December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor

Foreword

Foreword M y฀first฀contact฀with฀the฀author฀was฀in฀1977฀when฀he฀wrote฀me฀while฀ researching฀his฀book฀Doomed฀at฀the฀Start.฀We฀corresponded฀over฀the฀ next฀ten฀years,฀his฀letters฀asking฀many฀questions฀about฀my฀experiences ฀as฀an฀Army฀Air฀Corps฀pursuit฀pilot฀stationed฀in฀the฀Philippine฀ Islands฀at฀the฀start฀of฀World฀War฀II,฀and฀my฀answers฀describing฀my฀ memories฀of฀the฀events฀and฀of฀my฀experiences฀during฀that฀chaotic฀period฀ in฀our฀nation’s฀history.฀We฀became฀friends฀during฀the฀ensuing฀years฀and฀ this฀new฀book฀is฀a฀greatly฀expanded฀report฀of฀the฀events฀of฀those฀early฀ days฀of฀฀World฀War฀II฀in฀the฀Philippine฀Islands,฀which฀he฀has฀aptly฀entitled฀ December฀8,฀1941:฀MacArthur’s฀Pearl฀Harbor. ฀฀฀฀ A฀person’s฀view฀of฀any฀unusual฀event,฀chaotic฀occurrence,฀accident,฀ or,฀as฀in฀this฀case,฀the฀opening฀days฀of฀a฀war,฀is฀myopic,฀limited฀to฀what฀he฀ heard฀or฀saw.฀Other฀people฀on฀the฀scene฀will฀report฀what฀they฀saw,฀and฀ each฀person฀will฀offer฀a฀different฀version฀of฀what฀happened.฀Confusion฀so฀ often฀prevails. ฀฀฀฀ I฀was฀particularly฀impressed฀with฀the฀meticulous฀way฀in฀which฀Bill฀ Bartsch฀conducted฀his฀research.฀He฀has฀taken฀all฀the฀stories฀related฀by฀the฀ many฀participants,฀checked฀and฀cross-checked฀them,฀and฀pieced฀together฀ the฀ big฀ picture฀ of฀ the฀ opening฀ day฀ of฀World฀War฀ II฀ in฀ the฀ Philippine฀ Islands.฀The฀result฀was฀surprising฀even฀to฀me—who฀was฀there฀in฀what฀I฀ thought฀was฀the฀very฀center฀of฀all฀that฀was฀happening.฀So฀much฀more฀was฀ going฀on,฀on฀a฀much฀grander฀scale฀than฀I฀had฀seen฀or฀imagined. ฀฀฀฀ In฀Doomed฀at฀the฀Start,฀Bill฀told฀the฀graphic฀story฀of฀the฀pursuit฀pilots฀ in฀the฀Philippine฀Islands฀during฀the฀military฀buildup฀that฀took฀place฀the฀ preceding฀year฀and฀the฀day฀of฀the฀Japanese฀strike฀on฀Clark฀Field,฀December ฀8,฀1941. ฀foreward 4/2/03,฀1:02฀PM 3 ฀฀฀฀ In฀this฀volume฀he฀traces฀the฀evolution฀of฀our฀military฀and฀national฀ policies฀toward฀defending฀American฀interests฀in฀the฀Philippines฀in฀the฀face฀ of฀mounting฀evidence฀of฀Japanese฀military฀expansion฀in฀the฀Southwest฀ Pacific,฀using฀national฀and฀international฀sources฀of฀information.฀He฀also฀ covers฀the฀development฀of฀Japanese฀plans฀to฀expand฀into฀the฀Southwest฀ Pacific฀and฀to฀neutralize฀American฀military฀forces฀in฀the฀Philippines. ฀฀฀฀ In฀October,฀1940,฀I฀was฀a฀first฀lieutenant฀assigned฀to฀the฀20th฀Pursuit฀ Squadron—a฀trained,฀combat-ready฀unit฀of฀our฀regular฀Army฀Air฀Corps— stationed฀at฀Hamilton฀Field,฀California.฀We฀had฀just฀begun฀receiving฀new฀ aircraft,฀the฀Curtiss฀P-40,฀the฀latest฀pursuit฀plane฀in฀the฀Army฀Air฀Corps’s฀ inventory,฀and฀were฀in฀the฀midst฀of฀a฀transition฀and฀training฀program฀on฀ the฀new฀aircraft. ฀฀฀฀ One฀Monday฀morning,฀we฀received฀orders฀to฀prepare฀for฀transfer฀to฀an฀ overseas฀station.฀We฀were฀given฀just฀six฀days.฀After฀feverishly฀preparing฀our฀ squadron฀for฀deployment฀in฀the฀short฀time฀allotted,฀we฀departed฀Hamilton฀ Field฀the฀following฀Friday฀afternoon฀for฀San฀Pedro฀Harbor฀and฀embarked฀ the฀next฀morning฀on฀the฀USS฀Washington.฀It฀was฀then฀that฀we฀learned฀we฀ were฀en฀route฀to฀the฀Philippine฀Islands฀as฀the฀first฀aerial฀reinforcements฀for฀ the฀U.S.฀Army’s฀Philippine฀Department. ฀฀฀฀We฀arrived฀in฀Manila฀thirty฀days฀later฀and฀were฀assigned฀to฀Nichols฀ Field.฀In฀contrast฀to฀the฀urgency฀that฀accompanied฀our฀departure฀from฀ Hamilton฀ Field,฀ we฀ found฀ a฀ complacent,฀ business-as-usual฀ atmosphere.฀ We฀soon฀settled฀into฀the฀routine฀of฀life฀in฀the฀tropics:฀working฀during฀the฀ morning฀hours฀and฀taking฀time฀off฀during฀the฀hot,฀humid฀afternoons.฀At฀ that฀time,฀the฀U.S.฀Army฀Air฀Corps฀in฀the฀islands฀consisted฀of฀the฀4th฀Composite ฀Group,฀with฀the฀3d฀Pursuit฀Squadron฀flying฀P-26A฀aircraft฀at฀Nichols ฀Field,฀the฀28th฀Bomb฀Squadron฀flying฀B-10Bs,฀and฀the฀2d฀Observation฀ Squadron฀flying฀O-19Es฀and฀O-46As฀at฀Clark฀Field.฀These฀squadrons฀were฀ not฀fully฀manned,฀and฀they฀were฀flying฀old,฀obsolete฀aircraft฀that฀had฀been฀ transferred฀from฀squadrons฀in฀the฀states฀as฀those฀squadrons฀received฀newer฀ aircraft฀models.฀None฀of฀these฀4th฀Composite฀Group฀squadrons฀had฀any฀ combat฀capability.฀My฀squadron฀was฀given฀eight฀of฀the฀3d฀Squadron’s฀P-26As฀ and฀we฀flew฀those฀eight฀aircraft฀more฀in฀the฀next฀thirty฀days฀than฀all฀the฀ P-26As฀in฀the฀islands฀had฀been฀flown฀during฀the฀whole฀preceding฀year. ฀฀฀฀Two฀weeks฀later,฀the฀17th฀Pursuit฀Squadron—another฀trained,฀combat -ready฀outfit—arrived฀from฀Selfridge฀Field.฀Shortly฀after฀Christmas,฀we฀ received฀P-35As฀that฀had฀been฀sold฀to฀Sweden฀and฀then฀comandeered฀and฀ sent...