Just this side of Tomorrow
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. Continue reading “Snapshots of World War II Midway Island”
Welcome to Midway Booklet circa 1959 – This booklet was submitted Becki Watters who was at Midway with her family from 1957 to 1959. Continue reading “Welcome to Midway Booklet circa 1959”
Vintage Midway Island Postcards – This is an assortment of postcards from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Continue reading “Vintage Midway Island Postcards”
Midway Island Ham Radio QSL Cards – Midway Island’s MARS Shack was an active place for many years at Midway. Manned by Ham radio operators who would assist military personnel with an inexpensive method to call home. Many sailor made phone patches to family, ending each sentence with the statement “Over”. Continue reading “Midway Island Ham Radio QSL Cards”
Below are some pages out of a Welcome to Midway Island brochure. Named “New Midwayites – Welcome to Midway”, the brochure is missing one page from the bird ID section and the section about “Special Information to Submariners” was never included. It’s likely that the brochure was made prior to the sub base shutdown and issued afterward so that section was omitted. Continue reading “New Midwayites – Welcome to Midway Brochure”
MEMORIES OF MIDWAY ISLAND By CDR. Richard G. Rieken, USN Ret.
(As told to his wife Edie in 1997)
After a seven-month training cruise on the USS HORNET CVS-12 through WestPac to China, Japan and the Philippines, Dick’s next assignment took him to Midway Island for a year, ‘way out on the northwest end of the Hawaiian string, over a thousand miles from Honolulu. Continue reading “Memories of Midway Island By CDR. Richard G. Rieken, USN Ret.”
During the U.S. Navy’s tenure at Midway Island many different departments, missions, or even clubs made patches to represent and to commemorate them. Below is a gallery of just a few from that era.
Gooney Bird Monument – 1972
The year was 1972 and Midway Island had just created the Battle of Midway Memorial Park. The park displayed a panoramic mural depicting the battle, two huge guns that were once stationed at emplacements built to defend the island against a Japanese attack during World War II and several memorial plaques commemorating the historical significance of the island and to the men who died fighting to defend it. But the centerpiece would end up being a 11-foot tall “Mahogany Albatross”, a wooden gooney bird called by many the “Giant Gooney”.
Many a sailor found much idle time while at Midway Island. Some used that time to contemplate their fate and to put those thoughts into prose or poetry. The Land that God Forgot is one of those poems.
Continue reading “The Land that God Forgot”
AT MIDWAY THE “MINSTRELL” ENDS HER WANDERINGS,
AND MINE LIKEWISE PAUSE UNEXPECTEDLY
(Part two of excerpts from the book John Cameron’s Odyssey. Part One can be found HERE. Continue reading “John Cameron’s Odyssey Chapt. 10 – Pt 2”