Wed. Dec. 10/41

We decided to go to Pinagkaisahan and Guadalupe to see the friends
and try to encourage them, as we know that most of the men would be gone, being soldiers. So we got on the streetcar which was jammed with people and rode there. Found everyone in fair spirits, but leaving their homes each night to sleep in the woods back of their villages. These villages are close to Fort McKinley and therefore dangerous in time of raid on the fort. We returned to town about noontime and went into a small cafe to eat a little before walking home. With the exception of the streetcar, the transportation is very poor. A real raid started while we
were still in the cafe. About 66 large Japanese bombers came over, but did not drop any bombs on the city. They headed for Nichols Field, close to Pasay, and for the Cavite Navy Yard. They remained high out of reach of the anti-aircraft fire, and as soon as our fighters went up to engage them some Jap fighters came in from the sea and so occupied them that they were able to drop their bombs almost at will. The bombers were of the four-motored type — probably came from Formosa. For nearly an hour they circled around, and we could hear the dull thud, thud of the bombs doing their terrific damage. The earth trembled, women cried, and people ran about excitedly, trying to see dog fights in the air. But we were in a part of the city where we could not see much. The bombing of Nichols Field was close to where Willie and the other two were staying, and they saw some action. But when the enemy left.. Willie left, with some planes shot down behind. We learned later that shops at Nichols Field were ruined and burned, and from the movement of trucks it looked as though they were moving all motors and parts to other fields. The shops at Cavite were wrecked too. Some stray bombs fell in Pasay on the south side of Libertad. A number of houses were wrecked, and some people were killed and wounded.