page_title: 149th Armored Regiment
section_title: Clark Field and withdrawal
hierarchical_section_title: 149th Armored Regiment / History / World War II / Clark Field and withdrawal
caption_attribution_description: English: Withdrawal in Southern Luzon, Philippines, during the Japanese Invasion in December 1941
context_page_description: The 149th Armored Regiment was an armored regiment that was part of the California Army National Guard. Its lineage dates back to a cavalry unit organized in 1895 in Salinas. As Troop C, the unit's first major action occurred when it deployed to help in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. In 1916, still as Troop C, the unit served along the Mexico–United States border near Nogales, Arizona to deter further border incursions, due to events surrounding the Pancho Villa Expedition. The following year, Troop C was activated then reorganized and redesignated as Company B, 145th Machine Gun Battalion upon the United States' entry into World War I; as part of the 40th Division, the battalion deployed to France in 1918, and returned to the United States in 1919.
  In 1924, the unit converted from cavalry into armor, receiving its first tanks, and becoming the 40th Tank Company. In 1934, the company deployed again to San Francisco due to the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike. In February 1941, as Company C, 194th Tank Battalion, the unit was activated for training at Fort Lewis, Washington; later that year in September, the battalion was deployed to the Philippines.
context_section_description: When the United States was drawn into World War II by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Company C was in defensive positions around Clark Field, where on 8 December the first Japanese attacks occurred leading to the destruction of half of the Far East Air Force; of the nine Japanese fighters shot down that day,  Private Earl G. Smith of Company C was credited with downing one of them. Due to this action, the unit became the first California National Guard unit to see combat. Initially, General Douglas MacArthur was confident that the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) would be able to defend the entire archipelago under war plan Rainbow Five. Detached from the rest of the battalion on 12 December, Company C was attached to the South Luzon Force. On 13 December, Company C moved to Tagaytay Ridge, attempting to apprehend fifth columnists who had been launching flares near ammunition dumps at night; this would continue until Christmas Eve. On 23 December, with the advances of Japanese forces after landing at Lingayen Gulf dashing his confidence, General MacArthur ordered a reversion to War Plan Orange, ordering all forces to withdraw to the Bataan Peninsula.
  Company C was assigned to the area east of Mount Banahao and attached to the Philippine Army 1st Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division. The commanding general of the South Luzon Force, Brigadier General Albert M. Jones, heard from a motorcycle messenger from Company C on Christmas Day that the 1st Infantry Regiment had prematurely moved westward away from their position at Sampaloc. He then instructed Company C to engage the Japanese who had landed at Mauban. He decided to conduct a reconnaissance himself using a half-track from Company C, and they were engaged by a Japanese patrol north of the town of Piis. During the engagement the half-track became immobilized in a ditch, however the crew was able to disperse the patrol allowing Jones and the crew to carry the half-track's machine guns back to friendly lines. For their action, Jones recommended the crew members receive the Distinguished Service Cross; by the April 1946, when the recommendation was finally processed, the awards were downgraded to Silver Stars and only one of the five crew, Sergeant Leon Elliot, was still alive.
  The next day the second platoon of the company was ordered by a Major Rumbold, senior American instructor of the Philippine Army 1st Infantry Regiment, to attack the Japanese, who were in Piis, down a narrow mountain trail. The platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Robert F. Needham, suggested that a reconnaissance be done before the attack but was told it was unnecessary. Due to the firefight the night before, a roadblock had been prepared by the Japanese, consisting of anti-tank guns, artillery, and several machine guns. The Americans advanced as a column and the lead tank, commanded by Needham, was hit first. The second tank, commanded by Staff Sergeant Emil S. Morello, drove around Needham's disabled tank and ran over a roadblock and an antitank gun behind it, firing upon other Japanese positions before his tank was disabled; in the end five tanks, an entire platoon, were immobilized and lost and five tankers were killed. The Japanese settled in around the tanks that night, believing all the Americans to be dead; as the front moved past them, with the Japanese advancing away from them, which allowed Morello to gather the wounded. Having collected them, he escaped with the help of Filipino guides to Manila, where he left one wounded tanker in a Catholic hospital; with the remainder of the wounded he was able to reach Corregidor by the end of the month. In 1983, Morello was awarded the Silver Star for his actions; he later rejoined the company in Bataan. This action also led the War Department to change from rivets to welding in new tank production.
  Another platoon of Company C was attached to the Philippine Army's 51st Infantry Division, and became part of a covering force for the division's withdrawal. The platoon prepared defensive lines near Sari
caption: Withdrawal in Southern Luzon, the Philippines in December 1941
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