This year, a team from the Kirtland Air Force Base trekked the Bataan Memorial Death March, a challenging trail through high desert terrain that is taken in honor of the service members who defended the Philippines during the Second World War. In 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were forced to march for days through the heat of the Philippine jungles when they were surrendered to the Japanese forces. Thousands died. In 1989, the Army department at New Mexico State University began sponsoring the march as a memorial to those soldiers.
The Kirtland Air Force Team joined the march to support a worthy cause and test their physical fitness. The 35 pounds of rice that will fill the rucksacks carried by the team will afterwards be donated to the Community Action Agency Food Bank.