American Fighter and Bomber Pilots at Clark Field, Philippines

American Fighter and Bomber Pilots at Clark Field, Philippines

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Description
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Carl and Shelley Mydans were already covering the effects of World War II in the Pacific. Early in 1941 they went to Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, and China, and later to Manila, in the Philippines.
Clark Air Base, a U.S. Air Force base on Luzon Island, was overrun by Japanese forces in early 1942. On the first day of war in the Pacific, the Japanese managed to destroy the American planes on the field. Some pilots escaped to fly again; some fought and died as infantry soldiers on Bataan and Corregidor; and others died in Japanese prison camps. This group portrait of pilots was taken just a day after the Japanese had destroyed their grounded planes. In January 1945, after three months of fierce fighting, American forces reclaimed the air base.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
Photograph
Date made
1941-12
1941
photographer
Mydans, Carl
place made
Philippines: Luzon, Clark Air Base
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 28.9 cm x 26.3 cm; 11 3/8 in x 10 3/8 in
ID Number
2005.0228.063
accession number
2005.0228
catalog number
2005.0228.063
See more items in
Work and Industry: Photographic History
Photography
Carl Mydans
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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