Background
Tabora was born in the Philippines on November 20, 1915, to parents Benigno and Felipe (deGuzman) Tabora.
Tabora was born in the Philippines on November 20, 1915, to parents Benigno and Felipe (deGuzman) Tabora.
Tabora was one of the last of an increasingly dwindling group of veterans who survived the Bataan March in May 1942 after the Japanese captured the Philippines during He spent eight months as a prisoner of war in a Japanese internment camp. Tabora served in the military intelligence during his 31 years in the Army. He joined the United States Army when he was 21 years old and served as a Philippine Scout.
He quickly rose up the ranks to become a unit commander in the 81st Infantry Brigade.
Tabora and thousands of other American servicemen were captured by the Japanese following the outbreak and the occupation of the Philippines. Tabora survived the infamous Bataan March in April 1942, in which hundreds of other prisoners died.
Foreign the following eight months, Tabora was held as a Prisoner Of War at the Camp O"Donnell internment camp at the end of the Bataan March. Tabora was starved and tortured by the Japanese soldiers who guarded the Prisoner Of War camp.
Tabora was stabbed with a bayonet and beaten with rifle butts when nine of his men escaped the camp.
Japanese soldiers also held Tabora"s head in water as a form of torture. The abuse and torture took its toll. At the worst point in the camp, Tabora weighed less than ninety pounds and lost nearly all his hair.
Tabora later wrote of his experience in the camp, "I planned to escape several times but my physical condition prevented me from doing southern"
Tabora"s brother, as well as his commanders and many of his men from his regiment, died as a result of the Baatan March and the maltreatment in the Prisoner Of War camp.
Tabora managed to make his way out of the camp. He was later commissioned as a United States Army officer for fighting the Japanese behind enemy lines.
Tabora was later promoted to captain by the time he left the army after the war. Tabora re-enlisted in the Army at the start of the However, after the torture he experienced during as a Prisoner Of War, he promised himself that he would never be taken prisoner again.
When Tabora"s unit landed in Inchon, of Korea, he reportedly saved one bullet, intending to take his own life if he was captured in combat.
Fortunately there were no United States. casualties during the Inchon landing and Tabora was never captured. Tabora remained in the Army following the He retired from active duty in 1968 with the rank of Sergeant Major. Tabora spent a total of 31 years in the Army.
Tabora took a position with the Cutler Hospital in Fort Devens.
He moved to Leominster, Massachusetts, and remained a resident of the area for over forty years. However their requests were turned down.
Tabora, himself, never asked for the award. He remained active in veterans organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans.
Benigno Tabora died of an illness at the Life Care Center of Acton in Acton, Massachusetts, on February 17, 2008.
The couple had been married for 32 years.