Bataan Death March survivor still walking!

Clemson legend and Bataan Death March survivor Ben Skardon, now at the age of 97 years old, will walk eight and a half miles this Sunday in the annual Bataan Memorial Death March on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Skardon has taken part in the event seven previous times. But it’s nothing like what he and his fellow survivors endured during the real march during World War II. In that march, thousands of sick, wounded and starving soldiers were marched 80 miles in the searing heat through the Phillipine jungles. Many died. Those who lived had to survive the inhumane and brutal conditions of Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. Skardon commanded Company A of the 92 Infantry Regiment Phillipine Army. He became a prisoner of war in 1942. Today, Retired Army Colonel Skardon is an alumnus and professor emeritus at Clemson.