'Midway' Can Be Both a Condition and a Place

American Thinker ^ | November 13, 2010 | By Greg Richards

[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."

[The FIGHTIN Illini]

“Unsung” was not meant to demean their efforts, I was only referring to the general public awareness and lack of appreciation for their efforts. I'm in total agreement with the battle reviews and evaluations that if not for the efforts of their attack (which inflicted minimal actual damage but delayed the Japanese response allowing for the devastating dive bomb attacks)the outcome of the battle and possibly the next 3 years of the war could have been drastically different. These heroes have my ultimate respect and I will forever stand in awe of their 'against all odds' efforts.

[max americana]

Me too. The historical books and even the History Channel docus are very, very interesting.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea, however is in the Guinness Book of WR as the largest Naval war in history. That was the Battle of the Bulge for the Japs in naval terms. If the Americans didnt trap them in the Philippine sea, they would have recovered and pestered the US pacific forces in a span of 2 weeks.

Good stuff!

[PzLdr]

I did. Took the Kido Butai every time. My favorite AH game was STALINGRAD. Still is.

[jmacusa]

The Douglass Dauntless Dive-Bomber(SBD) Damn fine plane!

[jmacusa]

That would LT. CMdr. Joe Rochefort.

[BenKenobi]

That timing was crucial. The carriers were getting ready to launch and had reserves brought up abovedeck.

[gcraig]

I was in VFA-195 on USS Midway from 1986 to 1988.

[dagogo redux]

“My favorite AH game was STALINGRAD. Still is.”
___________________________________________________

Ditto! But I haven’t played them in decades. Lucky you still do. I recall learning a lot with Tactics II, if I recall correctly, and Afrika Corps was way up on my list as well. And wasn’t there a Gettysburg game? Great memories.

[gman992]

John Ford was the director on Midway...Glenn Ford was the actor....

[AmericaOne]

John Ford was the director on Midway...Glenn Ford was the actor...

Yes, I was aware of that. The earlier poster I was replying to was referring to Glenn Ford's role in the 1970's movie "Midway".

John Ford won an Academy Award for Documentaries for his direction of "The Battle of Midway" documentary made during WWII. John Ford shot the actual combat footage on the island of Midway himself and was wounded by shrapnel while filming the combat footage on the island.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Midway