This was Wilbur Kinney at 17 when he went aboard the carrier Yorktown at Portsmouth, Va., right out of boot camp in 1942. Photo by PhoM2/C Bill Roy
Wilbur Kinney of Port Charlotte, Fla. was aboard the carrier USS Yorktown when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the decisive Battle of Midway that began June 4, 1942. Read the rest of this entry »
The ribbons on his chest show two battle stars, one for Pearl Harbor, the other for Midway. Photo provided
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor shortly before 8 a.m., Dec. 7, 1941 George Hire was a Marine recovering from coral poisoning at the Naval Hospital. He was looking out the window while washing dishes and saw the first bomb hit the dry dock 100 yards from where he was standing. Read the rest of this entry »
Fresh out of boot camp, 18-year-old Tony Inzerillo of Chicago went aboard the submarine USS Thornback as a mechanic very late in World War II. He and the sub he served on made one combat mission a few weeks before war's end. Photo provided
Tony Inzerillo of Seminole Lakes subdivision, south of Punta Gorda, Fla. almost missed World War II. He and the rest of the crew of the submarine USS Thornback, SS-418, made one combat cruise off the coast of mainland Japan a month before the Japanese unconditionally surrendered ending the Second World War.
Bill Roy when he was a photo chief serving in World War II. Photo provided
Bill Roy was a 21-year-old photographer’s mate aboard the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown when she was sunk by an enemy submarine at the Battle of Midway June 7, 1942.Midway was the defining battle in the Pacific Theater during the first six months of World War II. The United States went to war after its Pacific Fleet was bombed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor on Dec, 7, 1941. At Midway the Americans sealed the fate of the Japanese Imperial Navy and ultimately stopped its westward expansion.
Bert Earnest is pictured as a naval aviation cadet in 1941. He received two Distinguished Flying Crosses for one mission in his TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bomber during the attack on the Japanese fleet at Midway as a member of Torpedo Bomber Squadron #8.
The god of war smiled on United States forces at Midway.
“In 30 hours, at the Battle of Midway, the fate of World War II was changed in the Pacific,” according to commentary from newsreel footage taken at the time.
