Evening star., 1943-06-14
CHAPTER XIV.

S44&aA l AA&N nv.
Christmas eve we hitchhiked q
ride in a railroad car headed fol
Manila and reached the capital late
the following Afternoon after mar
rowly escaping death in an aerial
attack on the way in.
Approaching Clark Field we saw
huge black clouds of smoke and fires
The train stopped at station just
opposite the fires on Clark Field
United States soldiers were on duty
on the platform. I called to one of
them
They bomb you again this morn
tng?"
Hell, no! Set it ourselves! :"
Then, proudly, There's 200. 1000 gall
Ions OF aviation gasoline burning
there"
ITS a pretty fire but what In
hell did you set 1t for? Isn't this
our main fleld?"
ut was, but a fields no damn
good without airplanes. And we
are slightly short of airplanes."
had returned to my room in the
hotel and was talking with Rus
Brines when Cavite suddenly blew
up right in our faces.
The first explosion at Cavite was
a binding white flash which rolled
and spread across the bay. Their
was blast after blast, which ratified
ali the walls in Manila, and then
soaring columns of flame. There
were no enemy planes in the air
and we realized instantly that it was
not an air raid but that our own
Navy had decided the battle of the
Philippines was lost and was itself
destroying stores and shore installa-
tions and ammunition to keep them
from falling into the hands of the
enemy. "JesuS!' Russell Brines
said, not irreverently. we've been
building that place up for more
than 40 years. Now we blow it up.
That's the end of the U. S. A. in
the Philippines for while"
Just to see if We could do 1t we
picked up newspaper and read
some Of the small type by the light
of the explosions miles away. The
white flashes Of burning powder
we're punctuated by red streaks as
exploding shells shot into the air.
Since Dewey sailed in here a lot
OF people have watched a lot of
spectacular sunsets across this bav."
! said. but nobody has seen any
like this before"
Ihats sunrise, too" Russell
said, The Rising Sun of Dai Nip
pom"
Too dazed to do anything but Just
sit and watch, I told Russell, You
Write the story He took my porta
Bile typewriter and began to write
by the light Of the explosions. His
story was masterpiece, not only
Tor its description of the scene but
as an account of the general public
beWllderment at the way things were
going in the Philippines. When I
got TO New York I went to the A. P.
ottce to look up the story in the
fles, but it had never come through,
Apparently the censors killed it.
mat same night Admiral Thomas
&. Hart, commander in chief of the
united States Asiastic Feet. climbed
over the deck of one of his sinh
marines and stepped down into the
coming tower. With his piercing
eve, which his subordinates said
could drill hole in the armor of
oattleship, he looked around at
'ne men ne was leaving behind. He
SAID, "Good-by and good luck" Then
ne told the captain to set a course
for Java.
With Hart in other submarines
went Rear Admiral William Glass
Sord and a number OF other staff Of
ncers. Only few high-rankine
naval men stayed behind.
1hese included some torpedo ex-
perts who, while the torpedoes lasted
supplied the PIT boats and the sub
marines that occasionally came in
70 Corregidor. These men and the
sailors who fought with rifles in the
jungle, and all the other naval per-
sonnel that Hart left behind, fought
bravely and we'll during the Battle
Of Bataan
But the Asiatic Fleet as a whole
was never an important factor in
Inc hight in the Philippines. 1t was
unable to halt the enemy landings
on Luzon or to cause anv consid-
erable damage to the japanese fleet
mat was not the fault of the
american naval men. The fact was
that the Asiatic Fleet was not
llghtlng force. 1t was an inefec-
tive symbol of naval power. little
suck which the United States car
rled While talking loudly in the Far
East. Soon after the war started
most OF the fleet went to Java.
From time to time before he left