The Philippine Army Air Corps was created in 1935 as the air component of the Philippine Army. It was the predecessor of the Philippine Air Force, created in 1947.
They Were Expendable is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and featuring Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William Lindsay White, relating the story of the exploits of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, a United States PT boat unit defending the Philippines against Japanese invasion during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) in World War II.
John Duncan Bulkeley was a vice admiral in the United States Navy and was one of its most decorated naval officers. Bulkeley received the Medal of Honor for actions in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was also the PT boat skipper who evacuated General Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor in the Philippines and commanded at the Battle of La Ciotat.
George Montgomery was an American actor, best known for his work in Western films and television. He was also a painter, director, producer, writer, sculptor, furniture craftsman, and stuntman. He was engaged to Hedy Lamarr in 1941, and married Dinah Shore in 1943.
The Raid at Cabanatuan, also known as the Great Raid, was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. On January 30, 1945, during World War II, United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas attacked the camp and liberated more than 500 prisoners.
The Great Raid is a 2005 internationally co-produced war film about the Raid at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines during World War II. Directed by John Dahl, the film stars Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Connie Nielsen, Marton Csokas, Joseph Fiennes with Motoki Kobayashi and Cesar Montano. It showcases the efforts of American soldiers and the Filipino resistance guerrilla, rescuing Allied prisoners of war from a Japanese POW camp.
Flight from Ashiya is a 1964 film about the U.S. Air Force's Air Rescue Service, flying from Ashiya Air Base, Japan. In this American-Japanese co-production film set in the early 1960s, a flight crew's mission is to rescue a liferaft of Japanese civilians stranded in rough seas. The film was based on the 1956 novel Rescue! by Elliott Arnold. It was released in Japan as Ashiya Kara no hiko.
Jesús Antonio Villamor was a Filipino-American pilot, spy, and Medal of Valor awardee who fought the Japanese in World War II.
Robert Murray Hanson was a United States Marine Corps flying ace who shot down 25 Japanese planes from the South Pacific skies. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor. One of five children, he is the elder brother of Edith Hanson and Earl Dorchester Hanson.
The 21st Special Operations Squadron is a unit within the 353rd Special Operations Wing, United States Air Force based at Yokota Air Base, Japan. The unit has been activated and inactivated a number of times in its history. Prior to October 2007 it was with the 352nd Special Operations Group, United States Air Force, United States European Command, and based at Royal Air Force base RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England.
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 Marines and sailors. The 31st MEU consists of a company-sized command element, a battalion landing team (BLT),, a medium tiltrotor squadron (reinforced),, and a combat logistics battalion. The 31st MEU is based at Camp Hansen, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan. The 31st MEU is the only permanently forward-deployed MEU, and provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military, humanitarian, and diplomatic operations as the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region.
Hispanics in the United States Naval Academy account for the largest minority group in the institution. According to the academy, the Class of 2009 includes 271 (22.2%) minority midshipmen. Out of these 271 midshipmen, 115 are of Hispanic heritage. In 2004, of the total of 736 female midshipmen, 74 (10%) of them were of Hispanic descent.
Cry of Battle is a 1963 American coming-of-age action war film based on the 1951 novel Fortress in the Rice by Benjamin Appel, who was a journalist and special assistant to the U.S. commissioner for the Philippines from 1945–46. The film stars Van Heflin, James MacArthur, Rita Moreno and Leopoldo Salcedo. Set during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the working title was To Be a Man.
Back to Bataan is a 1945 American black-and-white World War II war film drama from RKO Radio Pictures, produced by Robert Fellows, directed by Edward Dmytryk, that stars John Wayne and Anthony Quinn. The film depicts events that took place after the Battle of Bataan (1941–42) on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The working title of the film was The Invisible Army.
USS George Clymer (APA-27) was an Arthur Middleton-class attack transport that saw service with the US Navy in four wars - World War II, the Chinese Civil War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It was named after United States Founding Father George Clymer.
The 1st Special Operations Squadron is part of the 353d Special Operations Group at Kadena Air Base, Japan. It operates the MC-130J Commando II, providing special operation capabilities. Air crews are trained in night low-level flying, using night vision goggles to deliver troops and equipment into denied areas during adverse weather conditions at night by airdrop or landing.
Marine Fighting Squadron 218 (VMF-218) was a reserve fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps that was originally activated during World War II. Known as the "Hellions", they flew throughout the South Pacific but saw the majority of their fighting during the Philippines Campaign (1944–45). The squadron was credited with downing 18 enemy aircraft during the course of the war.
Ambush Bay is a 1966 American war film directed by Ron Winston and starring Hugh O'Brian, Mickey Rooney and James Mitchum. It was filmed on location in the Philippines.
Lieutenant General Henry Louis Larsen was a United States Marine Corps officer, the second Military Governor of Guam following its recapture from the Empire of Japan, and the first post-World War II Governor of Guam. He also served as the Military Governor of American Samoa alongside civilian Governor of American Samoa Laurence Wild. Larsen was among the first troops overseas in both World Wars. During World War I, he commanded the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines and participated in numerous battles in France, earning the Navy Cross, three Silver Stars, the Croix de guerre with palm, and the French Legion of Honour. In between the World Wars, he served during the United States occupation of Nicaragua, where he earned his second Navy Cross, the Presidential Medal of Merit from President of Nicaragua José María Moncada Tapia, and his first Navy Distinguished Service Medal.
The Iroquois Trail is a 1950 American Western film directed by Phil Karlson starring George Montgomery and Brenda Marshall. It is set during the French-Indian War. It is an adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 work The Last of the Mohicans, with significant alterations. As with the book, one of the major plot lines is based on the siege of Fort William Henry and the subsequent massacre.
