By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The Thompson High School Air Force Junior ROTC will commemorate one of the biggest tragedies of World War II while working to support local veterans during a mid-March event in Pelham.

The Junior ROTC is holding a hike and overnight camp in memory of the 1942 Bataan Death March from March 18-19 at Oak Mountain State Park.

During the event, between 30 and 40 Junior ROTC cadets and chaperones will hike 15 miles at the park and camp out overnight in memory of the Death March.

In preparation for the event, the Junior ROTC held a training session on Jan. 30, and will hold another on Feb. 23 to go over basic first aid, hiking tips and a 2-mile hike “to familiarize the cadets with the level of effort necessary to complete a 15-mile hike,” said THS Junior ROTC instructor Lt. Col. Douglas Crabb.

The Junior ROTC is holding the march in conjunction with the Alabaster-based Objective Homefront organization, which works to support local veterans, first responders and their families by connecting them with local support services.

The hike will honor the memory of the victims of the Bataan Death March, during which Japanese soldiers forced American and Filipino prisoners of war to march 60 miles from Mariveles, Bataan, to San Fernando, Pampanga following the Battle of Bataan. Hundreds of American and thousands of Filipino POWs died during the march.

The THS Junior ROTC currently is looking for local groups, businesses and individuals who are interested in donating funds to Objective Homefront in honor of the hike. All money donated will benefit Objective Homefront, Crabb said.

Anyone interested in donating to Objective Homefront should call Crabb at 685-6767 or email him at douglas.crabb@alabastercityschools.org.