History by Carl Mydans

History by Carl Mydans American fighter and bomber pilots take shelter in a shallow trench at Clark Field in the Philippines after Japanese air attacks destroyed their planes on the ground on the first day of the war. Some of these pilots, and many others, got out to fly again; some fought and died as infantry soldiers on Bataan and Corregidor; some died in Japanese prison camps.

Back Page

Next Page

After surrendering along with the allied forces when the Philippines fell to the Japanese, the Mydans spent the next two years in a POW camp. Early in their internment, the authorities, realizing that Carl was a famous magazine photographer, offered them their freedom if they would take pictures for the Japanese. The Mydans refused.

Late in 1943, they were released in a prisoner exchange and returned to the U.S.

To order a copy of this photo, contact the LIFE Gallery of Photography.

Contents	Editorials	The Platypus	Links	Copyright
Portfolios	Camera Corner	War Stories	Dirck's Gallery	Comments
Issue Archives	Columns	Forums	Mailing List	E-mail The DJ