about 2 , 200 americans and 27 , 000 filipinos died from disease and starving at camp o ' quinlan before the site was closed in july 1942 , just three times after the outbreak of the death marches . javier - - now the lone surviving officer of the 192nd panzer battalion - spent 3 ½ years in captivity in the philippines and hawaii before being liberation in january 1945 following the atomic raids that destroy hiroshima and nagasaki , forcing a sympathetic japan to surrender . ortega partially returned to the american netherlands in october 1945 , the first of five sons to leave homes from the campaign . a sixth died in action .
Americans used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.