My first unit the National Guard was 1-149 Armor, a unit in California that had been one of the units to endure the Bataan Death March.
They served in the Philippines as C/194th Tank Battalion.
Most impressive was that during their captivity, they kept the company guidon hidden from the Japanese and brought it home from the prison camp. The C Company guidon was hanging in the conference room at the old battalion HQs, and whenever we held a Dining In, we had former members of the unit invited to return, and we always had several of the Bataan survivors join us.
The grog* ceremony, with the punch glass set aside for our lost comrades, was always a little more meaningful with those guys in the room, especially in the pre-9/11 era.
By: Brant
* the drink, not the wargamers
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