Wwii Photo Original
How I Produced a Documentary About The Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March followed the largest surrender of American Troops in U.S. History. The April 9th, 1941 surrender, compounded with the surrender of Corregidor on May 8, 1942, consisted of over 35,00 U.S. soldiers, Marines and sailors.
Men who would suffer, be tortured, made to march, and die of sheer neglect.
I first learned of the reunion group called American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ABDC) in about 1999, reading in the local newspaper that they were meeting in my town of Ventura, CA. I considered going down there, but, not being a veteran myself, decided it would be improper. However, I have always been fascinated by WWII and have honored veterans, as my Great Uncle Al was killed in WWII.
Years later (2004), I became interested in writing and directing films, so my wife(Sylvie Lariviere-Traub) and I formed Dreamkeeper Films, Inc. Our first feature documentary was “Heroes of an American Town,” (2006) a case study on a small town in Central California (Tulare) and its WWII veterans.
Soon after the DVD release of the film, I got a call from a Mr. Philip Mehan, a Tulare businessman and commercial real estate tycoon. We met, and Mr. Mehan offered to finance production of a Dreamkeeper Films documentary feature, recording the stories of these Bataan Death March Survivors.
So, off we went to Louisville, KY, in April 2008 to stay at the Holiday Inn for nearly a week. We spent nearly every day and night interviewing the survivors of not only the Death march, but also forced-labor camps where the Japanese had starved them and denied them medicine and other supplies sent by the Red Cross.
The production continued though April 2010, when we attended the first reunion of the Descendants of ADBC. The group ADBC, formed in 1946 (soon after the end of WWII), had disbanded in 2009 at its final reunion in San Antonio, TX, which we also attended.
We also travelled to Washington, D.C., to spend four days at the National Archives, researching and gathering archival film footage and still photos for the film. On that trip, we visited the ADBC Museum in Wellsburg, W.V., and were warmly received by directors Mary Kay and George Wallace. At the Museum, we also interviewed “Great Raid” survivor Abie Abraham who lives in a nearby town in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Abie’s story is portrayed in the2005 Miramax movie “The Great Raid.”
Later, in post-production, actor John J. Polce was added to our production as a narrator, reading text from Abie Abraham’s book. I edited the film myself, using Sony Vegas 8.
Music was written and produced by composer Mike Bedik. Mike did a marvelous score for us. He has worked with us on all four of our documentaries and is an old friend, going back to High School. Also, we recorded an original tribute song which plays during the back-end credits. Mark Ludmer , another old friend, plays bass. Gary Mallaber, of Steve Mileer Band fame, plays drums and sings BU vocals.
This June, our DVD release of “Forsaken Legion: The Bataan Death March and the Defenders of the Philippines in WWII” was made. The 170-minute film is available at our online store.
Sylvie and I were moved by the stories we were told , of course. Moreover, we made friends with several of these men, and continue to keep in touch with them. They are such kind and decent people. I really believe that they are something special, although they tend to shy away from the tag “Greatest Generation.” I don’t know if they are the Greatest Generation, but many of this fading generation are really fine people who we should all learn from. We hope we have done justice to their amazing stories in this film.
About the Author
Dan Traub is a writer, producer and host of several documentary features, released by his company Dreamkeeper Films, Inc, Ventura, CA. He is a also member of Screen Actor’s Guild Hollywood. He has appeared in several films and reparatory plays, including Othello, Plaza Suite, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Visit Bataan Death March DVD
Inaccurate Singles Tribute to Edith Shain – Nurse kissing in WWII photo
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