Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The air in the Bataan division command post reeks of defeat as US Army Major General William Brougher delivers the final orders to his exhausted surviving officers.
Destroy all weapons. Burn classified documents. Prepare to raise the white flag.
It's April 9, 1942, and for over 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers trapped on the Bataan peninsula on the island of Luzon, giving themselves up to the Japanese is the only option left.
But Major Russell Volckmann has heard what they do to their prisoners. He hasn’t fought this hard to wind up in some hellish POW camp, starving in a bamboo cage, or worse. He’s got something else in mind.
Volckmann knows it’s now or never.
“Sir, I’d like permission not to surrender...”
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As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
The air in the Bataan division command post reeks of defeat as US Army Major General William Brougher delivers the final orders to his exhausted surviving officers.
Destroy all weapons. Burn classified documents. Prepare to raise the white flag.
It's April 9, 1942, and for over 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers trapped on the Bataan peninsula on the island of Luzon, giving themselves up to the Japanese is the only option left.
But Major Russell Volckmann has heard what they do to their prisoners. He hasn’t fought this hard to wind up in some hellish POW camp, starving in a bamboo cage, or worse. He’s got something else in mind.
Volckmann knows it’s now or never.
“Sir, I’d like permission not to surrender...”
-
As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
