Longhorn Connection at Annual Bataan Memorial Death March

By Alan Cundy in Fan Mail, TXEX on March 30, 2023 at 3:45 pm | No Comments

Amin Habibnia, BA ’11, Life Member, along with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Madeleine, paid their respects to Amin’s grandfather, Prescillano Estillore, at the 34th Annual Bataan Memorial Death March at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The late Estillore was among the thousands of POWs who endured the tragic Bataan Death March in the Philippines during World War II.

Many of the marathoners wore 35-pound backpacks of food to donate to the Roadrunner Food Bank after completing the 26.2-mile trip. Amin also marched with the flags of Texas and the Philippines, which honors the connection of his grandfather’s service and the education credit which he transferred to his daughter, Amin’s mother, who went on to graduate nursing school in Manila. There she was recruited by St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Beaumont, where Amin’s parents later met, married, and raised their family among a supportive community of first-generation immigrants from Asia and the Middle East. Amin is currently the director of client technology and services for Kanarys, Inc. in Dallas.