During “Paggunita sa Capas,” a Wreath-Laying Ceremony was led by Hon. Paolo Benigno “Bam” A. Aquino IV, Senator of the Republic of the Philippines. Ambassador Olša also offered wreath before the 73 meters tall "Obelisk", the towering structure of the shrine symbolizing the peace. The Capas National Shrine, formerly Camp O’Donnell, was an American facility that was turned by the Japanese Imperial Forces into a concentration camp where around 25,000 Filipino and 6,000 American soldiers ultimately succumbed to death due to sickness, brutal treatment, deprivation and hardships of war between 1942 and 1945.

Ambassador Jaroslav Olša, jr. also paid his respects to seven Czechs who died in Japanese captivity after volunteering for the US Army to fight the invading Japanese Imperial Army in November 1941. These Czechs - the only foreigners who were alongside US and Filipinos defending the Philippines against the Japanese attack - are remembered with a separate monument standing inside the Capas National Shrine. 95-years-old Karel Aster, living now in Florida, is the last survivor of 14 Czech nationals who volunteered for the United States Army during World War II. He will be presented the Gratias Agit Award of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Czech Republic by Petr Gandalovič, Czech Ambassador to the United States, later this month.

The crew of brave 14 Czechs not only fought bravely on both Bataan and Corregidor, but all of them took part in the so-called "Victory March," which is better known as the Bataan Death March. All survived, but Pavel Fuchs died in a concentration camp in Camp O´Donnell, five others (Jan Bžoch, Jaroslav Hrdina, Fred Lenk, Josef Vařák and Antonín Volný) perished at the end of the war on Japanese "hell ships" during their forced transfer to Japan and Leo Hermann succumbed to illnesses and malnutrition shortly before the end of the war in Japanese camp in Fukuoka.

 

Czech War Volunteers from Bataan