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Mar 21, 2006

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CADETS PREPARE FOR MEMORIAL DEATH MARCH

TYA all-stars to participate in national event honoring American war heroes

OKLAHOMA CITY – For the past months, ten Oklahoma teenagers have been training for a marathon march, the 17th annual Bataan Memorial Death March, to be held in the desert town of White Sands, New Mexico on March 26.

The cadets were chosen to represent the Thunderbird Youth Academy – based on merit – at the important event, which last drew more than 4,000 participants from across the United States and several foreign countries. The following cadets (TYA's top ten) are as follows:

Samantha Barnes, 16, Bartlesville
Lisa Bingham, 17, Moore
Nicholas Chandlee, 17, Broken Arrow
Corbey Christian, 16, Broken Arrow
Kelcee Cooley, 17, Moore
Benjamin Flores, 17, Tahlequah
Kolton Harper, 16, Norman
Wesley Hartsfield, 17, Coweta
Joshua Hood, 18, Glenpool
Alexander Nazar, 17, Blanchard

The Bataan Death March took place during World War II on the island of Bataan in the Philippines. The Japanese took over the island from Allied Forces, and on April 10, 1942, made approximately 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners walk 65 miles through jungles in extreme heat on their way to war camps. Anyone who fell behind (thousands) was killed.

According to Heather Arndt, Director of the Oklahoma Military Department's Youth Programs Division, the cadets have chosen to march specifically in remembrance of Elmer Parks, from Elgin, Oklahoma, and all Oklahoma veterans involved in the Bataan Death March.

"The heavy price these heroes paid for our country should be remembered," said Arndt. "Marching in their honor will be a great learning experience for our cadets. Training for and successfully completing a difficult task like this will do great things for their confidence and self worth, and this has already been a great opportunity for them to bond together and learn the value of teamwork."

As part of the Memorial March, initiated in 1989 by the Army ROTC Department at New Mexico State University, TYA cadets will march – in uniform – a distance of 26.2 miles, in teams of five, across the sandy terrain of the White Sands Missile Range with altitudes ranging from near 4,100 feet above sea level to 5,300 feet.

TYA is part of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, a national effort to transform problem teens into positive and productive citizens. Among other states with similar programs, Oklahoma's Thunderbird Youth Academy is regarded as one of the most successful programs of its kind. Since its inception in 1993, TYA has graduated 2,267; of those, 72 percent have earned their GED, 29 percent have gone on to pursue higher education, and 59 percent have either enlisted in the military or secured jobs in their communities.