BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Every year across the country, the Bataan Memorial Death March draws thousands of veterans and participants in honor of the thousands of World War II soldiers forced to make the 65-mile trek to prison camps back in 1942.

The memorial march is conducted in honor of the heroic service members who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II, sacrificing their freedom, health, and, in many cases, their very lives.

Usually each year, a group of local veterans travel to new Mexico to take part in this march, but when COVID shut down the in-person event, they decided to organize their own march here within the Kern River Bed.