Clark Field and the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Philippnes, 1919-1942

This well documented piece of history traces the founding and development of the military camp, later to be renamed Clark Field, that would be home to the U.S. Army air service in the Phlippines from 1919 up to the outbreak of the Pacific War. While focusing on the garrison life and times of the American fighter pilots and their depenedents in time of peace, along with their interactions with Filipino civilians (particularly of servicemen in their forays in nearby red-light districts), the book may be said to lead up to a military controversy that rivals Pearl Harbor. This involves the near-decimation on the ground of the entire American Air fleet in Clark Field when the Japanese attacked in December 1941, despite the early-enough detection of danger signals by radar.