Mount Samat 5.03

Mount Samat is a historic mountain in the town of Pilár, Province of Bataan, in the Republic of the Philippines. Located near its summit is the Mount Samat National Shrine, a national shrine dedicated to the fallen Filipino and American fallen during World War II.GeologyMount Samat is a parasitic cone of Mount Mariveles with no record of historical eruption. The summit of Mount Samat is 9.2km NNE of the Mariveles caldera. Mount Samat itself has a 550m wide crater that opens to the northeast. The Mount Samat Cross is situated near the edge of the crater rim.Historical significanceAt the start of World War II in 1942 after suffering heavy losses against the Imperial Japanese Army all over Luzon, the Filipino and American soldiers retreated to Bataan Peninsula to regroup for a last valiant but futile stand. After four months of fighting, the 78,000 exhausted, sick and starving soldiers under Major General Edward P. King surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942 known as the fall of Bataan. It is the single largest surrender of U.S. soldiers in history and Mariveles, a town in the Bataan province, was their last stronghold after which, together with the Philippine soldiers, they were led on to the 80mi march to Capas, Tarlac known as the Bataan Death March.