`  == Armed forces of the Philippine Commonwealth ==  I see you are in an excellent position to perhaps winkle out local sources on the seemingly nearly forgotten events in the Philippines 1935—1946 among the population in the U.S. Of course I saw some college students here confused Lee and Ike and Normandy and Gettysburg! Of all the sad collapses 1939 until allies went on the offensive the collapse of the Malay Barrier and Philippines is one of the most dramatic. Small boats fleeing Singapore ``made it`` only for the survivors to do it all over or die or be captured down in Java or further south. I reread Reeman's The Pride and the Anguish a year or so ago and finished looking on Google Earth at the ``escape`` strait, calculated days and realized they'd just ``escaped`` into a new hell as the whole island arc to Australia fell. Same with so many trying to escape Luzon in small craft only to be caught after weeks of hiding along the coast in daylight. There are some of those I might like to see if you can dig up local sources to add to what I have. Anyway, perhaps I will get back to that area after getting diverted by another project.   `