THE ROUNDTABLE FORUM
Official newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable
"To promote awareness and understanding of the great battle
and to honor the men who fought and won it."
2 March 2007.........ISSUE NO. 2007-06.........OUR 10th YEAR
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* * * Around the
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MEMBERS' TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:
·
The
Battle of Midway Prayer
·
The
BOM's Most Influential Person
·
Mustin-Hornet
Reunion
·
Cruise
to Midway, June 2007
·
65th
BOM Anniversary at Scott AFB, IL
·
Collector
Edition SBD Model
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The Battle of Midway Prayer
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31 Jan 2007
CAPT Stanford E. Linzey, CHC, USN-Ret slinzey@juno.com
BOM
vet, ship's band, USS Yorktown
(CV-5)
Southern
California
Russ: You have made the Roundtable
Forum a beautiful piece of work, something we can all be proud
of. Thank you for your good work. It is helpful to all of us.
I am appreciative of the fact you have included
THE MIDWAY PRAYER for the benefit of all. I pray this prayer for any and
all of the Midway functions in which I am involved. It gives credit to
all who were engaged in the great battle and for the Almighty who
helped us. It reminds us of who we are. Anyone who
wishes may feel free to use this prayer. Again, thank you Russ.
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Ed. note: Chaplain Linzey's Midway
invocation can be find on our web site under "Special Features" on
the home page.
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The BOM's Most Influential Person
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2 Feb 2007
LCDR Otis G. Kight, USN-Ret otiskight@cox.net
BOM
vet, VF-42 flight deck crew, USS Yorktown (CV-5)
Virginia
After reading about a
dozen books on many aspects of the BOM (before, during and after), I'd be
very curious as to the members' opinions on the following subject.
Give or take a dozen, who do you consider as the basic influence
(both positive and negative) in
winning the BOM, as well as the Pacific theater of WWII?
Divide the answer into two
parts: those "because of" and those "in spite
of." Persons outside the area are included, such as
"Monty," the Redman brothers, and others.
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Ed note: while these kinds of
surveys and their results are explored in depth in Chapter 11 of No Right to Win, Otis adds a slightly new wrinkle by
including those who should have played an important role in bringing
about the American victory. That is, the U.S. won in spite of what they
did, not because of it. Some obvious candidates come to mind, such as
Marc Mitscher, Stanhope Ring, and Miles Browning. Expanding the same
theme into the entire Pacific war brings numerous additional choices, such as
General MacArthur (in my opinion). The Japanese had their own cast of
characters who would qualify. Send in your thoughts and we'll find out
who wins this contest.
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Mustin-Hornet Reunion
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3 Feb 2007
Fred
Branyan lbranyan@aol.com
Pennsylvania
The 2007 reunion will be in Little
Rock, Arkansas, 12-14 April at the Best Western Governor's Suites. Phone
800-422-8051. April 12th is check-in, April 13th is a
plantation tour for those with an interest, then a business meeting.
April 14th, a tour of the Clinton Library, then the banquet for
all attendees.
Point of
contact is Jim Robinson at: robinsonjimdee@aol.com
Due to declining attendance and dues
paying memberships, this may be the last one, but I am going
to volunteer to host it in 2008 in either Norfolk or Philadelphia.
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Ed. note: USS Mustin (DD-413) rescued many of the Hornet's crew when it was sunk at the Battle
of the Santa Cruz Islands. Veterans of the two ships have held
a joint reunion for many years.
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Cruise to Midway, June 2007
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23 Feb 2007
CDR
Ralph V. Wilhelm, USN-Ret rkaiserw@webtv.net
BOM
vet, SOC pilot, USS Portland (CA-33)
Southern
California
Princess Cruises has scheduled the Regal Princess to sail 20 days round trip from Los
Angeles on a Hawaii and Midway anniversary cruise. Departure Date is
28 May 2007. Ports of call are Midway, Honolulu, Kona, Hilo, Maui,
and Kauai. All aboard?
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65th BOM Anniversary at Scott AFB, IL
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14 Feb 2007
CDR
Robert Desrosiers, USN
Illinois
U.S. Navy personnel at USTRANSCOM are
planning a BOM commemoration, and we want to contact BOM vets in the southern
Illinois/St.Louis, MO area (or any other BOM veteran who might desire to
attend, or organizations). Any help would be appreciated.
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Ed. note: BOM vets and others
interested in this commemoration event are asked to contact CDR Raymond Beno at
Raymond.Beno@ustranscom.mil , or call 618-229-1045. For more
on USTRANSCOM, see http://www.transcom.mil/ This may be a good opportunity for
BOM vets in the central states to participate in a 65th anniversary event
without a lot of lengthy travel.
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Collector Edition SBD Model
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29 Jan 2007
William
Reece william_reece@ncsu.edu
North Carolina
I thought you might want to post
this: http://www.militarytoyshop.com/
Admiral Toys has listed a 1/18th scale SBD-3 Midway model. These are not
'toys' per se but collector type limited editions. Most Wal-Mart stores
have 1/18th scale 'models' in the toy aisle that rival detailed
scale models. The Corsair and Avenger are very nice. I
understand a Hellcat is coming as well.
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NEWS & INFO IN THIS ISSUE:
· The BOMRT On Five Continents
· PTs at Midway
· Forum Notes
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The BOMRT On Five Continents (see issue #2007-04)
I'm happy to discover that we can add an eleventh
country, Ireland, to the tally of nations in which we have members currently on
our roster. Seattle, Washington expatriate and longtime Roundtable member
Ken Martin has resided and worked there for over 20 years. Ken is the
nephew of VT-8 R/G ARM2c Hollis Martin, gunner for pilot Grant Teats.
Are there any others?
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PTs at Midway (see issue #2007-05)
In the last issue of the Forum (Jan. 26th), I asked if anyone had any info about Midway's PT
boats during the battle--how well they contributed to the AA defenses during
the air attack on the atoll. Before posting that question, I neglected to
search what I've repeatedly said was my prime reference for the BOM, A Glorious Page in our History. My copy is getting so dog-eared and marked up from
heavy use that I may need to buy another one soon before the first one
becomes unserviceable.
That said, take a look at pages 64-68 in A Glorious Page for some excellent detail on Midway's PTs. The description of the boats dashing about in the lagoon, shooting down at least one attacking plane, and generally creating such a ruckus that some of the Japanese pilots deliberately avoided that side of the atoll makes for an interesting study.
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Forum Notes
~ Regarding Dan Hamilton's review of Choices Under Fire by Michael Bess in the last issue, a few members reacted very critically to the author's apparent labeling of allied strategic bombing of Germany and Japan as "immoral" or an "atrocity" because of rampant civilian casualties. Some offered articulate arguments as to why mass urban bombing was tactically and strategically necessary in WW2, and why it was less immoral than various atrocities perpetrated by the Axis powers. Such messages would easily take up an entire issue of the Forum and doubtless carry over to subsequent issues, but that topic is outside the scope of what we deal with here on the Midway Roundtable. Therefore, I haven't chosen to publish those messages even though they are very well crafted and doubtless express sentiments that most of us would acknowledge.
~ John Gardner reports that the current issue of Leatherneck magazine mentions a planned excursion to Midway for the 65th anniversary in June. This is at least the third such tour that I've heard of, the others coming from the IMMF and the USFWS. At last word, all are still tentative due to the difficulty in arranging air transportation. Another option is the Princess cruise mentioned by Ralph Wilhelm above. If anyone has more info on any of these opportunities, please pass the word.
~ For those who plan to attend the BOM's 65th anniversary commemoration in San Francisco on June 2nd, I recommend you make your hotel reservations at the Marines Memorial Club very soon if you plan to stay there. The hotel should be quite full with both the BOM dinner and the USS Yorktown (CV-5) annual reunion going on at the same time. To make your reservation, call 800-562-7463, then press 1 when you hear the options menu. To get the special room rate, mention "Group Code Battle of Midway" I'm told that BOM vets get an additional discount--be sure to mention it if that applies to you. (Note that if you'll be there as part of the Yorktown reunion, you may have different lodging information and instructions--refer to your mailings from the CV-5 association.)
~ During my recent absence from the Roundtable while dealing with a tough family situation, many members sent me messages of encouragement and good cheer. I'm deeply grateful for your kindness and consideration. It's very gratifying to know that there are a lot of good friends present in this digital meeting hall.
For a glossary of abbreviations, acronyms, and terms used in The Roundtable Forum, click the following URL or go to our home page and click "The Roundtable Glossary" link: http://www.midway42.org/glossary.htm
Get the Roundtable's book:
NO RIGHT TO WIN
A Continuing Dialogue with Veterans of
THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY
Click for full information: http://www.russbook.com
If you cannot access the above web site, send an e-mail message
to bomrt@military.com for full details about No Right to Win.
All original content in The Roundtable Forum, the Official Newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable is copyright 2006-2007 by Ronald W. Russell (address below). The Forum is distributed by e-mail to members of the Roundtable at approximately one week intervals. An abridged edition is also posted on our web site. For information on joining the Roundtable, please click this URL: www.midway42.org/how_join.html
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