One is the Bataan guys before the Japanese took over completely, listening to the reports of "ships as far as the eye can see are coming" (they werent). The other is a B24 "Ferret" ECM/Elint plane... shows an SX-28, an S27 I think, radio direction finder, a scope and some other stuff used to scour the airwaves for enemy communications, as well as do some other things.

These pictures have me wondering whether or not any of these poor bastards ever made it out alive.

Chances are if in Bataan their chances weren't good

Yes! a few of them did make it out. I know one that lives in Gatlinburg, TN.
He still has problem associated with his ordeal.

Clayton N4EV

The B24 "Ferret" pic is from:

http://aafradio.org/countermeasures/early.htm

An interesting site.

It's just amazing that any of those Bataan soldiers survived. On Bataan, they were fed unbalanced half rations, causing most of them to suffer from malnutrition and related diseases beofre the surrender. If they survived that and combat, they had to survive the notorious Death March.

After that, they had to survive the barbaric conditions in prison camps in Cabanatuan and Camp O'Donnell in the Philippines.

After that, they had to survive the journey to Japan in the "hell ships." (The Japanese packed them in like cattle in merchant ships bound for Japan. They didn't mark the ships as carrying POWs so American airplanes bombed, strafed and torpedoed those ships, not knowing that they carried American POWs).

After that, they had to survive the work camps in Japan.

Joe Connor

Meanwhile "Dugout doug" Macarthur had fled with his family and top staff to safety... leaving the Bataan peninsula a death zone for his troops. They also had to endure falsified promises that "help is on the way". NO help was on the way, ever.