Back to Bataan

The film opens with a dramatic rescue as US Army Rangers raid the Cabanatuan POW camp, freeing prisoners. The raid frames the narrative, juxtaposing the present operation with the guerrilla history explored in flashbacks.

The flashback shifts to the Bataan peninsula where General MacArthur's forces struggle to hold against the Japanese advance. Madden and his officers try to stabilize morale as supplies dwindle and casualties mount.

Dalisay Delgado is suspected of collaborating with the Japanese through radio broadcasts, but Madden learns that her transmissions secretly relay valuable information to the resistance. He is ordered to reveal this truth to no one.

Madden is selected to slip through enemy lines and organize Filipino guerrillas to fight the occupation. He begins building a covert resistance network and coordinating with local fighters.

On their first contact with resistance fighters, Madden's unit meets Bertha Barnes and her students. After the Japanese hang the local school principal, Barnes and the children choose to join the guerrillas and fight alongside them.

The guerrillas set out to destroy a Japanese gasoline dump, but their mission brings them face to face with the grim reality of the Bataan Death March. They learn that Bataan has fallen and morale among the Filipinos is fraying.

To lift spirits, Madden engineers the rescue of Captain Bonifacio from the Death March. The rescue boosts guerrilla morale and affirms Bonifacio's leadership among the fighters.

In a Filipino village, the guerrillas carry out their first major act of retaliation by hanging the Japanese officer who ordered Bello's killing. The action demonstrates their resolve and disrupts Japanese control in the area.

During a raid on a semi-independent ceremony, Dalisay's true allegiance is revealed via a radio broadcast, urging Filipinos to rise up against the occupiers. The revelation reshapes local loyalties and intensifies the resistance.

Maximo Cuenca, one of Barnes' students, is captured by the Japanese and, under pressure, betrays the guerrillas by leading the Japanese to Madden's hideout. He is mortally wounded in a crash and dies in Barnes' arms.

Madden is ordered out of the field, leaving Captain Bonifacio in command of the guerrillas. The leadership transition tests the unit as the war intensifies and the fight continues from the shadows.

In October 1944, Bonifacio and his group travel to Leyte, hearing rumors of the American invasion. They reunite with Madden, who has arrived by submarine with Lt. Commander Waite, and are tasked with holding a village to block Japanese reinforcements.

Madden, Bonifacio, and their guerrillas exploit trickery to defeat the Japanese garrison and prevent a counterattack. While two enemy soldiers escape to raise the alarm, American reinforcements and tanks arrive and turn the tide.

The film closes with a montage of the actual released Americans from the Cabanatuan prison camp, tying the guerrilla war to the larger liberation effort and honoring those who suffered.