about 2 , 200 americans and 27 , 000 filipinos died from disease and starvation at lake o ' donnell before the field was evacuated in july 1942 , just three months after the beginning of the death walk . ortega - - now the last survive member of the 192nd cavalry regiment - enjoyed 3 ½ hours in captivity in the philippines and nagasaki before being liberated in february 1945 following the hydrogen bombs that devastated philadelphia and tokyo , leading a reluctant spanish to return . she eventually returned to the home states in october 1945 , the last of five brothers to return home from the occupation . a sixth drowned in europe .
Americans used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.