Another important WW II anniversary; 6/4/1942 Battle of Midway

[royboy]

Luck and Guts: The Heroes of Midway

The Battle of Midway began 77 years ago, today. This anniversary (if that, indeed, is the right word) will be noted but not so lavishly as the one in two days time, in remembrance of D-Day. These were both great and decisive American victories and should be remembered and honored as long as there is a United States of America. Not so much, however, because they saved the nation. The U.S. would almost certainly have survived defeat at Midway and a repulse in Normandy. The “what-if” scenarios around either case — or both, for that matter — make for interesting speculation. But while the world may have looked a lot different if the Japanese had won at Midway and the Germans had pushed Eisenhower’s troops back into the sea in France, there were still two broad oceans protecting the American homeland where the nation could employ its enormous industrial capacity to rearm and reorganize before getting back into the fight.

https://spectator.org/luck-and-guts-the-heroes-of-midway/

 

[WDLion]

Luck and Guts: The Heroes of Midway

The Battle of Midway began 77 years ago, today. This anniversary (if that, indeed, is the right word) will be noted but not so lavishly as the one in two days time, in remembrance of D-Day. These were both great and decisive American victories and should be remembered and honored as long as there is a United States of America. Not so much, however, because they saved the nation. The U.S. would almost certainly have survived defeat at Midway and a repulse in Normandy. The “what-if” scenarios around either case — or both, for that matter — make for interesting speculation. But while the world may have looked a lot different if the Japanese had won at Midway and the Germans had pushed Eisenhower’s troops back into the sea in France, there were still two broad oceans protecting the American homeland where the nation could employ its enormous industrial capacity to rearm and reorganize before getting back into the fight.

https://spectator.org/luck-and-guts-the-heroes-of-midway/

If D Day fails the Russians would have been the big winner.

 

[NittPicker]

I'm not a religious guy but I have to admit it seemed something larger was on the side of the U.S. during that battle. At crucial turning points it seemed if something could have gone wrong for the Japanese, it did. And if something could have gone right for the U.S., it did. Having their code was a plus too. The Japanese benefited from a surprise offensive action at Pearl Harbor but were stung at Midway by a surprise defensive action by the U.S.

 

[91Joe95]

I'm not a religious guy but I have to admit it seemed something larger was on the side of the U.S. during that battle. At crucial turning points it seemed if something could have gone wrong for the Japanese, it did. And if something could have gone right for the U.S., it did. Having their code was a plus too. The Japanese benefited from a surprise offensive action at Pearl Harbor but were stung at Midway by a surprise defensive action by the U.S.

I'd hardly say everything went right for the US - whole squadrons of US flyers were wiped out en masse. That said, the US greatly benefited from superior intelligence vis a vis cracked radio codes.

 

[NittPicker]

I'd hardly say everything went right for the US - whole squadrons of US flyers were wiped out en masse. That said, the US greatly benefited from superior intelligence vis a vis cracked radio codes.

I never claimed everything went right for the U.S. since it obviously didn't. If you read carefully you'll see I wrote "at crucial turning points".

 

[PSUeng]

Luck and Guts: The Heroes of Midway

The Battle of Midway began 77 years ago, today. This anniversary (if that, indeed, is the right word) will be noted but not so lavishly as the one in two days time, in remembrance of D-Day. These were both great and decisive American victories and should be remembered and honored as long as there is a United States of America. Not so much, however, because they saved the nation. The U.S. would almost certainly have survived defeat at Midway and a repulse in Normandy. The “what-if” scenarios around either case — or both, for that matter — make for interesting speculation. But while the world may have looked a lot different if the Japanese had won at Midway and the Germans had pushed Eisenhower’s troops back into the sea in France, there were still two broad oceans protecting the American homeland where the nation could employ its enormous industrial capacity to rearm and reorganize before getting back into the fight.

https://spectator.org/luck-and-guts-the-heroes-of-midway/

The midway battle made for a good movie. I watched that movie a lot when I was young

 

[ILLINOISLION]

I'd hardly say everything went right for the US - whole squadrons of US flyers were wiped out en masse. That said, the US greatly benefited from superior intelligence vis a vis cracked radio codes.

Correct. The devastating and almost total destruction of our three carrier’s torpedo plane squadrons was brutal, but they were successful in drawing virtually all the Japanese fighters down to ocean level. Our dive bombers were so quickly successful minutes later because they had no Japanese air opposition.

Within five minutes, three of the Japanese carriers that bombed Pearl Harbor were on fire and doomed and the fourth’s fate was sealed later that day. And the majority of these four carrier’s pilots were killed.