Rob S wrote:
Remember John Parker "Setter" telling us that as many as 600 P-38's waiting to be dug up! Also that an actual "Bong Squadron" Lightning already made it back to the US for restoration!
Sadly I think it was pretty well shown that Mr. Parker's information on this subject was unreliable. He could offer no corroboratory evidence, and in the two years since his revelations, no other evidence has come to light. I think that we can safely say that most of the hopeful news concerning P-38's coming out of Clark Field in excellent condition is bunk. That's not to say that things could change in the future... just that the news previously reported isn't likely to be true.
On another note, in talking with Jerry Yagen, I was told that some P-38 wreckage had come to light at Clark Field but it was heavily corroded (which ties in with the Wiki report). Jerry's been involved with the recovery of a substantial number of P-38's in the Pacific Theatre, now located at Wangaratta, so I would have thought he would know well enough about these things.
All the best,
Richard