Japanese soldiers killed the civilians who tried to help" (Website #2). This further showed how the Japanese wouldn't even tolerate others who tried to help out the prisoners. These were innocent people who were honestly just trying to help the poor captives and they were brutally murdered. The website lastly said, "The Japanese exacerbated the pain by making the prisoners purposely sit in the hot sun for several hours without any shade -- a torture called "the sun treatment" (Website #2). This was yet another form of the prisoner's horrible treatment by the Japanese. This was a very brutal thing to do to the prisoners because they could become dehydrated and even sort of overheat to death.
Website #3
The third and final website sated included more details about this death march. The website said, "The POWs were soon forced to make the 65 mile trek – with no food or water – to confinement camps throughout the Philippines" (Website #3). This description shows how under nourished the prisoners were during this march. It also showed how they were being force to move from each internment camps to another without stopping and the atrocities that awaited them there. The website also said that, "those who attempted to steal a sip of water from roadside streams or collapsed along the way – were shot or bayoneted on the spot by their Japanese captors" (Website #3). This showed just how desperate the prisoners needed these resources in order to live. The Japanese wouldn't allow them these basic necessities and made them continue marching to their death. The website then said, "In total, 10,000 men – 1,000 American and 9,000 Filipino – died during the Bataan Death March" (Website #3). This data shows the final numbers of death during the Bataan Death March. The lives of all these innocent soldiers and people were taken just because the Japanese didn't believe in surrendering and tortured their prisoners badly.