GI Joe Doesn't Live Here Anymore: A History of Clark Air Base, America's Mighty Air Force Bastion in the Philippines [Paperback]

Thomas C. Utts (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (February 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413778356
• ISBN-13: 978-1413778359
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,484,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pssssst, Hey Joe!, April 4, 2006

By 

William A. Cobb "Traveler" (West Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GI Joe Doesn't Live Here Anymore: A History of Clark Air Base, America's Mighty Air Force Bastion in the Philippines (Paperback)

Anytime USAF personnel, past or present, meet and someone mentions Clark Air Base, ears pick up, adrenaline flows, and the war stories commence. There is no other military installation in the world that has spawned more legends, characters, truths, lies, or memories. No person who was stationed at Clark is ambivilant about their tour in the Philippines, it was either love, or hate, there is no in between.
Tom Utts delves into the Philippines and the bases turbulent histories, and the love-hate relationship that developed over the years since the US Army arrived in 1902 and the bases closure in 1991. Tom paints an honest picture of life in the Philippines, and at Clark during the period leading up to World War II, the horrors of the Japanese Occupation, and the Liberation of the Philippines. But the real story Tom tells is the story of the men and women who were stationed in the Philippines, especially at Clark Air Base. They told their stories to him, and he has related their stories as if they were telling them to the reader. As strange and unbelievable as some of them are, they only scrape the top of the barrel.
As I read the book I remembered standing guardmount as my fresh uniform wilted and streams of sweat ran down my legs, the smells of food cooking in Balibago or Sampangbato, the cold refreshing taste of that first San Miguel after work, the horrible hangovers, the laughter of girls in the bars, the flooded drainage ditches after a sudden rain, driving in an open jeep during a typhoon, 3 bar-b-ques on a stick for a peso, and my friends, Ken, Carl, and Chuck.
Strange I was there for eighteen months and never heard the word "Pinatubo". But, Tom showed me the terror and destruction showered on Clark and the Philippines by the Pinatubo eruption, and the base closure.
I'd love to go back to Clark, it would be a bitter-sweet trip. But, at the same time I know everything I remember has long vanished, and will never be again. Clark Air Base shall remain a memory of times when I was young, foolish, and lived the most unforgettable eighteen months of my life.
As Bob Hope always said, "Thanks for the memories, Tom".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, August 5, 2008

By 

D. Anderson "R. Anderson" (Murfreesboro, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GI Joe Doesn't Live Here Anymore: A History of Clark Air Base, America's Mighty Air Force Bastion in the Philippines (Paperback)

If you were ever stationed at Clark Air Base, P.I., then you understand what a magical, mystical place it was. I was a young, single airman there '64 - '66, working as an air traffic controller in the control tower. Those years at Clark cannot be relived ever again. However, Tom, with this book, has done a wonderful job of letting us revisit the memories of that time. It is also a very interesting history of the entire period of Clark's life. Thanks Tom.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Clark Field to the Clark Development Corp, September 22, 2007

By 

Daniel S. Johnson (Wanamingo MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GI Joe Doesn't Live Here Anymore: A History of Clark Air Base, America's Mighty Air Force Bastion in the Philippines (Paperback)

I lived in the Philippines for twenty years between 1971 and 1996, and returned in 2003. Most of my time was spent at Clark AB and Camp John Hay. This book brought back plenty of memories, especially of Operation Homecoming and of Howie Seaboldt. In 1973 as a member of the 405th SPS gate section (wearing blues and white boot laces) I guarded Pres Marcos when he came up to see the POW's. Mr Utts chapter on the operation was the best in the book. From 1981-1985 at John Hay, I would often proofread Howie's articles for the base newsletter, and learned a lot about the history of Baguio and the USAF's premier recreation center. Later on 28 Oct 87 as Supt of Town Patrol at Clark, I was on the desk when the assassinations occurred.