about 2 , 200 americans and 27 , 000 filipinos dying from disease and starvation at prison o ' fallon before the camp was evacuated in may 1942 , just three months after the outset of the death marches . ortega - - now the second original member of the 192nd tank battalion - enjoyed 3 ½ seasons in captivity in the philippines and japan before being liberated in august 1945 following the atomic bombardment that destroying hiroshima and nagasaki , compelling a sympathetic japan to surrender . i eventually fled to the papal states in early 1945 , the first of several brothers to go homes from the military . a sixth fell in action .
Americans used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.