by Thomas C. Utts
If anything, Angeles City was
in worse shape that the base. Without
Typhoon Yunya's wind and rain, the death
toll might have been far smaller. Still, early
warnings
in the previous ten days prompted the evacuation
of more than
50,000 people. The warnings were credited
with saving thousands of
lives and an estimated billion dollar in property
that was moved. Ash and
mud flows that poured off Pinatubo blocked
the Sacobia River and into the Abacan
river. That vast increase in water flooded
through Angeles City. Lahars knock down
Friendship Bridge, Bamban Bridge, and the
Abacan Bridge, cutting the city off vehicle traffic.
In 1991 Jimbo was was a civilian at HQ PACAF
and worked to get all the Air Force and
personal property left at Clark shipped out
before the base closed. That gigantic effort
resulted in the recovery of more than $258
million in aircraft parts and high value
equipment, and more than over 2000 POVs shipped
to the owners back in the
states. He said several pets were also saved,
along with the tons
of household goods returned to their owners.
The pictures
below were taken when he went to Clark to
work out
the logistics for getting all that property
and equipment shipped
by land to Manila.
This river used to be
approximately 50 feet
wide. After Pinatubo the
bridge to Balibago was
washed away and it was
about half a mile wide.
Close up view
of the crossing
into Balibago.
(L) What's left of the Baligabo Bridge after the Pinatubo
eruptions. (R)Rufo DeJesus, Jimbo Pehan, TMO,
and George Untalaen, inspect the area.
From his GI days, Jimbo Pehan shows
off his $2,000 made-in-da-PI chariot.
His first tour at Clark was June 1968
to January 1970 in TMO. He went
back in June 1974 to December 1979.
During that time he and his wife owned
EJs (Emy and Jimbo's) Place, a bar
downtown. He came back on his third
tour in July 1980 and stayed until
August 1983. In 1989 he retired
and switched to civil service.
Jimbo went back to Clark in 1992 and headed a team sent to recover
60 missing
Air Force government vehicles. They discovered the Navy had taken
most
and scraped off the Air Force name and put a Navy sticker on them.
He
said they confiscated the vehicles, turned them in and let the Navy
sign
for them legally. They also recovered tractors, high lifts, etc,
that
were confiscated and shipped to Elmendorf, Alaska.
Only two vehicles out of 2200 were not located.
Cleaning up in font
of Margarita Ville.
Some bad days,
but nothing last
forever.
A team of scientists
trek up a slope o
Mout Pinatubo
to survey conditions.