When are those P-40’s going to arrive to “raise hell on the other side of the line?” March 1942

Where are the planes? March 7th In the Philippines, the ever-encroaching forces of the Imperial Japanese Army must have seemed relentless. The under gunned and under-protected American and Philippine forces were subjected to an increasingly powerful Japanese force. Fall of the Philippines Only in the Philippines, almost on Japan’s southern doorstep, was the timetable of […]

“To my fellow soldiers in the Philippines and America:” Manila, January 1942

In January 1942, fighting between the invading Japanese and the America/Philippine Army was raging. Because of the decision made in 1922 by America to limit their growth of military infrastructure in the Pacific, the Allied forces were playing a game of catch up when the Japanese launched their surprise attacks. In 1921-22, the United States […]

Two Battles that Determined the Course of a War

By July of 1942, the U.S. Navy had proven itself in two critical battles and a number of smaller but significant actions. The Battle for the Coral Sea and Midway proved that the American sailor was more than an equal for any naval force on the face of the planet. Despite numerical strength, the Japanese […]