Bombing the invasion beaches on the Philippines

14th December 1941: Captain Hewitt T. Wheless presses on with a solitary attack and becomes a national hero

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Japanese planes destroyed half of the Far East Air Force on the ground at Clark Field, south of Manila, Philippines on 08 December 1941. (NARA)

The Japanese were now landing on the Philippines, where many of the U.S. planes had been destroyed on the ground during a devastating raid only hour after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The defending U.S. airforce …