>The historiography (how we handle the narrative of history and how that narrative has changed over time) around the attack on the Philippines and the subsequen

>The historiography (how we handle the narrative of history and how that narrative has changed over time) around the attack on the Philippines and the subsequent defense is very confusing and interesting to me. I am with you. Blame Douglas MacArthur for that one. it's inconceivable that his planes where still lined up just waiting for the shots to be fired. I get that it's hard to figure out how to stage aviation forces so they are not on the deck at a bad moment (see Midway, Battle Of), but by any definition, it was incompetant then. On Midway, I think Shattered Sword has the correct narrative. Midway is amazing not in that it a miracle, but rather that we almost still bungled it, despite having total and complete surprise, a great battle plan, and a significant advantage in airpower.