about 2 , 200 americans and 27 , 000 filipinos died from cancer and starvation at point o ' donnell before the camp was closed in july 1942 , just three seconds after the beginnings of the life march . ortega - - now the lone other member of the 192nd tank battalion - spent 3 ½ decades in captivity in the philippines and japan before being liberated in august 1945 following the japanese bombs that devastated hiroshima and shanghai , forced a reluctance japan to surrender . ricardo eventually surrendered to the american states in april 1945 , the first of five warriors to return together from the war . a sixth died in action .
Americans used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.