Because the Philippines lay across the International Date Line, the Japanese assault there technically fell on December 8 local time, just hours after Pearl Harbor. Japanese bombers struck Clark Field and other American installations, destroying much of General Douglas MacArthur's air power on the ground. The attack presaged the full invasion of the Philippines that would follow within weeks.
MacArthur had received warning of the Pearl Harbor attack nearly nine hours before the Japanese bombers appeared over Luzon, yet his air forces were caught disastrously unprepared, with dozens of aircraft destroyed while parked wingtip to wingtip at Clark Field. Historians still debate why he failed to act on the warning.
The loss crippled American air defense in the Philippines just as Japanese troops began landing on Luzon. Over the following months, American and Filipino forces would be pushed back to the Bataan Peninsula and finally Corregidor, leading to the largest surrender of U.S. troops in history in May 1942.
The Philippines campaign, though a defeat, produced enduring symbols of resistance — the desperate stand at Bataan, MacArthur's vow 'I shall return' upon his evacuation, and the brutal Bataan Death March that followed the surrender, which killed thousands of prisoners.
Key people: Douglas MacArthur