NAS Sigonella remembers Battle of Midway By MC3 Cameron Bramham NAS Sigonella Public Affairs NAS SIGONELLA, Sicily - Sailors and Marines at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella attended a Battle of Midway commemoration ceremony, June 5 inside Hangar Bay 630 on the NAS Sigonella flightline. “Today we celebrate the sacrifices made by so many in an effort to continue our freedoms,” said ceremony coordinator, Navy Career Counselor 1st Class Gary Coumbe. The Battle of Midway was a decisive victory in the Pacific theater and a changing point in the war, added Coumbe. The ceremony also featured remarks by honorary guest speaker, Commodore, Command Task Force-67, Capt. Michael McClintock, and a remembrance prayer from NAS Sigonella Chaplain, Lt. Cmdr. Scott Cauble. “For Americans, June, 1942 seems like a long time ago, yet the significance of Midway still resonates with us today,” said McClintock. “It’s been called the turning point in the Pacific and the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps continue the triumphant tradition demonstrated in the Battle of Midway, today.” The ceremony remembered key events that took place June 4-7, 1942, during the Battle of Midway including dive bombers from the USS Enterprise (CV-6) sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier, Hiryu on June 4 and the sinking of the USS Yorktown (CV-5) on June 7. The overall theme during the commemoration ceremony was the remembrance of the U.S. service members who fought the battle while knowing they were severely outnumbered against the Japanese naval forces. “To put this in perspective, the Japanese Imperial Navy was still considered the biggest and strongest naval force in the world,” Coumbe said. “They assigned 162 different ships for this attack including seven battleships, 10 carriers, some two-dozen cruisers and more than 70 destroyers.” The Japanese force that was sent for the battle completely dwarfed the United States counter force, consisting of only three carriers, eight cruisers, 15 destroyers and 60 submarines. However, Coumbe added that the Japanese counted on the American tenacity to not back down from a fight, even when foolishly outnumbered and had hoped that the sheer presence of the Japanese fleet alone would be enough to outlast the American attack. “The Japanese had us outnumbered in every aspect, and this was supposed to be the final attack they needed to end the United States’ fight in the Pacific,” Coumbe said. Each individual Sailor, Marine, Soldier, and Airman knew their probable fate, and fought through. Today we pay homage to those sacrifices; and remind those who gave all against the odds that we appreciate and remember their sacrifice.”
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 06:05:00 +0000
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