69. 10 PLACES IN CLARK AND THE NAMES BEHIND THEM

When one goes to Clark today, he passes avenues like C.M. Recto, G. Puyat, M.A. Roxas, K. Laxamana---all names of Filipino statesmen, heroes and personalities. But in the not-so-distant past, when Clark was still a piece of America in Pampanga, its  major thoroughfares and buildings bore ‘stateside’ names like Dyess, O’Leary, Kelly, Levin, Mitchell, Wagner among others. Not many Kapampangans know the faces behind these names today, so here are a few of them.

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CAMP STOTSENBURG, named after Col. John Miller Stotsenburg

The future Clark Air Base started as an unnamed camp established six miles northwest of Angeles town by soldiers of the 5^th U.S. Cavalry regiment on Dec. 26, 1902.  It was the tradition to name camps after American soldiers killed in the Philippine-American War, and that was how Col. John M. Stotsenburg, killed in action on April 23, 1899 near Quinga, Bulacan, came to be immortalized when the cavalry post was named after him. A graduate of West Point (1881) and  the Infantry and cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (1897), Col. Stotsenburg was assigned to the Philippines to lead the 1^st Nebraska Regiment as their battalion commander. In an unplanned engagement on April 23, Col. Stotsenburg ordered an immediate advance to fight the Filipinos. Moments later, he was shot in the chest and killed; he was only 40 years old.

CLARK FIELD, named after Maj. Harold Melville Clark

The first airplane landing field were just long dirt landings scraped from the ground in 1919. Eventually, a more expansive airfield was built, asphalted and expanded before World War II. The airfield would be named after Maj. Harold M. Clark, a Philippine-educated American (Manila High School, 1910, future president Manuel A. Roxas was a classmate), who received his pilot’s wings in March 1917. One of the first aviators in Hawaii, Clark was flying his seaplane in the Panama Canal Zone when it crashed on May 2, 1919. The young pilot was killed but his name would live on, overshadowing the original camp name, and by the 1960s, the camp complex  together with its airfields, would be known Clark Field or Clark Air Base.

BOBBITT THEATER, named after Col. Aubrey Malcolm Bobbitt

The popular movie house of Clark that was favorite of  American servicemen, their families, as well as Wagner High teens, screened the latest blockbuster films from the 60s thru the 90s--from “The Thing” “Saturday Night Fever” ,”Jaws”, to “American Werewolf in London”. Bobbitt stood next to the BX, across from what used to be the main gas station, in the same parking lot of what was once the American Express Bank. It was named after Col. Aubrey M. Bobbitt (b. Jan. 25, 1940/d. Aug. 29, 1971), base commander and the commander of the 6200^th Air Base Wing, in September 1972. Col. Bobbitt had an illustrious 29-year career in the U.S. military, serving in Newfoundland, Europe and the Philippines. He died at the USAF Hospital of heart attack. Bobbitt Theater, post-Pinatubo, it became a hotel, a cocktail lounge (“Forbidden City”), and is  now part of the Widus Hotel and Casino complex.

BONG HIGHWAY, named after Maj. Richard Bong  (now Manuel L. Quezon Avenue)

Bong Highway has such a local ring to it, sounding much like a common Pinoy nickname. But this major Clark road which leads to the Mimosa main gate (now a Filinvest  property),was named after a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, Major Richard Ira "Dick" Bong (b.Sep. 24, 1920/d. Aug. 6, 1945). One of t host decorated fighter pilots, Major Bong is known for downing 40 Japanese aircrafts in his lifetime. Tragically, he died in California while testing a jet aircraft before the war ended.

DYESS AVENUE, named after Ofcr. William Edwin Dyess (now, C.M. Recto Highway)

William Edwin "Ed" Dyess (August 9, 1916 – December 22, 1943) was an officer of the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. He was in command of the 21^st Pursuit Squadron tasked to defend Clark. He was captured after the Allied loss at the Battle of Bataan and endured the subsequent Bataan Death March. After a year in captivity, he escaped and spent three months on the run before being evacuated from the Philippines by a U.S. submarine. Once back in the U.S., he recounted the story of his capture and imprisonment, providing the first widely published eye-witness account of the brutality of the Death March. He returned to duty in the Army Air Forces but was killed in a training accident months later.

KELLY THEATER, named after Capt. Colin Purdue Kelly Jr.
One of the historic buildings in Clark Air Base was the Kelly Theater, constructed in 1953, the only cinema house in Clark and the venue of many stage plays and cultural shows. There was an earlier Kelly Theater built earlier—in 1947—that was converted from an old gymnasium. Both theatres were names after B-17 pilot Capt. Colin P. Kelly Jr. (b.Jul. 11, 1915/d. Dec. 10, 1941)  who died in action against the Japanese forces in 1941. Kelly’s damaged plane, while returning from a bombing run, blew up near Clark Field after being engaged by enemy forces. Capt. Kelly was declared America’s first hero of WWII by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The memorial statue of the fallen captain was inaugurated on the theater grounds on 10 Dec. 2007—the 66th year of his passing. Kelly Theater, located at the cor. Ninoy Aquino Ave. and Foxhound St., survived Mt. Pinatubo, but eventually everything from the seats to the roof and front walls were stolen.

MEYER LEVIN GYMNASIUM, named after Master Sgt. Meyer Levin

The gymnasium facility on Dau Avenue, east of the Parade Ground was named after Meyer Levin in 1955, a master sergeant of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Levin (b.Jun 5, 1916/d.Jan. 7, 1943)—who had wanted to become an aviator—became a bombardier and flew with Capt. Colin Kelly after the Japanese attack of Clark Field. During his last mission on January 7, 1943, Levin volunteered to bomb the Japanese convoy ships that was approaching Australia. The weather worsened, and as the plane used up its fuel, the crew bailed out as the planed ditched the water. Levin remained in the plane to release the rafts that saved his crew. He died in the crash and is listed as one of those missing at Manila National Cemetery. Levin was awarded the  Distinguished Flying Cross (for successfully bombing the Japanese warship “Haruna”) and a Purple Heart for his heroic war feats.

MITCHELL HIGHWAY, named after Brig. Gen. William Lendrum Mitchell,  (now J. Abad Santos Avenue)

One of the most travelled roads in Clark—the Mitchell Highway-- stretches all the way from the Mars Station, then passes close to the Parade Grounds, and leads all the way to the Friendship Gate. It was named Philippine-American war veteran, Gen. William “Billy” Mitchell (b.Dec. 29, 1879/d.Feb. 19, 1936), regarded as the father of the United Sates Air Force. Gen. Mitchell also saw action during World War I in France, and even commanded the American air combat units in that country post-war. In 1924, he returned to Pampanga to revisit  Camp Stotsenburg where he even gave flying lessons to Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, whom he had helped capture. The North American B-25 Mitchell—an American military aircraft design—was also named in his honor.

WAGNER HIGH SCHOOL, named after 1^st Lt. Boyd David Wagner

The beginnings of Wagner High School and Middle School could be traced back in 1957-58 when the Grades 7-12 of Wurtsmith High transferred to individual wooden buildings at the former Chapel Center. That site that will eventually be renamed Wagner High School. The school was named after 1st Lt. Boyd David Wagner, of the U.S. Army Air Corps, who commanded the 17^th Pursuit Squadron that was ordered to protect Clark. On Dec. 14, 1941 shot down four Japanese airplanes, and 2 days later, downed another enemy aircraft at Vigan. Thus, he became the first American World War II Ace, and for which he earned him a Distinguished Service Cross. Wagner was nearly blinded in the Lingayen Gulf battle, but survived and evacuated to Australia where he recovered.Later, he was sent back to the U.S. to train new fighter pilots. On  Nov. 29, 1942, Col. Wagner disappeared while on a flight from Florida to Alabama. His plane wreckage was found six weeks later, some 4 miles north of Freeport, Florida. His remains are buried at Grandview Cemetery, Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

WURTSMITH MEMORIAL SCHOOL, named after Maj. Gen. Paul Bernard Wurstmith

 The Clark Dependents’ School opened in 1947 to accommodate school-age children. In 1950, it was moved to another used office building that would be renamed in 1954 as Wurtsmith Memorial  High School. It was name in memory of Maj. Gen. Paul Bernard Wurtsmith (b. Aug. 9,1906/Sept. 13, 1946), who became a flying cadet in 1927. Over the next 13 years, he served in command positions and his fighters’ feats include downing 78 enemy aircraft in the defense of Darwin in Australia, against the Japanese. In 1945, he commanded the 13^th Air Force in the Southern Philippines campaign. Wurtsmith was killed when his plane crashed in the mountain area near Asheville, North Carolina. The Clark school that bears his name would have a new air-conditioned building on the former site of the Stotsenburg base picnic grounds in 1961. Construction of an expanded campus complex began in 1989, and the newly-renovated Wurtsmith High opened for schoolyear 1990-1991. The Pinatubo eruption (which occurred just a week before the end of the school year) forced the transfer of the graduation rites to Subic. The school was later demolished and replaced with Fontana Casino.

BONUS!

A hill in Clark bears a peculiar name, because it was not named after a person, or even after a flower, as its name suggests.

LILY HILL

Lilly Hill first appeared on an 1898 map, and is thought to have been derived from the Kapampangan  word “lili”, which means “lost”. The Americanized name was apt because it was easy to get lost on that hill which stood separately from other hills in the area. Used as an observation point by Americans from 1903--42, it was also used by the Japanese for the same purpose. It would become the stronghold of the Kembu Group which defended Clark from late 1944-45. Post-war, a USAF aircraft warning and control unit was put up in the summit until 1962. A Buddhits shrine was built on the hilltop by the Japanese in 1998 on  the 54th commemoration of the Kamikaze. It features a large 5-ton granite statue of Kannon, the "Goddess of Peace ".

SOURCES:

Camp Stotsenburg:

Pix of Camp Stotsenburg: Alex Castro Collection

Pix of Col. John Stotsenburg:

Clark Air Base:

Pix,:Harold Clark: An Annotated Pictorial History of Clark Air Base,  by David Rosmer

Bobbitt Theater:

Pix of Bobbitt Theater: www.margaritastation.com

Pix of Aubrey Bobbitt: https://stalagluft3.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/stalag-luft-iii-newsletter-august-2015-reunion-agenda/

Bong Avenue:

Pix: Welcome to Clark Air Base, Guardian of Philippine Defense booklet

Pix of Richard Bong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bong

Dyess Highway:

Pix: Welcome to Clark Air Base, Guardian of Philippine Defense booklet

Pix of  William Dyess: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Dyess

Kelly Theater:

Pix: An Annotated Pictorial History of Clark Air Base,  by David Rosmer

Pix of Colin P. Kelly: Aces of WW2, http://acesofww2.com/bombers/41/

Meyer Levin Gym:

Pix: An Annotated Pictorial History of Clark Air Base,  by David Rosmer

Pix of Meyer Levin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyer_Levin_(military)

Mitchell Highway:

Pix: Welcome to Clark Air Base, Guardian of Philippine Defense booklet

Pix of Gen. Billy Mitchell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell

Wagner High School:

Pix of Boyd Wagner: Photograph by Carl Mydans for TIME & LIFE Pictures),  (Colourised by Doug)

Pix: Wagner High School, 1971, collection of K. Morgan

Wurtsmith Elem. School:

Pix of Wurtsmith School: http://www.clarkab.org/history/

Pix of Gen Paul Wurtsmith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wurtsmith

Lily Hill:

Pix: An Annotated Pictorial History of Clark Air Base,  by David Rosmer

Images: 
Pix; clarksubic.com

http://www.angelesmap.com/parade-ground.html