The atoll stretches only about six miles across and consists of Sand and Eastern islets, a coral reef, and a shallow lagoon. Congress and titled the Hepburn Report had identified Midway as second only to Pearl Harbor in importance to American security in the Pacific. The fall of the Philippines was imminent, and after the Japanese had taken Wake Island and Guam, Midway became the westernmost American outpost in the Central Pacific.
Maintaining control of Midway was the key to American victory in the Pacific. Shannon did not hesitate and replied, “Yes, sir!” Nimitz looked him in the eye and asked a pointed question: “If I get you all these things you say you need, then can you hold Midway against a major amphibious assault?” Shannon produced a list of the men and equipment. What else did the defenders of Midway need to repel a major enemy landing? He informed the officers that they could expect a Japanese attack at the end of the month and followed up with a pointed question. Nimitz inspected the prepared defensive positions and the barbed wire that glinted in the sun, wreathing the beaches of the atoll’s two islets, Sand and Eastern. Shannon, commander of the 6th Marine Defense Battalion and other assigned ground troops. Navy Commander Cyril Simard, overall commander at Midway, and Lt. Preparations for the defense of Midway against a probable Japanese assault had been underway for about two years, and a sense of urgency prompted Nimitz to see the progress for himself.
Pacific Fleet, had come to inspect the preparations for the defense of the atoll-and he had given little notice of his impending visit. On May 2, 1942, the eve of the Battle of the Coral Sea, a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina flying boat skimmed the water’s surface and touched down in the lagoon of Midway Atoll, 1,137 miles west of Oahu.
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