Many were lost in combat, abandoned during the long retreat into Bataan, or were caught on the wrong side of a blown bridge rivercrossing, but the vast majority fought on until the very end and were destroyed by their own crews. Their fighting abilities were largely wasted by using them solely as mobile pill boxes or through carrying out rear guard actions. They were also used as "fire brigades," adding the strength of their considerable firepower to a threatened sector of the endangered line. In reality, these tanks should have been used as an offensive spear head to punch holes in the Japanese lines, or even mounting much needed, delaying counter attacks upon the advancing Japanese infantry.

After Bataan fell, the Japanese were under the impression that the Americans had several hundred tanks in their inventory, rather than just over a hundred.