Snapshots of World War II Midway Island – The years that surround World War II were busy times for Midway. Prior to the war construction was taking place to ready it for the war in the Pacific, while during the war much of that construction was demolished. After the war the mission at Midway would change. During the post war era Sand Island was developed to support not only the Navy’s mission, but the infrastructure of a small town to accommodate the families of the military personnel stationed there.
This set of photographs shows a little bit of the everyday life the men who worked on this construction. For those of us who have lived and worked at Midway it’s easy for us to transport ourselves in time to imagine what these people were experiencing. The heat radiating not just from the sky, but from the white coral sand below. The smell of the rookery of birds that surrounds you no matter where you go. And the sound of the birds as they go about their daily bird lives.
In one of the photos you can see a PBY parked in the background and another with a fellow hanging out of the window of what appears to be a Lockheed PV-2. Other photos show temporary structures to provide shade and refreshments for the men working on construction projects.
My father was a Navy Seabee on Midway. I believe it would have been around 1949 to 1954 time period? He showed us limited pictures growing up and didn’t really talk about his time in the service. He passed a year ago at 86 and I would love to hear more about his time there.
Melanie, my name is Deborah Harris-Rosson. My father, LCDR S.J. Harris was stationed on Midway Island 🏝 (atoll)
from 1960-1962. Myself, my mother, and brother were there, as well. Some of my greatest childhood memories/friends/experiences, are of our family’s time on the beautiful island of Midway Atoll ~ you’re welcome to email me, if you wish: drosson82@gmail.com
My dad was a Seabee on Midway in the 1943–1945-time frame, 10th Special Battalion. When his best high school friend, a Marine, was killed on Iwo Jima, he was angry and requested “forward area duty”. The CO would not grant it and dad, who was able to type and sometimes was called on to do the CO’s orders, typed up his own orders and the CO signed them unknowingly. Orders came in for dad to go to Hawaii – the opposite direction of where he wanted to go. When he got to Honolulu, he realized that he was staging for the invasion of Japan. Thank God we dropped the bombs on Japan because the carnage would have been overwhelming otherwise. I still have his photos from his time on the atoll.