MIDWAY HISTORY & TRIVIA

A lucky Visit

We traveled in a small turbo-prop plane from Hawaii 1200 miles to reach Midway Atoll. At that time Phoenix Air had the exclusive air contract for Midway Island. It is the largest operator/owner of Lear jets in the world.

On July 4, 1903 President Roosevelt sent the first around-the-world cable which took nine minutes to complete from this station.

Pan Am Airlines set up a base for its Clipper Seaplane Service on Sand Island in 1935. Midway was a regular fuel stop for Pan Am’s Trans-Pacific route which included Honolulu, Wake Island, Guam, and Manila. This operation, including a hotel and restaurant, was short lived—only 1935-1941.

Before the days of advanced radar, planes on Midway Island were loaded with 4000 pounds of fuel instead of bombs to use the planes for reconnaissance. Generally they flew a 7-mile radius around the atoll and could fly 2700 miles in a 27 hour period. This was their early warning system.

The Halsey-Doolittle bombing raid of Tokyo in March 1942 made the Japanese determined to wipe out US carriers.

Midway was also bombed on December 7,1941, but the Battle of Midway didn’t take place until June 4-6, 1942. Most of the battle took place 100 miles from Midway, but the atoll was bombed again.

During the Korean War Midway played an important role as a defensive outpost in the Distant Early Warning (DEW) System.

During the Vietnam War Midway was a port of call and air traffic center.

Midway now is administered by U S Fish and Wildlife Service. Presently there is no visitation available for Midway.

The Navy spent three years and 80 million dollars cleaning up Midway before they departed in early 1997. Tons of debris were removed from the lagoon. Antennas, a bird hazard, were removed. Lead paint from the buildings was removed because playful chicks would nibble on it. Over 100 fuel tanks were removed. Tons of sand was cleaned of toxic fluids, often pulling 200 gallons a day from the sand for several months.

Midway is one of the world’s most incredible wildlife spectacles. It is a living laboratory and ecosystem under constant study. Island ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to the introduction of non-native and alien species. Native wildlife has not evolved with predatory mammals and reptiles and therefore lack adaptations that allow them to co-exist with dogs, cats, rats, mongoose, snakes, or iguanas.

Millions of birds nest on the atoll. Millions more migrate through the area.

There is a spinner dolphin colony that inhabits the surrounding waters.

Both the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and the threatened green sea turtle live at the atoll.

I feel fortunate to have lived on Midway for three weeks participating in dolphin and monk seal research projects before travel to the island was halted. We were also lucky to be there during the gooney bird mating season.