Midway remembered, 65 years later

GreatAmerican

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http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/05/ap_midwayanniversary_070530/

Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a weakened and outnumbered U.S. fleet limped north to confront a flotilla of Japanese ships advancing on the remote Pacific atoll of Midway.

A U.S. defeat would have enhanced Japan’s naval superiority in the Pacific. Instead, the U.S. sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and snatched the military advantage from Tokyo....

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A Japanese heavy cruiser of the Mogami class lies low in the water after being bombed by U.S. naval aircraft during the Battle of Midway in 1942. Next week marks the 65th anniversary of the three-day battle.

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Crewmen aboard the USS Yorktown battle fire after the carrier was hit by Japanese bombs during the Battle of Midway in 1942. Later, the vessel had to be abandoned and was sunk by a Japanese torpedo.

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Black smoke rises from a burning U.S. oil tank, set afire during a Japanese air raid on Midway Atoll in 1942. The U.S. victory at Midway came after a string of setbacks in the Pacific. Japanese forces ousted the U.S. from Wake Island, Guam and the Philippines in rapid succession in the months after Pearl Harbor.

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Bursts from anti-aircraft fire fill the air around the USS Yorktown in the Battle of Midway. The Yorktown was the only U.S. carrier lost during the battle. Japan lost four aircraft carriers, a heavy cruiser, three destroyers, 291 planes and 4,800 men.
Navy Smoke rises from the aircraft carrier Yorktown after it is bombed by the Japanese during the Battle of Midway. Despite losing the carrier, the U.S. defeated Japan so overwhelmingly that the story of the battle didn't come to light in Japan until after the war.

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Smoke rises from the aircraft carrier Yorktown after it is bombed by the Japanese during the Battle of Midway. Despite losing the carrier, the U.S. defeated Japan so overwhelmingly that the story of the battle didn't come to light in Japan until after the war.
 
For those who wish to read the best books ever written on the subject:

Miracle at Midway - Gordon W. Prange

Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan - Mitsuo Fuchida

For those who don't recognize the name, Mitsuo Fuchida was in command of the initial wave of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (he was the one who sent, through his radioman, the now-legendary message "Tora! Tora! Tora!"), remaining over the harbor until the second wave had finished its attack. He was to have participated in the battle of Midway but could not due to appendicitis.

Gordon W. Prange's book will give you a real understanding of just how unbelievably lucky we Americans were at that battle.
 
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Great pix, great reminder, great blessing, great victory. Thanks for sharing these. I watch the movie everytime I catch it. One of these days, I'll grasp all of the logistics and fortuitous events.
 
Vets mark 65th anniversary of Battle of Midway

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/06/ap_midway_070604/

Holding their hands over their hearts, six elderly Battle of Midway veterans on Monday stood gingerly as a Navy band played the “Star-Spangled Banner” in honor of those who served with them in the fight that turned the tide of World War II 65 years ago.

Some 1,800 people ventured to the remote atoll 1,300 miles northwest of Honolulu to remember those who perished and those who survived, and to mark the day that put Japan on the defensive for the first time the start of the war at Pearl Harbor six months earlier....

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George Chockley, 87 of Mebane, N,C., was among the 1,800 to gather on the Midway Atoll on June 4 to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the World War II battle there. Chockley was a 22-year-old Navy chief petty officer on the aircraft carrier Enterprise during the battle.
 
Once again, thanks for reminding us of this important moment in time. May God bless those men and all who've crossed the bar since that battle.

What a grand reminder of how blessed we are to live in freedom because of these sailors' bravery and obedience and the Master's battle plans for us.
 
I'll be damned. I'd not heard of that one.

Gonna have to pick it up and read all three of them. :biggrin:
 
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