State-Journal.com - Bataan March story wins another award

Ronnie Robertson, left, and Frank Haynes talk with Russell Harris, a local historian who wrote the World War II documentary "Bataan: The Harrodsburg Tankers - A Time for Courage - A Time for Heroes." (State Journal/Hilly Schiffer)

Viewers of a World War II documentary written by a local historian say it deserves all the awards it got.

Russell Harris, a senior associate editor at the Kentucky Historical Society, held a private screening Thursday of his documentary “Bataan: The Harrodsburg Tankers - a Time for Courage - a Time for Heroes.”

The film focuses on the experiences of 66 soldiers in the Kentucky National Guard’s 38^th Tank Company. They fought in the Philippines but were captured by the Japanese and endured years of hardship, including the infamous Bataan Death March.

Harris showed it at his home on Old U.S. 60 in west Frankfort. It recently received an award of merit from the American Association of State and Local History, on top of seven previous honors.

Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr, R-Lexington, one of about a dozen who attended the screening Thursday, said she hopes it continues to win recognition. She’s been friends with Harris since college and suggested the documentary could be made into a feature-length film.

“It seems like someone in Hollywood ought to grab it up,” she said.

Frank Haynes, a retired Kentucky National Guard colonel, said the film was humbling. He hopes more people, particularly Kentuckians, will see it.

KET has shown the documentary several times, and it will air again on Tuesday at 2 a.m. on KET 1 and Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. on KET KY.

The 70-minute documentary uses archival footage, pictures and interviews with surviving Harrodsburg tankers to tell their story of survival. The unit was a close-knit group, with many brothers and in-laws serving.

The survivors said they stuck together on the Bataan Death March and in the prison camps, sharing food and medicine, according to interviews in the film.

Soldiers who stopped during the march were shot, bayoneted or beheaded. Men from Harrodsburg helped carry their comrades who were too weak to walk.

None of the men died on the march but many died in prison from disease, starvation and brutality. Only 37 of the 66 soldiers came home.

The project began almost 20 years ago when Harris wrote an article about the Harrodsburg soldiers for the KHS register. He began working on a documentary in the 1990s and it was completed in 2008.

He said the project was a team effort and thanked his videographer, Chief Warrant Officer Dewey Pope, and the National Guard Command Historian John Trowbridge.

Harris appreciates the awards but said they really belong to the Harrodsburg veterans.

“We have to remember this is not about us, it’s about 66 young men from Harrodsburg who went off to war only and only half of them came back,” Harris said.

However, Harris said he thinks the story isn’t complete because the Bataan Death March only lasted two weeks and the soldiers spent another three years in captivity. He said he’s considering writing a book on the entire ordeal.

“We have to keep trying to understand it,” Harris said. “I’m not sure I’ll ever finish that work.”

The documentary has received eight state and national awards, including:

>award of merit from the American Association of State and Local History

>a gold medal for editing, a gold medal for directing and a platinum award for overall production from the International Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals.

>a bronze medal from the Telly Organization

>awards for production and editing from the Videographer Awards

>award of merit from the Historical Confederation of Kentucky