MIDWAY ISLAND – EYE OF THE STORM

EXTERIOR EXHIBITS VIDEO: LOCATION OF MIDWAY

It was an accident of geography that earned tiny Midway Island a prominent place in World War Two history. 1a

It was an accident of geography that earned tiny Midway Island a prominent place in World War Two history. 1b

It was an accident of geography that earned tiny Midway Island a prominent place in World War Two history. 1c

Midway is located at the northwestern end of the Hawaiian Island chain, approximately 1300 miles from Honolulu, Hawaii. 2a

Midway is located at the northwestern end of the Hawaiian Island chain, approximately 1300 miles from Honolulu, Hawaii. 2b

The Island got its name because it is about mid-way between San Francisco, California and Tokyo, Japan. 3

Midway is even closer to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii– the headquarters of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet in 1941. 4

US Navy Pacific Fleet Headquarters, Pearl Harbor

The US recognized Midway Island’s strategic location and took possession in 1867.

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It became an important refueling stop for trans-pacific passenger flights as well as a vital link in global communications. 5b

Midway soon became an important stop for US Navy ships. By 1941 a submarine base, seaplane base, naval air station, . . . 6a

. . . and several gun emplacements had been constructed on the island and it had become second only to Pearl Harbor in protecting the west coast of America. 6b

YouTube: Battle of Midway – (1:42) – sea plane / docked / pulled out of water _ F16:09 – Gun emplacement (during battle)- F2

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But the US was not the only country to recognize the island’s geographic value. For very different reasons, the Japanese also coveted Midway. 7

YouTube: Battle of the Coral Sea, Lest We Forget – F3YouTube: War of the Pacific, Coral Sea – F4YouTube: Battle of the Coral Sea (Japanese characters) – F5, F6

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[TRANSITION SFX: FULL-OUT BATTLE]

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YouTube: Admiral Yamamoto Documentary – (2:25) - lots of Pearl Harbor battle footage – F7

DVD: Hooks Down, Wheels Down – (30:51) – Carrier battle footage / USS Lexington on fire *NOTE: Could not

grab stillsYouTube: Battle of Midway (Ford) –

(7:16) – Damaged bldgs/Fires on Midway Island – F8(10:14) – US planes taking off on carriers – F8(10:31-11:47) – Carrier anti-aircraft guns, black smoke from firing, planes

flying by, etc. (lots of ‘battle footage’). YouTube: WWII Battle of Midway 3of3 Rare Color Film – F10

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December, 1941. Japan moved to seize Malaya…Burma…the Dutch East Indies… the Philippine Islands, and other areas in the central and western Pacific. 9a

December, 1941

YouTube: WWII Battle of Midway 3 of 3 Race Color Film –(1:12) – US planes in flight – F11(2:37) – Yorktown damaged / Hammond along side – F12(2:05) – Japanese Navel ships – F13(3:50) – Final torpedo blow to Hammond/Yorktown – big explosion - F14

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December, 1941. Japan moved to seize Malaya…Burma…the Dutch East Indies… the Philippine Islands, and other areas in the central and western Pacific. 9b

December, 1941

YouTube: WWII Battle of Midway 3 of 3 Race Color Film –(1:12) – US planes in flight – F11(2:37) – Yorktown damaged / Hammond along side – F12(2:05) – Japanese Navel ships – F13(3:50) – Final torpedo blow to Hammond/Yorktown – big explosion - F14

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December, 1941. Japan moved to seize Malaya…Burma…the Dutch East Indies… the Philippine Islands, and other areas in the central and western Pacific. 9c

December, 1941

The US military occupation of Midway was an obstacle to the empire’s quest for domination of the Pacific. 9d

December, 1941

DVD: Hooks Down, Wheels Down:(33:55) – Planes taking off from Midway Island(34:47) – US pilots flying planes

April, 1942. The United States took Japan by surprise, launching aircraft from the U.S.S. Hornet to bomb the Japanese home islands. 10a

April, 1942

DVD: Hooks Down, Wheels Down: 26:30 – B-25 bombers on Hornet

26:49 - Doolittle raiders on deck of carrier

April, 1942. The United States took Japan by surprise, launching aircraft from the U.S.S. Hornet to bomb the Japanese home islands. 10b

April, 1942DVD: Hooks Down, Wheels Down:

26:30 – B-25 bombers on Hornet26:49 - Doolittle raiders on deck of carrier

The Doolittle Raid forced the Japanese to consider adding Midway and another target - Alaska’s Aleutian Islands - to the protective zone east of their home islands. 10c

April, 1942

The Doolittle Raid forced the Japanese to consider adding Midway and another target - Alaska’s Aleutian Islands - to the protective zone east of their home islands. 10d

April, 1942

May, 1942. It was the resolve of the US forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea – the first aircraft carrier battle of the war between Japanese and U.S. forces – 11a

May, 1942YouTube: War of the Pacific, Coral Sea – F15

YouTube: Battle of the Coral Sea, Lest We Forget – F16, F17, F18, F19

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Still photo

– that thwarted Japan’s advance toward our ally – Australia.

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YouTube: Battle of the Coral Sea, Lest We Forget – F20, F21, F22, F23, F24, F25

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Still photo

May, 1942

Midway was a prime location for a showdown between the massive Imperial Japanese Navy and a U.S. Navy weakened by early-war losses. 12

Midway was a prime location for a showdown between the massive Imperial Japanese Navy and a U.S. Navy weakened by early-war losses. 12

Admiral Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese fleet, believed he could defeat the American Navy if he could destroy the American carriers that had escaped the Pearl Harbor Attack. 13a

YouTube: Admiral Yamamoto Doc.(1:06) – Speaking to the troops – F26

(2:18) – planed takes off on carrier – F27

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In addition, a Japanese base on Midway would threaten Hawaii and the west coast of the United States, possibly forcing peace negotiations between the two countries. 13b

DVD: Hooks Down, Wheels Down:(11:50–12:14 )– Imperial Japanese Navy ships at sea

The Japanese thought they had no other alternative than to meet the U.S. forces at Midway and defeat them in a decisive showdown. 14

YouTube: Battle of the Coral Sea – (:56) – F28

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But Midway belonged to the United States - and the United States Navy intended to fight to keep it that way. 15

YouTube – Battle of Midway (Ford):(2:00-2:15) – Marines marching – F29(3:53) – Troops talking/getting orders/prepping planes – F30

YouTube – War in the Pacific, The Coral Sea:(6:22) – Intercepting code – F31

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A line had been drawn in the vast Pacific Ocean at a tiny island called Midway. That line would become a historic point of no return for both Japan and the United States. 16a

A line had been drawn in the vast Pacific Ocean at a tiny island called Midway. That line would become a historic point of no return for both Japan and the United States. 16b