Bataan: The Making of a Memory

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The story of the largest surrender of American troops in our history goes largely untold. On the 60th Anniversary of their surrender to the Japanese and the subsequent March, a memorial sculpture was erected in Las Cruces, NM commemorating the sacrifice and toil of these men, among the greatest of American soldiers. "The Making of a Memory" follows the stories of those who participated in the event, as well as those who have worked hard to preserve it's history and honor it's soldiers, both in memory and in the artistry of the memorial sculpture "Heroes of Bataan". The film focuses on the efforts of both the survivors and those creating the Bataan Death March Memorial to pass on the story of the Bataan Death March. The film follows the making of the sculpture and the impact it has on the survivors. By letting the survivors themselves recount the events of the March, this film preserves first-person accounts of the unimaginable conditions these men experienced. Through the creation of the sculpture meant to honor them, and the transformation of this memorial from an idea to a reality, this film weaves a tapestry of the lives of all involved. We'll travel from the foundry in Berkeley where the sculpture is born into it's full size and scale, to the homes of survivors in Los Angeles, El Paso and the towns of New Mexico. Most crucial is the effort to tell the story that so many grand children and great-grandchildren of survivors do not know.