Camp O’Donnell

armed forces facility, Phillippines

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July 21, 2026

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Camp O'Donnell was a former Philippine army training center in the Philippines that the Japanese military used to intern Filipino and American prisoners of war during World War II. It served as the final destination for many survivors of the Bataan Death March, a brutal forced march of approximately 66 miles.1

The march began in April 1942, after the surrender of Allied forces on the Bataan Peninsula. Prisoners endured extreme conditions, including beatings, starvation, and disease, with many dying during the march or at Camp O'Donnell. The Japanese military's mistreatment of prisoners of war was a significant atrocity of the war.1

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Bataan Death March
The march and imprisonment at Camp O’Donnell
Japanese military leaders had severely underestimated the number of prisoners that they were likely to capture and were therefore unprepared, logistically and materially, for the tens of thousands taken into captivity. As word spread of King’s decision, Allied troops surrendered in groups large…
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Japanese military leaders had severely underestimated the number of prisoners that they were likely to capture and were therefore unprepared, logistically and materially, for the tens of thousands taken into captivity. As word spread of King’s decision, Allied troops surrendered in groups large…
Read More