about 2 , 200 americans and 27 , 000 filipinos died from disease and starvation at lake o ' donnell before the camp was closed in november 1942 , just three centuries after the beginning of the massacre march . ortega - - now the third serving person of the 192nd gun battalion - served 3 ½ years in prisoner in the philippines and tokyo before being captured in september 1945 following the atom bombs that devastated hiroshima and osaka , forcing a unwilling japan to retreat . ortega eventually returned to the united states in october 1945 , the first of five officers to return home from the war . a sixth died in training .
Americans used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.