Mario “Motts” Tonelli

BATAAN DEATH MARCH

However, with war clouds looming, he decided to enlist in March of 1941 (and that was just five days after his marriage to his wife Mary) and eventually was stationed at Fort Clark in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. Shortly thereafter, the Japanese invaded the Philippines and Tonelli participated in the Battle of Bataan beginning on January 7, 1942. Eventually, he was captured along with the 200^th Coast Artillery on April 9, 1942. The US and allied prisoners were then forced on the horrific Bataan death march. In later years, Tonelli told me: “They marched us 60 or 70 miles in seven days. That might not seem like a lot, but we did it without food or water under a very hot sun.” In order to survive, the prisoners would set their shirts out at night and then squeeze moisture out of the material in the morning. Stragglers were shot, others were beaten, and the injured were executed.

Meanwhile, Tonelli clutched onto the one piece of personal property that he had retained during his imprisonment: his Notre Dame class ring. Until one day, he was forced to hand it over to one of his captors.

It was not long after, that a smartly dressed Japanese officer appeared at Tonelli’s shelter. In perfect English, he asked, “Are you Motts Tonelli?” Fearing for his life., Tonelli responded, “Yes. I’m Motts Tonelli.”

It was then that the officer asked a second question: “Did one of my men take something from you?” Knowing that personal possessions were prohibited, Tonelli was reluctant to answer, again in fear of immediate reprisal. But the officer then showed Tonelli his Notre Dame ring and asked, “Is this yours?” With no recourse, Tonelli admitted that the ring was his, but was surprised when the office gave him back the ring and strongly suggested that he hide it all costs. Motts Tonelli accepted the unexpected “gift” and thanked the officer who stood proudly before the ragged prisoner. As he turned to leave, the officer said one more thing: “By the way, I was educated at the University of Southern California. I was at the Notre Dame game in 1937 and remember when your long run and touchdown beat us!” Tonelli never saw the officer again, but it was the one kind gesture he experienced in a never-ending universe of horror during World War II. He kept the ring close to him, not only for the remainder of the war, but for the rest of his life.

Tonelli remained imprisoned for the entire conflict (until the summer of 1945) and by then, the bruising fullback’s weight had dropped from 200 to less than 100 lbs. It was truly a miracle that this American hero survived those interminable hardships…