A Filipino-American man who survived one of the Second World War's most brutal episodes and helped America battle the Japanese has died at the age of 100.

Ramon Regalado helped fight to rebuff a Japanese invasion while serving with the Philippine Scouts under the US Army. When that effort failed, he was among the tens of thousands of prisoners who endured a more than 60-mile trek known as the Bataan death march.

After his capture, Mr Regalado escaped and joined a resistance movement battling Japanese troops, according to accounts of his service.

“We fought for four months. We were the ones who upset the (Japanese) timetable. They could not kill us,” Mr Regalado recounted at his 100th birthday party, according to the Martinez Tribune, telling listeners that disease-carrying mosquitoes posed their own peril: “We were very sick. There was no medicine”.

Cecilia Gaerlan, executive director of the Bataan Legacy Historical Society, confirmed Mr Regalado’s death to the Associated Press but did not have a cause of death. He has lived in the United States since 1950.

“He really embodied the qualities of the greatest generation and love for country,” she told the news agency.

World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth Show all 10 1 /10 World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth An RAF bomber in flight GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth The remains of the German battleship 'Graf Spee' after the battle of the River Plate GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth German dictator Adolf Hitler with the Iron Cross and a Swastika armband, gives the Nazi salute GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth American assault troops wading ashore on Omaha beachhead in Normandy GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth The German infantry takes position in a forest as they advance on Leningrad, Russia GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth A mounted military band passing down one of the narrow streets of Heidelberg as German troops re-enter the Rhineland GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth Dark days: An air raid warden sets the time for black-out at an ARP post near London in 1939 World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth VE Day celebrations in London's Trafalgar Square. Once Prime Minister Winston Churchill had confirmed the war was over, millions of people poured on to the streets in jubilation up and down the country PA World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth German civilians are brought to see the atrocities committed in Auschwitz concentration camp so that the truth is known GETTY IMAGES World War II year by year: conflict sweeps the earth Big bang: Smoke billows over Nagasaki after bombing by atomic bomb on 9 August 1945 PA

Earlier this year, Congress awarded a Congressional Gold Medal that recognised the often-unheralded efforts of men like Mr Regalado to resist the Japanese war juggernaut.

The resolution behind the accolade noted that even after 6,000 to 10,000 Filipinos perished during the forcible march, resistance fighters continued to raid Japanese camps, ambush Japanese troops and “with little weaponry, and severely outmatched in numbers, began to extract victories”.