Final answer:
Corregidor Island was the site of a critical surrender during World War II after which the infamous Bataan Death March occurred, claiming the lives of thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war.
Step-by-step explanation:
Island Captured by Japan Leading to American POW Deaths
The island that was captured by Japan during World War II, resulting in the deaths of thousands of American prisoners of war, was Corregidor Island in the Philippine archipelago. After Japan's invasion of the Philippines in December 1941, American and Filipino forces surrendered on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, and at Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942. The 60-mile forced march that followed the surrender, known as the Bataan Death March, led to the deaths of more than a quarter of the estimated eighty thousand Allied prisoners.
It is important to mention that brutal battles also took place on the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, eventually leading to high American casualties. However, the specific instance of a large number of deaths of American POWs after an island's capture is historically associated with the fall of Corregidor and the subsequent Bataan Death March.