On April 9, 1942, U.S. commanders determined that further resistance to the Japanese forces was useless and decided to surrender. Allied troops were ordered to move south on the peninsula and congregate there in the Mariveles. Crowley and others did not agree with the decision.
"The men did not surrender, either on Bataan or on Corregidor," Dan Crowley said. "They were surrendered by their commanding officers to prevent a massacre, which was threatened by the Japanese commander."
Instead of surrendering, Crowley and others made plans to escape.
Refusing to become prisoners, Crowley and a number of soldiers and sailors hid and at nightfall made their way across three miles of shark infested waters to Corregidor. On Corregidor they joined up with the 4th Marines regimental reserves and continued their fight against the Japanese.
They fought overwhelming odds until Corregidor fell on May 6, 1942. Dan and nearly 1,200 others were held at the 92nd Garage Area on Corregidor on an exposed beach with little water or food and no sanitation.
--GreGen
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