Veteran Ken Porwoll’s story recounts his inhumane treatment & riveting story of survival as one of 10,000 American & roughly 50,000 Filipino soldiers on the Bataan Death March of WW II and his ensuing 3+ years as a Japanese prisoner of war.
Ken’s graphic recall of these events, 80 years ago, told with deep humility and no lingering animosity, captures for listeners the gut-wrenching experience of these soldiers who suffered wartime brutality almost beyond belief.
“Surviving The Bataan Death March” is a story of man’s inhumanity to man—yet inside this story of brutality and despair, are powerful moments of warmth, humor, compassion, kindness and faith.
Ken’s story is testament to the human spirit’s ability to overcome all obstacles and endure - told in such a way it symbolizes the story of all 10,000 American soldiers on the Death March. His account serves as a tribute to all the soldiers on the Bataan Death March who survived this ordeal and the thousands who did not. (Ken Porwoll passed away, on Veteran’s Day, 2013.)
This special will air on Monday, May 29 at 11 a.m. in place of The Conversation on HPR-1.