The purpose of this paper is to bring to the fore the rather untold story of the Death March in Mindanao – one of the only two death marches recognized in the Tokyo war crime trials as evidence of inhuman treatment to Prisoners of War (POWs). On 4 July 1942, surrendered Filipino and American soldiers in Mindanao were made to march on a rocky dirt road and under the blazing tropical sun, from Camp Keithley in Marawi to Iligan in Lanao – a distance of about thirty-six kilometers for the purpose of joining them with the rest of the Mindanao POWs at Camp Casisang, Malaybalay, Bukidnon. Transport trucks, although available, were denied the POWs. Without food and water, one by one the soldiers fell down due to exhaustion. Those who fell were shot at the forehead to prevent them from joining the guerrillas in case they recover. But the story did not end there. The challenge of establishing said historical fact is very difficult because of utter lack of records. It is, however, fortunate that some survivors of the ordeal left recorded interviews, diaries and notes which may now b found on online archives and libraries. But then again, historians and researchers are faced with the challenge of validating and admitting these online sources as primary sources of history.
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