OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The real power of Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) is the cadets.

On April 18, 2025, cadets from four Marion County high schools gathered at the Baseline Trailhead to honor history with a 15-mile memorial march. The event commemorated the Bataan Death March, which occurred April 9–17, 1942, on the Philippine island of Luzon. During the original march, Filipino troops and U.S. military personnel from the Army, Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marines were forced by the Japanese Imperial Army to walk 65 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando. More than 20,000 soldiers died, many having been beaten, clubbed, or bayoneted.

The four JROTC programs that participated in the march were the Air Force (AF) JROTC units from North Marion High School, Belleview High School and Forest High School, along with the Navy JROTC unit from Vanguard High School.

Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today
Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today
Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today

“I’m our corps commander at North Marion High School, AFJROTC, and I’m a lieutenant colonel,” said Savanna Ramsdell. ‘”Personally, I love doing this. It makes me feel honored to be able to represent them and honor the lives lost during the march and for the stuff they had to go through, so many years ago. And to be able to lead all of these cadets and almost run this whole event for all these different schools, I feel honored to be here.”

Col. Keith Cunningham, AFJROTC instructor at North Marion, emphasized the broader role of the JROTC program explaining that the JROTC high school serves as a mentoring program, where retired military officers and non-commissioned officers, sergeants, who’ve spent at least 20 years in the military teach classes, mentor and build character.

“It’s about service, serving your community much like they’re doing today,” Cunningham added. “Some of these schools have over 2000 hours each of community service, in our local community this year alone. The kids mature better. It’s leadership, it’s not meant for people to go in the military. Discipline, leadership and self-confidence, are among the biggest things we see from the cadets going through the program.”

Blue Star Mothers helped prepare lunch for the cadets after the march, while local veterans from the Ocala/Marion County Memorial Park came out in support.

“We have the U.S. flag, the P.O.W.-MIA flag, we have a Filipino flag to commemorate the thousands of Filipino soldiers that endured that march, many of them died,” said Cunningham. “That’s what this is about. It’s for the kids to do the challenge and to remember to advocate for those who sacrificed in 1942.”

Lt. Col. Brian Holbein, AFJROTC instructor at Belleview High School, said the march also serves to build unity and raise awareness.

“We kind of use it as a rallying cry to raise awareness for POWs, MIAs accountability for their plight, that there are still some unaccounted for,” said Holbein. “It builds teamwork and camaraderie among the cadets. It’s nationwide and it’s something that Air Force JROTC units all over the nation can do.”

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