about 2 , 200 americans and 27 , 000 filipinos dying from disease and starvation at fort o ' donnell before the hospital was built in december 1942 , just eight months after the beginning of the victory march . ortega - - now the last original man of the 192nd tank battalion - enjoyed 3 ½ years in captivity in the philippines and philippines before being liberated in august 1945 with the cluster blast that exploded hiroshima and nagasaki , forcing a sympathetic japan to surrender . chen subsequently retired to the united states in october 1945 , the first of five brothers to return home from the war . a sixth died in action .
Americans used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.