DECEMBER 23, 1941 – 64 years ago, the gallant defenders of Wake Island (1,600 sailors, Marines, volunteer civilian contractors, and an Army-Air Force radio detachment) surrendered. An estimated 120 Americans died in the battle, as did nearly 900 Japanese, and it was the basis for the first American war movie of World War II, “Wake Island."
The battle started on December 8 after the Pearl Harbor attack and ended on December 23.
The garrison was broken up and most were shipped to China, while 98 men (civilians) were left on Wake to construct defenses for the Japanese. The POWs sent to China suffered five random beheadings (two Marines and three Navy men) during the voyage, and on October 7, 1943, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara announced that he had executed the 98 men left on the island.
Only 1200 of the 4400-man garrison men were let alive when the island surrendered on September 4, 1945. Sakaibara was arrested and tried for war crimes and executed in 1947.
Wake Island Firsts:
First enemy surface ships sunk by American forces.
First enemy vessel sunk by American aircraft.
First Japanese fleet submarine destroyed by American forces.
First and only amphibious operation in the Pacific to be stopped by coastal guns.
First Medal of Honor awarded to a Marine aviator: Capt Elrod was posthumously cited for gallantry as a fighter pilot and for ground combat, when he was killed on 23 Dec. 1941.
First Presidential Unit Citation awarded by the personal direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was also the only one ever signed by him.
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