Remembering Midway Archive

In the final segment of Remembering the Battle of Midway, you will hear a first-hand account of the Battle of Midway from Rear Adm. Joseph M. Worthington, who was the commanding officer of the USS Benham during the battle. Worthington discussed his participation in Midway in an oral interview with the U.S. Naval Institute in the spring of 1972. Worthington recalls the hours leading up to Midway, the sinking of Yorktown, and finally to the end of the battle. The American victory at Midway was a combination of courage, skill, and luck. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Chester Nimitz' audacious big gamble paid off. And even with the loss of the U.S. aircraft carrier Yorktown, and the sinking of several Imperial Japanese Navy carriers over the course of the battle, Midway provided a vivid illustration of how crucial naval air power was becoming in warfare at sea. "Remember Midway" was on the lips of all Americans from late spring 1942 until the end of the war more than three years later. Courtesy of U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Program.

In the third segment of the four-part series of Remembering the Battle of Midway you will hear from U.S. Navy Adm. Ernest Eller, who provided an oral interview to the U.S. Naval Institute in November 1972 where he explained his part, as a writer of war reports, during World War II while stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Midway was the defining moment in the naval history of World War II. Some might say it was the finest hour in the history of the U.S. Navy. With nearly two-thirds of the Imperial Japanese Navy's fleet carriers destroyed, the tide of the war in the Pacific had taken a dramatic turn. And the Japanese fleet would never recover. Courtesy of U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Program.

The Battle of the Coral Sea was a strategic victory for the United States, the first time in the Pacific war Japanese forces had been thwarted from taking their objective. Tactically, however, the Japanese had won, sinking more than twice the tonnage they had lost. But the tide of the war was beginning to turn. And the real test of what the losses meant to both sides in the Coral Sea would come a month later at Midway. In this webcast, you will hear from Vice Adm. Paul Stroop, who served as a flag secretary aboard USS Lexington. Courtesy of U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Program.

In this first segment of the four-part series – Remembering Midway this year marks the 67th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Four months after that attack, a daring plan was conceived to bomb targets on the Japanese mainland. Gen. James H. Doolittle led a squadron off the deck of the carrier USS Hornet to carry out this mission. While the actual damage done to Japan's war-making infrastructure was, minimal, the news of the successful attack on the mainland of Japan stirred the hearts of Americans. To learn more about this daring raid, we will hear, in his own words, what he felt about this raid. Courtesy of U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Program.

Welcome to the Remembering the Battle of Midway, a four-part series spanning from the Doolittle Raid, to the Battle of Coral Sea and ending with the Battle of Midway. In each segment of this four-part series, you will hear from participants such as Gen. James Doolittle, Vice Adm. Paul Stroop, Rear Adm. Roy Benson, and many more. We will also speak with present-day historians that will speak about these events in naval, army and air force history. Tune in Thursday, April 16 to listen to Gen. Doolittle recount, in his own words, his involvement in the Doolittle Raid. Courtesy of U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Program.