December 8, 1941: Clark Field: "The consequences of the Japanese attacks in the Philippines were more far reaching"

http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/failureanddestruction.aspx

Failure and Destruction, Clark Field, the Philippines, December 8, 1941 
by Michael Gough 



Fifty minutes after the first bombs fell on Clark, the Japanese flew back to Formosa, leaving Americans confronting death and wounds, destruction and damage, fire and smoke, and demoralization. When the Japanese flew away, half the B-17s and one-third of the P-40s were destroyed, and two of the four P-40-equipped pursuit squadrons were eliminated as combat units. As surely as if all its planes had been destroyed, the fifth pursuit squadron, the 34th, equipped with P-35As, had also been eliminated from the war. Its pilots knew their planes were deathtraps in aerial combat with Japanese fighters. 
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The destruction of American aircraft on the ground inflicted a "fatal blow" on the FEAF[49] and American prospects in the Philippines. At Pearl Harbor, the carnage had ended as the last Japanese attacker flew away. Rescue and repair began, the wounded were aided, and except for those who died from their wounds, there were no more casualties. Certainly, the loss of several battleships dealt a blow to U.S. prestige and morale, but the absence of those ships was to make little difference in the war. The consequences of the Japanese attacks in the Philippines were more far reaching.