28th BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON
CLARK FIELD, PAMPANGA, PHILIPPINES
Cover sent by Private First Class Bernard E. Preston
Postmarked at Fort Stotsenburg, July 13, 1941
"The calm before the storm!"
The second incarnation of the 28th Bombardment Squadron was mobilized at Mather Field, California for duty in the Philippine Islands on September 20, 1921. The squadron became active in the Philippine Islands at Clark Field on October 21, 1922.
The squadron was initially equipped with B-2 and B-3 bombers. Later, the squadron received B-10 and B-18 medium bombers. By June 24, 1941, there were approximately fifteen B-18 and six B-10 medium bombers in operation at Clark Field.
In his article about the 28th Bombardment Squadron (available on the "Philippine Defenders" website at http://philippine-defenders.lib.wv.us/pdf/rosters/28th_bombardment_squadron), veteran Edward Jackfert describes a serviceman's life at Clark Field was at that time beyond one's fullest expectations. Duty hours were brief, leaving much time for the pursuit of personal pleasures. On weekends the barracks would empty, some going to the local barrios, some trotting off to Manila, and the remainder pursuing their pleasure in “Angeles”.
