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The Battle of Wake Island pitted a small American force against a large Japanese force. The Japanese attacked the remote Pacific island outpost just hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Sixteen days later, Japanese troops stormed ashore and Wake…

The first American air strike against German targets in Europe in World War II took place on July 4, 1942. Flying six twin-engine A-20 light bombers, and joined by six other planes of the same type flown by British Royal Air Force crews of 226…

The daughter of one of the pilots who flew in the Battle of Midway attended our June 5 presentation about the battle, which included a flight of our Douglas SBD Dauntless. Dona Sorenson is a daughter Don D. Adams (U.S, Navy, retired), who was a…

U.S. forces defeated a major attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy in the historic June 4-7, 1942, Battle of Midway, even though the Japanese fleet seemed to have every advantage. As docent John Lynch said in a presentation at the Museum on the 79th anniversary…

Fleet Problem XXI was a U.S. Navy exercise conducted in the Pacific near the Hawaiian Islands in April and May of 1940. Like similar exercises going back to 1923, it tested ideas of offensive and defensive naval warfare. Several earlier exercises had considered Japan a…

When our rare Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless flew for the public Saturday during a presentation at the museum about the historic World War II Battle of Midway, Alan Wojciak was at the controls. The Dauntless, which played a significant role in the battle, is "a very…

By Colonel Gene Pfeffer, USAF (Ret) This is the story of an American Army Air Forces pilot flying from England named Elwood Starkey and his role in Operation Overlord, the invasion of France in June, 1944.  Starkey flew 36 B-24 combat missions over Europe while…

The Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) were a brave and dedicated group of aviators who helped the U.S. win the WWII battles in the air.  They did not participate in combat directly.  But they did take the place of men who could and did…

The American Volunteer Group (AVG), known as “The Flying Tigers”, was a group of American pilots and ground crew who served China in its war against Japan.  Their entire combat history covers the seven months from December, 1941 through July, 1942. The war between China…