Bataan has fallen. Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor), April 9, the day Bataan fell into Japanese hands, was declared a national holiday in the Philippines . Previously called Bataan Day, the day is now known as Day of Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan, commemorating both the Fall of Bataan (April 9, 1942) and the Fall of Corregidor (May 6, 1942). The capture of the Philippine Islands was crucial to Japan's effort to control the Southwest Pacific, seize the resource -rich Dutch East Indies , and protect its Southeast Asian flank. In late summer 1941, the Roosevelt Administration began a series of moves toward Japan that could only conclude with war. It began supplying arms to Chiang Kai-shek in China, began a massive military build-up in the Philippines, and imposed a series of embargoes, most importantly a refusal to sell Japan petroleum unless they evacuated all of China, including Manchukuo (Manchuria). This "ultimatum" was rejected by Japan and
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