The Battle of Midway: 75 Years Ago (June 4-6)

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Midway, the decisive turning point in the Pacific war. Fought June 4-6, 1942, America sank  four Japanese aircraft carriers, a military setback from which Japan never recovered.

Ian Toll observes:

In the American view, Midway eliminated the risk of a Japanese attack on Hawaii or the west coast of North America. As important, it relieved political pressure on FDR to transfer a greater share of forces to the Pacific, freeing him to emphasize his great priority, which was to keep the Soviet Union in the war against Germany. In that sense, the Battle of Midway ratified and confirmed the vital ‘Europe-first’ strategy. For that reason, it ranks as one of the most essential events of the Second World War, bearing not only on the conflict in Pacific but on the fate of Nazi Germany. (Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942,479).

This first photo below shows the American carrier Yorktown as it is hit by a Japanese aerial torpedo. The second shows the carrier heavily damaged and listing badly. She was eventually lost.

American heroism at Midway should be remembered.