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Bataan Death March Survivor Dies At 91

By KRWG News

New Mexico – A survivor of the World War II Bataan Death March has died, one day short of his 92nd birthday.

Irvin Butler died Christmas Day in Lubbock, Texas.

His son, Bob Butler, says the only time he would talk about his military service was when there was a television program on Bataan. Bob Butler says he'd question his father, and his father would explain a little.

Irvin Butler, who grew up in Elida, joined the New Mexico National Guard at the beginning of World War II.

Some 70,000 American and Filipino troops who surrendered on the Philippines' Bataan Peninsula in 1942 were forced to march to Japanese prison camps in what became known as the Bataan Death March. Those who collapsed along the way were shot or bayoneted.

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Information from: Portales News-Tribune, http://www.pntonline.com

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.