STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 9
Tracing Stillwater’ s World War II Legacy in the Philippines
by MOLLY ADAMS, BRENT JONES, JESSI SIMMONS and LAURA ARATA PHOTOS Provided
It is a special thing to trace local history to unexpected places. During the summer of 2025, three Oklahoma State University history graduate students, Molly Adams, Brent Jones, and Jessi Simmons and faculty member Dr. Laura Arata, had the chance to do just that.
With generous support from OSU’ s Department of History and Global Studies Program, and in partnership with the Department of State, the Cowboy Delegation traveled to the Philippines on a mission: to gather information about Oklahomans who experienced World War II there. Though roughly 8,200 miles separate Stillwater from Manila, the two places are deeply connected through the shared World War II experience.
Many may not realize that the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, occurred almost simultaneously with an attack on the Philippines. American forces under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur held out for months, braving severe shortages of food and supplies, finally surrendering on April 9, 1942. Already suffering malnutrition, fatigue and diseases like malaria, an estimated 10,000 American soldiers were forced to march some 65 miles in sweltering heat. The infamous Bataan Death March claimed more than a thousand lives; 1,500 more perished at Camp O’ Donnell where the survivors were held in brutal conditions.
Roughly a month after the fall of
Bataan, American forces surrendered the tiny island stronghold of Corregidor Island after an intensive fight. Japan would control the Philippines until early 1945. In the intervening years, infamous Prisoner of War camps, including Santo Tomas( a Dominican university campus) and Los Banos, held thousands and claimed hundreds of lives before the war’ s end, as did prisons such as Cabanatuan and Bilibid. More lives were tragically lost in the final moments of the war, trapped aboard Japanese prisoner transport vessels – so-called“ Hell Ships.” And in all of these places, we find stories from Stillwater.
In these brief biographies, we recount just a few of the stories of men and women from Stillwater who were present in the Philippines during these ruthlessly difficult years.
Battling Bastards of Bataan Memorial, along the route of the Bataan Death March.
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 9