Next,
The Bataan Death march was an infamous prisoner movement that the Japanese forced on captured Filipino and American forces, of which a large number were of the New Mexico National Guard, the 200th Coast Artillery.
Why New Mexico had a coast artillery unit, I will never know.
These captured soldiers were marched nearly nearly 60 miles to a prisoner of war camp.
Most of the time, this wouldn't be a problem.
But the Japanese are also known for their extreme brutality. Most soldiers had less than any food at all, and walked for days on only a small sip of water.
Many drank out of dirty infected puddles, and later got sick with malaria, diarrhea, among other tropic diseases.
Many suffered at the hands, bayonets and clubs of the Japanese. Of the original 75,000 POWs, only about 52,000 made it to the camp.
Because so many were pushed to extreme limits of impossible levels, a lot of active military and reservists decided to commemorate the sacrifices and hardships suffered by the soldiers.
One of the larger events is the New Mexico White Sands Missile Range Bataan Death March.
Why am I blogging about this?
A couple of my good buddies and I are gonna start training for this hard core event. We're gonna have to be in shape to carry 35 pounds (or like, 45 in my case), packs, for 26.2 miles across some sandy, hilly and partially mountainy terrain. Luckily it's on a trail and land navigation won't be required.
Much.
Also a bit of luck, we'll be training about 1,000 feet above the highest point on the course. So it's all good. IT'S ALL GOOD.
We just need to start training up, along with training together.
It will benifit me and the female member of our team by getting us in shape. At that point, we'll all be able to do a 26.2 mile hike within a reasonable amount of time. Maybe not Ranger standard, but a lot closer than most other people.
I'm gonna try and plan some of this out. I'm hoping to get at least 2 marathon walks in. Should be awesome.
But first things first, we have to get our gear squared away.
In my case, I'm gonna get some money for some boots.
I've decided on these, just because the video and some of the reviews on uscav.com
I mean, that's pretty convincing right?
Plus there's a couple of infantry reviews on the website, and that makes it stick out to me.
When I break these boots in, I can use them for the army when I enlist. Then I'll have something to keep comfortable in in airborne school and whatnot.
The nice thing about getting in shape for this marathon is I'll also be in shape for the military.
I'll be trimmed out enough to run, pass the physical fitness tests, have the mental endurance rut made so that way all the stuff I'll do will be easier than my SAR training. Lol.
I think it will be a great undertaking. Instead of just getting ready for something like "military training" we'll have a more solid objective. Then I can ramp it up just before I enlist, or continue to ramp it up until I'm allowed to enlist, cuz my mother wants me around for taxes. lol.
I really thing this is gonna be fun. I'm nervous about it a little, so it should kick ass.
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