The Battle of Midway Memorial near airport
Closeup of the monuments.
Closeup of the monuments.
Closeup of the monuments.
Midway National Landmark memorial on Sand Island.
Same site, different view.
Gooney in memorial. We thought this would be the only Gooney we see. We were wrong, some showed up just as we were about to leave.
Plaque in the memorial.
Another Plaque in the memorial.
Another Plaque in the memorial.
Aerial map of Eastern Island during WWII. This map was in the Midway Atoll welcome center. You'd never recognize the place today.
War Memorial on Eastern Island. The brown nobby is unfazed by our presence.
Plaque on Memorial up close.
This is all you can see of the runways on Eastern Island.
One lone artillery gun remains standing on Eastern Island.
Landing craft sitting in the scrap heap.
At the beginning of WWII, there was a shortage of war material. On Midway they took WWI tank turrets and buried them in the sand over a cavity where the men hid and stored ammo. Only a few remain.
Some of the war items found on the Island in the F & W welcome center.
This was the command bunker during the war. It was heavily fortified and remains one of a handful of WWII buildings standing on the Island.
WWII Sea Plane Hanger.
Old Administration building from the 1950s. Currently closed and condemned because of asbestos (making it too expensive to demolish).
Craig and Dave found this old gun mount. One of the guns at the Midway Memorial came off this base. They were put there during the late 30s or even early 1940s when things were being upgraded in preparation of war.
The loading docks from the days of the Navy presence. It was at this site that the great movie Mr. Roberts was filmed.
The Naval Air Facility hanger built during the 1950s.
This is where visitors to Midway passed in the 1950s and 1960s. Many were headed to Viet Nam or Korea. Many more were there to fly the Wisky Victors who flew non-stop between Midway and Alaska as part of the cold war shield across the Pacific.
The sign in the old NAF entrance clearly shows we are in the middle of nowhere.
One of the last remaining WWII pillboxes on the beach.
The view out the pillbox. As I filmed this I could just imagine a lonely marine looking out waiting for the Japanese invasion force he knew was coming. And then remember that the soldiers on the Island did not know Admiral Nimitz's fleet was heading their way.
James. Don't ask.
Quonset Hut probably used for storing ammunition during the war.
So, I'm searching the internet about WWII after the trip and look what I find? The quonset hut from the war.
In 1903, workers for the Commercial Pacific Cable Company took up residence on the island as part of the effort to lay a trans-Pacific telegraph cable. That same year, President Theodore Roosevelt placed the atoll under the control of the United States Navy, which on 20 January 1903 opened a radio station in response to complaints from cable company workers about Japanese squatters and poachers. Between 1904 to 1908 Roosevelt stationed 21 Marines on the island to end wanton destruction of bird life and keep Midway safe as a U.S. possession, protecting the cable station.
This is what remains of the cable house.
During the 1930s the Pan Am Clippers also stopped on Midway. Here is a sign commemorating their presence.
In the air coming home. While on Eastern Island we could barely see the runways under the growth. From the air they are still quite clear.
The last look back at the atoll from our G1. 1 week and 61,000 Q later and it was all coming to an end. Now for some sleep.
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Last updated 25 October 2009