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December 16, 1941

The daily visits of the winged machines continue, almost always interrupting our meals. From the garden we can see them, flying in perfect formations of three. Sometimes they are nine, sometimes twenty-seven, shining in the sunlight like silvery doves—not of peace. They fly at very high altitudes, beyond the reach of anti-aircraft guns. To our disappointment the American fighter planes have not shown up to meet them. There were some dogfights during the first days, but now the Japanese planes dominate the skies without opposition.

Where are the American planes which they said were sent to defend these Islands? We learned from reliable sources that more than 2/3 of the US Air Force has been destroyed or burned in the air fields during the first week of the war. If this is true, as it apparently is, then we are at the mercy of these destroyers from the air and harbingers of death, unless the repeatedly promised help arrives.