Von Thompson brings out the horrors and human costs of World War II’s Pacific Theater.
—
Battle of Midway, photo 80-G-701843
They didn’t bother with color film,
and perhaps that’s better.
From 20,000 feet no one can see
pink tinged foam hissing
on the beach or how blood
turns Marine green to muddy brown.
It’s easier to be objective
behind a wide angle lens,
to use terms like ground
forces and strategic losses, note
heavy shelling to the west
and assets out of commission.
It was harder to understand
screams of both progress and pain,
the whistle and ping of sheer damn luck,
the silence that fear built around
my father as he waited offshore
for the living to gain enough sand
so he could retrieve the dead.
***
Von Thompson has published with us before. Read her poem “Bones,” also about the Pacific Theater.
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Photo by Naval Historical Center
The Japanese bombed Midway Island at the beginning of the battle. The bulk of the battle took place at sea, but there was a land component. Hence the name “The Battle of Midway.”
See: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwari1/p/Midway.htm
Specifically:
“At 04:30 on June 4, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, commanding the Japanese carriers, launched 108 planes to attack Midway Island, as well as seven scout planes to locate the American fleet. Brushing aside the island’s small force of fighters, the Japanese planes pounded Midway’s installations.”
Uh, you do know that the Battle of Midway was a sea battle? Actually, it was the first naval battle in history where the opposing navies fought from such a great distance that they could not physically see each other. They relied on aircraft as the weapons, much as the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor. I sort of followed this in history as both my Dad (USS West Virginia) and my Uncle (USS Hornet) were involved.