The Roundtable
Forum
Official Newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable
28 May 2010
Issue Number: 2010-17
Our 13th Year
~ AROUND THE TABLE ~
MEMBERS’
TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Vet Stories and Photos
2. Dive Bomber (1941 Movie)
3. Civilians on Midway During the Battle
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1. VET STORIES AND PHOTOS
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22 May 2010
From: Bryan A. Crisman
Tennessee
BOM vet, disbursing officer, USS Yorktown (CV-5)
Thanks for the “vet story.” You've done a wonderful job keeping the
Battle of Midway alive and interesting to so many folks. The Roundtable
is unique in many facets, and has expanded the story with information that’s
unfamiliar to many, and to correct some errors and misinformation.
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Ed. note: Bryan is
referring to the new veterans
photo pages within the No Right to Win section of our web site, and
the links therein to some of the vets’ personal BOM stories.
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2. DIVE BOMBER (1941 MOVIE) ( see issue 16 )
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14 May 2010
From: Barrett Tillman
Arizona
author, Clash of the Carriers, Whirlwind, et al
Mention of "Dive Bomber" reminds me that the CV-6 scenes were filmed in the spring of 1941, and involved a continuing feud between Bull Halsey and Erroll Flynn. Halsey resented the time devoted to filming because it interfered with training.
However, Enterprise sailors agreed that Fred
MacMurray was "a regular guy" and even posted an "historical
marker" in a head [lavatory] that he patronized.
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Ed. note: Barrett is currently working on his next
book, a new history of USS Enterprise (CV-6).
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3. CIVILIANS ON MIDWAY DURING THE BATTLE
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18 May 2010
From: Peter Motyka
Massachusetts
I am currently
reading Pacific Alamo, the Battle for Wake Island, after reading several
books about Midway through the years.
The most striking contrasts are the preparedness of the two atolls and
the effect of the 1100 civilian contractors on Wake.
The time factor was
vital. Midway had a full Marine defense
battalion, radar, 125 aircraft of various types, PT boats etc., due to the fact
that the Navy had 5 months to prepare for battle.
Wake was assaulted
on 11 December 1941. It had 450 Marines
and 1100 civilian workers, only 40% of which helped the Marines in various
capacities while the others hid in the brush and still consumed rations. Granted, they cannot be blamed in full
because they did not sign on for combat duty, nor did they have any
training. Wake also had no radar and
too little of everything.
My question is
this: Were there any civilians on
Midway during the battle (John Ford not counting; he was in the Naval Reserve)
and if so, in what capacity?
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Ed. note: I didn’t both to look this up, but my
recollection is there were very few, if any.
Ford had at least one photographer with him who I think was a
civilian. I believe the Pan American
and communications cable sites were under the control of the Navy by that time,
but welcome being corrected if necessary.
Who wants to give us the facts?
~ NOW HEAR THIS! ~
NEWS
& INFO IN THIS ISSUE:
- 68th BOM Anniversary at Washington, DC
- Link of the Week
- Editor’s Notes
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68th BOM ANNIVERSARY AT
WASHINGTON, DC
Press release from the
Public Affairs Office, U. S. Naval
District of Washington, DC:
“Naval
District Washington will host a wreath laying and commemoration of the 68th
anniversary of the historic Battle of Midway June 4 at 9:00 a.m. at the United
States Navy Memorial in downtown Washington, D.C. (701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
across the street from the National Archives).
The featured speaker will be Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary
Roughead. The event will also feature
several veterans who survived the battle and more than a thousand sailors from
the Washington, D.C. area.
“On June 4,
1942, a vastly outnumbered and outgunned U.S. fleet defeated the finest of the
Imperial Japanese navy in the waters off a small Pacific atoll named Midway. Their
daring combination of intelligence, tactics, courage and sacrifice forever
changed the course of the war and world history. The Battle of Midway is believed by many military scholars to be
the most important of American naval victories.
“This event is open to the
public. For further information, please contact the Naval District Washington
Public Affairs Officer, Ed Zeigler at (202) 433-2678 or send email to edward.zeigler@navy.mil.”
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LINK OF THE WEEK
This week’s link may be the best collection of BOM graphics
and artwork you’ll even find. It’s an
amazing image sequence that tells nearly the entire BOM story with very
real-looking color photos created with a combination of scale models and
Photoshop trickery.
Go to the link below, then scroll down and click the
“Battle of Midway” link. You will be
taken to the BOM home page for the site.
Click “Start Story” for the first image, an aerial view of Hornet and Enterprise en route for
the Doolittle Raid. Click “Next Page”
in the lower right corner to advance to the next image.
The images all appear to be
meticulously accurate, with only a few minor factual errors, like red and white
stripes on the rudders of VT-8. I didn’t
notice any others on my first look at the site. These pictures are just simply awesome.
Click
here for the link of the week.
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EDITOR’S NOTES
~ Next Saturday, June 5th, I will be attending
the 68th BOM anniversary commemoration aboard USS Midway at San
Diego. I will be especially looking
forward to meeting with our Midway vets and other Roundtable members who will
be there.
~ For everyone attending other anniversary
events, please bring your camera, take a lot of pictures, and send us report.
~ If anyone is looking for another opportunity
to catch the 1976 Midway movie on TV, Turner Classic Movie (TCM) will
have it tomorrow (May 29). It’s at 2:30
PM in my guide—check your schedule for the time in your area.
~ If you need a reason to see Midway yet
again, this could be one: we know about the many things the movie got wrong,
but the last time I watched it, I took notes on everything that they got
right. There were some pleasant
surprises. If you have old issues of
the Roundtable Forum, #2009-16 has the details.
~ Here is our annual Memorial Day reminder to
all of you BOM vets to please remember us when giving instructions to your
family concerning what needs to be done when the time comes to fold your
flag. As we have seen here many times,
the fact that our participating vets won’t be with us forever is unavoidable. When that day comes to each one, we endeavor
to honor him to the extent possible on the Roundtable. That only happens if your family knows about
us, understands what we do, and knows how to contact us. Please pass to them our Roundtable e-mail
address, midway.rt@gmail.com, plus my personal contact info (click here then scroll to
the bottom of the page), and tell them to please ensure that we get the word.
No one is truly gone
until he is forgotten. We do our best
here to ensure that none of our BOM vets are ever forgotten.
For a glossary of abbreviations, acronyms, and terms used in The
Roundtable Forum, click here
or go to our home page and click "The Roundtable Glossary" link.
Unless otherwise noted, all
original content in this issue of The Roundtable Forum, the Official
Newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable is copyright 2010 by Ronald
W. Russell (see the “About the
BOMRT” page). Permission to
forward, copy, or quote from this issue is granted if the following citation is
included: “The Roundtable Forum, official
newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable, www.midway42.org.”
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