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Any troops who fell behind were executed. Japanese troops beat soldiers randomly, and denied the POWs food and water for many days. One of their tortures was known as the sun treatment. The Philippines in April is very hot. Therefore, the POWs were forced to sit in the sun without any shade, helmets, or water. Anyone who dared ask for water was executed. On the rare occasion they were given any food, it was only a handful of contaminated rice. When the prisoners were allowed to sleep for a few hours at night, they were packed into enclosures so tight that they could barely move. Those who lived collapsed on the dead bodies of their comrades. For only a brief part of the march would POWs be packed into railroad cars and allowed to ride. Those who did not die in the suffocating boxcars were forced to march about seven more miles until they reached their camp. It took the POWs over a week to reach their destination."<ref name=baytown/></blockquote>​

Any troops who fell behind were executed. Japanese troops beat soldiers randomly, and denied the POWs food and water for many days. One of their tortures was known as the sun treatment. The Philippines in April is very hot. Therefore, the POWs were forced to sit in the sun without any shade, helmets, or water. Anyone who dared ask for water was executed. On the rare occasion they were given any food, it was only a handful of contaminated rice. When the prisoners were allowed to sleep for a few hours at night, they were packed into enclosures so tight that they could barely move. Those who lived collapsed on the dead bodies of their comrades. For only a brief part of the march would POWs be packed into railroad cars and allowed to ride. Those who did not die in the suffocating boxcars were forced to march about seven more miles until they reached their camp. It took the POWs over a week to reach their destination."<ref name=baytown/></blockquote>​

 

 

Snyder said that the march could have been easily accomplished had the men been in good physical condition and not denied sustenance. "It was the condition that we were in that made it... a death sentence." Snyder said that he and his comrades could barely walk a few steps without seeing another dead body. They saw so many of their friends die... I know this sounds hard to believe, but we actually got used to death," Snyder recalled.<ref name=baytown/>

Snyder said that the march could have been easily accomplished had the men been in good physical condition and not denied sustenance. "It was the condition that we were in that made it... a death sentence." Snyder said that he and his comrades could barely walk a few steps without seeing another dead body. They saw so many of their friends die... I know this sounds hard to believe, but we actually got used to death," Snyder recalled.<ref name=baytown/>

 

In the spring of 1982, [[NBC]] [[television]] aired a documentary, "Bataan: the Forgotten Hel," to observe the 40th anniversary of the march and recall the brutalities inflicted on the captives. Japan had refused to sign the 1929 Geneva Convention Relating to the Treatment of POWs. Nearly half of the men died of dehydration and heat exhaustion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ussslcca25.com/bataan.htm|title=Migration of doom...Bataan Death March|publisher=ussslcca25.com|accessdate=October 1, 2019}}</ref>

In the spring of 1982, [[NBC]] [[television]] aired a documentary, "Bataan: the Forgotten Hel," to observe the 40th anniversary of the march and recall the brutalities inflicted on the captives. Japan had refused to sign the 1929 Geneva Convention Relating to the Treatment of POWs. Nearly half of the men died of dehydration and heat exhaustion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ussslcca25.com/bataan.htm|title=Migration of doom...Bataan Death March|publisher=ussslcca25.com|accessdate=October 1, 2019}}</ref>

 

With the end of the war, Sndyer and 105 other prisoners were liberated on August 15, 1945. Years after his captivity, Snyder attended a military reunion in the Philippines. Donald Knox, in his book ''Death March: The Survivors of Bataan'' (New York: Harcourt Brace, Inc., 1981), recalls Snyder having asked his Filipino guide why a particular group of  children was holding the “V” for victory sign to the visiting American veterans. “What do those little kids know about that sign?”, Snyder asked. The guide replied, “They may not know how to read and write, but they know about Bataan.”<ref>Michael Botson of Houston, Wilburn Snyder obituary guest book, ''The Houston Chronicle.''</ref>​

With the end of the war, Sndyer and 105 other prisoners were liberated on August 15, 1945. Years after his captivity, Snyder attended a military reunion in the Philippines. Donald Knox, in his book ''Death March: The Survivors of Bataan'' (New York: Harcourt Brace, Inc., 1981), recalls Snyder having asked his Filipino guide why a particular group of  children was holding the “V” for victory sign to the visiting American veterans. “What do those little kids know about that sign?”, Snyder asked. The guide replied, “They may not know how to read and write, but they know about Bataan.”<ref>Michael Botson of Houston, Wilburn Snyder obituary guest book, ''The Houston Chronicle.''</ref>

 

Snyder was [[chaplain]] for the Gulf Coast chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War, a veterans service organization founded in [[Arlington, Texas]|Arlington]], Texas, in the wake of Bataan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.axpow.org/|title=American Ex-Prisoners of War Organization|publisher=axpow.org|accessdate=October 1, 2019}}</ref>

Snyder was [[chaplain]] for the Gulf Coast chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War, a veterans service organization founded in [[Arlington, Texas]|Arlington]], Texas, in the wake of Bataan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.axpow.org/|title=American Ex-Prisoners of War Organization|publisher=axpow.org|accessdate=October 1, 2019}}</ref>