This post was originally published on this site.
Official U.S. Navy photograph, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Previously Recorded by Phyllis Schlafly
On this Memorial Day when we honor the men who have fought to preserve our freedom and independence, it’s a good idea to remember the details about some of the important battles. The battle of Midway on June 4, 1942 surely must be ranked on any list of the most decisive battles in world history. The brave Americans who won that battle changed the course of history.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it took the United States many months to get our act together. By June 1942, the Japanese were on a rampage across the Pacific and they were on the verge of capturing the strategic Midway Island to use as a base for more air strikes against Hawaii and to open the central Pacific to attack. Almost the entire fleets of both the Americans and the Japanese faced off against each other just north of Midway Island: three American aircraft carriers and four Japanese aircraft carriers. They were too far apart to reach each other with gunfire, so one of the world’s greatest naval battles was fought without the ships ever engaging each other. The entire battle was fought with aircraft flying off of those carriers.
The first wave of 15 U.S. torpedo bombers attacked, and it was a disaster. All were shot down and the Japanese ships were untouched. Two more U.S. squadrons followed. They, too, suffered heavy losses and failed to scratch the Japanese. For a full minute it looked like America had shot its wad and lost everything. Then, one more group of U.S. warplanes suddenly appeared, dive bombers led by Lt. Commander Clarence McClusky. The Americans sunk two Japanese carriers, then destroyed the third and then the fourth carrier. In a matter of minutes, our brave American pilots wiped out the Japanese fleet and essentially won World War II.
Today, on Memorial Day, we honor our heroes, both the ones who survived and the ones who didn’t come back. We are forever grateful for their risk-taking in our behalf and their courage in our behalf.
