The hero of midway. Douglass Dauntless.
Posted on 11/13/2010 6:57:10 AM PST by Gomer1066
Many readers of American Thinker will recognize Midway as the scene of our first and in many ways our greatest naval victory of World War II. It is not remembered now, but for the first six months of 1942, we were losing World War II. After sinking most of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese occupied Wake Island and Guam in December 1941. In April 1942, they defeated our army in the Philippines and put it on the Death March.
After Jimmy Doolittle bombed Tokyo in April 1942, the Japanese decided to eliminate the U.S. Navy in a final battle. They sent a very strong force to occupy Midway Island, about 1,500 miles from Hawaii, figuring that this would be a challenge the Navy could not refuse and which would result in a decisive battle of annihilation of what was left of the American fleet.
The Japanese did not realize that we had broken their naval code, and instead of being surprised at Midway, we bushwhacked them, sinking their entire striking force of four heavy carriers. The Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942, is regarded as one of the most decisive naval engagements in history. It was characterized by Admiral Ernest King, the Chief of Naval Operations, as having "restored the balance of power in the Pacific."
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
USS Midway CV-41 CVW5 ping. Those were some of the best years of my life.
I agree. Very good comparison, analogy, whatever word one chooses.
The hero of midway. Douglass Dauntless.
Its an apt metaphor. We have to remain engaged and hold the political class accountable. There is no going back to the good old days of massive spending and buying people’s votes with it. Either this country is changed or this country will go into the retirement home of countries that have seen their glory days long behind them.
The stakes are high - and so is the war over the future of our country.
I thought the hero of Midway was Glen Ford.
minor errors in this article
What most people just do NOT stop to think about is how we did this with MOST OF OUR FLEET. What was sunk at Pearl was NOT the majority of our fleet, just a major blow but certainly NOT the majority of our fleet
In fact, the battle of the Coral Sea was BEFORE Midway and that was a huge naval battle, more of a tie but we were better off than them
http://www.history.navy.mil/history/CoralSea.htm
and I need to look it up, we sank only 3 carriers, not 4 of theirs, their fourth was left burning??
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq81-1.htm
Then the Tea Party was th Battle of Coral Sea! :)
If you’ve got the time, it’s well-spent on youtube with “Battle of Midway,” Part 1 is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-8Ff_CDVLM
and a search for “Midway” at youtube yields other gems as well.
Never get tired of hearing this story. :)
Thanks!! Sent this to all my EMAIL friends.
Coral Sea was important strategically because as a result of it, the Japanese lost the use of Carrier Division 3 [SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU], the two largest and most modern of the Strike Force’s carriers, and their air power.
At Midway, AKGAGI, KAGA and SORYU were put out of action in the first American attack. HIRYU was not [it was under a rain squall. Tamon Yamaguchi, Commander of Carrier Division 2 [SORYU and HIRYU],and Japan’s best carrier Admiral, then launched a series of attacks that resulted in the sinking of the YORKTOWN. HIRYU was put out of action later that afternoon. By next day all four Japanese carriers were sunk as a result of the U.S bombing, or of Japanese scuttling.
The Battle of Midway, insofar as the Japanese side of it, is a metaphor for the Democrat Party: overly complex and wasteful plans, an out of touch bureaucracy, the wrong man in charge[not so much Nagumo as Yamamoto].
I remember watching the movie years ago and was so inspired by it that I hit the books and started to read about the real battle. Nothing is better than the actual facts! I continue to see Midway as an example of that very exceptional American spirit.
Metaphorically speaking...
I love how we made the japs show their hand - “AT” is short on fresh water.
Ther’s a new book on Midway, entitled “Midway Inquest” by Dallas Woodbury Isom. Well researched and written, it will stand the popular conception of the battle on its head, at least as Nagumo’s sole culpability for Japanese mistakes is concerned.
In the Coral Sea our navy lost more ships than the Japanese, but they decided to withdraw.
The unsung heros of that fateful battle were the members of Torpedo Squadron Eight. Excellent historical perspective in “A Dawn Like Thunder” by Robert J. Mrazek.
I served on the U.S.S. Massey (DD-778), named after the hero pilot in the battle of midway; Lance (LEM) E. Massey.
Best years of my young life.
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