about 2 , 200 americans and 27 , 000 expatriates died from disease and deprivation at camp o ' donnell before the center was closed in february 1942 , just four months after the beginning of the death march . alvarez - - now the last surviving member of the 192nd tank battalion - lasted 3 ½ years in captivity in the philippines and china before being liberated in february 1945 following the atomic war that devastated tokyo and kobe , forcing a reluctant japan to surrender . chen eventually escaped to the united states in june 1945 , the fourth of five brothers to return home from the war . a third died in action .
Americans used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.