Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire KAGA, AKAGI, SORYU AND HYRIU..

77 years ago today, they ceased to exist... I asked about a dozen sailors, chiefs and officers here on base what was today and NOT ONE had a clue.....

Well that is kind of a tough one. I have read many WWII books, and a few on Midway, yet if somebody asked what day it was, that would not have popped into mind.

Had you asked when the Battle of Midway took place, I could tell you.

A quick fly over of the island on the way back to the boat.

I bet my father would have known the answer. (WWII Navy, though not involved in that action.)

And very cool that Fighting 31 was on Enterprise for Midway.

Something the USAF does better than the Navy is establish and maintain their squadron lineage.

I asked the bridge watch on the Vancouver in 1983 to let me know when we passed through the Surigao Straits. They asked why and I replied because of the battle here in 1944. They had no f*******n idea what i was talking about..




....and a hand salute to Wade McClusky.

Somebody asked me years ago if I knew the names of the carriers downed at Midway..I did, of course.

My wife looked at me ( not the first time...) like "Why in the hell would you know that...?"

One of my favorite war movies of all time! And a great moment in history, a great gathering of “what if’s”!

What an amazing day: four enemy carriers sunk. A few minutes before the first carrier went down, by any measure the US was losing that battle. The stubborn continued attack by US pilots despite losing whole units won the day, and turned the war. Gutsy men in those planes.

And by dive bomber no less! Some damn brave men.

The movie The Final Countdown has ingrained in me the names of the Japanese carriers (at Pearl Harbor).

A true testament to damage control.

My buddy is an E7 in the M-div on subs.

I asked him what the first job they learned how to do?

Fight fire he said.

There's NOBODY that can touch is in damage control and it that regard, the japs were notoriously bad. Striking when you consider the quality of their naval aviation had no equal at the time..

That was a cool “what-if” movie. I can still hear James Farantino running down the list!!

Because you are a student of history.

Our country could use a lot more of that..

Many planes...

Does anyone how many aircraft we lost?

Yes, Jimmy Thatch and Butch O'Hare were Tomcatters and made the most of the Wildcat.

At one point I was the PAO and refined our squadron history to really include all the events and aircraft throughout the squadron's history. 2nd oldest fighter squadron in the Navy. VF-14 Tophatters being the oldest.

japs:
four carriers 322 aircraft
USN:
One carrier, 147 aircraft.

When the movie Midway first came out, I went to see it, and thought it was OK. Then I went to see it again with a friend who was a graduate of Annapolis, and knew the battle in detail. Whole different experience.

Determination, bravery, some dang fine strategy, and a big helping of good luck changed the course of the war in the Pacific.

I'm not sure, but suspect we would have been happy to just break even and hold onto the island. Breaking the back of the IJN had to be success beyond expectations.