[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 71 (Tuesday, June 4, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S4960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY

  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President today marks the 60th anniversary of the 
first day of a battle that is regarded as the turning point of the war 
in the Pacific and that many historians list as one of the two or three 
most significant naval battles in recorded history. I am speaking, of 
course, about June 4, 1942, the beginning of the 3-day naval engagement 
known as the Battle of Midway.
  At 10:25 a.m. a Japanese armada including four carriers was steaming 
east toward Midway Island, 1,150 miles west of Pearl Harbor in the 
Central Pacific. Its objectives: Invade the strategically situated 
atoll, seize the U.S. base and airstrip, and (if possible) destroy what 
remained of our Pacific fleet after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 
the preceding December.
  At 10:30 a.m. three of the four Japanese carriers and their aircraft 
were a flaming shambles. Moments before, Japanese fighter cover had 
swatted down torpedo bomber squadrons from the U.S. carriers 
Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown, the final, fatal mission for 35 of 41 
American planes and 68 of 82 pilots and gunners. But their courageous 
attack had drawn the fighters down to deck level, leaving the skies 
nearly empty for the 37 U.S. dive bombers who then appeared and, in 
five fateful minutes, changed the course of history. By nightfall, the 
fourth Japanese carrier, too, was a blazing wreck, a fitting coda to a 
day that reversed forever the military fortunes of Imperial Japan.
  ``So ended,'' wrote Churchill, ``the battle of June 4, rightly 
regarded as the turning point of the war in the Pacific.'' ``The annals 
of war at sea,'' he intoned, ``present no more intense, heart-shaking 
shock'' than Midway and its precursor in the Coral Sea, battles where 
``the bravery and self-devotion of the American airmen and sailors and 
the nerve and skill of their leaders was the foundation of all.''
  Few today pause to remember Midway, now six decades past. And I call 
the Senate's attention to this for it was indeed a turning point in a 
war that to that point had few bright spots, and which launched us on 
the road to eventual victory.
  I'd also like to call attention to one American who's nerve and skill 
were paramount in leading American forces to this pivotal victory which 
saw the demise of the four carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor six 
months earlier. Raymond Ames Spruance was an unlikely figure, a little-
known, soft-spoken, publicity-averse 56-year-old Rear Admiral from 
Indiana. Yet it is doubtful that any other American in uniform 
contributed more than this quiet Hoosier to our World War II triumph--a 
foundation for every blessing of peace and prosperity we now enjoy.
  When I was 13, I heard Admiral Spruance speak. He was visiting 
Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, his alma mater and soon to be 
mine. Only years later did I really understand how important he had 
been to achieving victory in the Pacific and subsequent victories, 
including 1945's hard-fought invasion of Iwo Jima. It was Spruance who 
made the crucial decision at Midway to launch all available aircraft, 
which led to devastation of the enemy carriers. He then preserved the 
victory, instinctively resisting Japanese attempts during the next two 
days to lure the American fleet into a trap.
  Throughout Spruance's 45-year Navy career, he maintained the 
unassuming attitude that downplayed his own role at Midway. And, unlike 
some of his contemporaries, Spruance avoided self-promotion. One 
consequence was that he forwent levels of recognition accorded others.
  As you may be aware, near the end of the war, Congress authorized 
four five-star positions each in the Army and Navy. The new Generals of 
the Army were George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower and 
Henry ``Hap'' Arnold. The first three five-star Admirals were Chester 
Nimitz, Ernest King, and William Daniel Leahy. But an internal battle 
raged for months over whether the fourth Fleet Admiral would be the 
colorful William ``Bull'' Halsey (who was ultimately selected) or his 
less flamboyant colleague, the victor at Midway. Later, when Congress 
authorized another five-star post for the ``GI General,'' Omar Bradley, 
it overlooked creating a fifth Navy five-star opening, which 
unquestionably would have gone to Bradley's ocean-going counterpart, 
Raymond Spruance.
  Among all the War's combat admirals ``there was no one to equal 
Spruance,'' wrote famed Navy historian Samuel Morison. ``He envied no 
man, regarded no one as rival, won the respect of all with whom he came 
in contact, and went ahead in his quiet way winning victories for his 
country.''
  As some of you know, I introduced legislation to correct this 
oversight. Some of you have joined me in sponsoring S. 508, and I 
encourage my other colleagues to do the same because what we choose to 
honor says a great deal about who we are. Like many of the veterans of 
the Battle of Midway, Raymond Spruance's humility and character stand 
in contrast to much of what our political and popular culture 
``honors'' today. Much of what our political and popular culture 
``honors'' today, with celebrity and fortune and swarms of media 
attention, is the foolish and flighty, the sensational and self-
indulgent. Too often, the pursuits made possible by freedom are 
unworthy of the sacrifices that preserved freedom itself.
  No one lived the values of freedom and service more fully or nobly, 
and with less thought of personal fame, than Raymond Spruance. On any 
list of the great Allied military leaders of World War II, his 
character and his contributions stand in the very first rank. It is 
fitting and proper for us now to award him rank commensurate with his 
character and contributions.
  When complimented on Midway years after the War, Spruance said, 
``There were a hundred Spruances in the Navy. They just happened to 
pick me for the job.'' Herman Wouk's masterful ``War And Remembrance'' 
has the best rejoinder, which the author puts in the mouth of a 
fictional wartime adversary: ``In fact, there was only one Spruance and 
luck gave him, at a fateful hour, to America.''
  In June 1942, all of America drew strength from the victory at 
Midway. Today, the nation and the Naval service celebrate that victory 
and we continue to draw strength from the brave contributions of the 
men who nobly fought 60 years ago and those who there made the ultimate 
sacrifice as they turned the tide of a very perilous war.

                          ____________________