NAF Midway was disestablished pursuant to BRAC on 1 October 1993. After its closure as a naval installation, the airfield reopened as civilian airport under the name Henderson Field.
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As part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, the Navy facility on Midway has been operationally closed since September 10, 1993, although the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination.
After WWII, the development of long-range planes reduced Midway's importance as a commercial air base, and Pan American eliminated stops there in 1950. That year also saw the reduction of Midway's U.S. Navy establishment to a housekeeping force. The islands were virtually abandoned after World War II.
The modern history of Midway atoll includes its commercial uses and post-war reversion of a natural state resulting in its designation as a National Wildlife Refuge.
The Japanese lost approximately 3,057 men, four carriers, one cruiser, and hundreds of aircraft, while the United States lost approximately 362 men, one carrier, one destroyer, and 144 aircraft.
The United States was inspired to invest in the improvement of Midway in the mid-1930's with the rise of imperial Japan. In 1938 the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the lagoon during this period and, in 1938, Midway was declared second to Pearl Harbor in terms of naval base development in the Pacific.
Midway Island is a fairly isolated atoll, so named because it is midway between North America and Asia in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway was an incredibly strategic location; the Imperial Japanese Navy planned to use it to secure their sphere of influence in the Pacific theater of the war.
A recent increase in albatross egg predation by mice underscores the need for long-term monitoring and management while previous accomplishments show what's possible on this extraordinary National Wildlife Refuge.
In 1866, Indian hostilities grew and territorial governor Brigham Young encouraged settlers to construct forts for protection. The two small settlements reached an agreement to build a fort halfway or midway between the two existing communities… thus the beginning of our modern day town named Midway.
For 2,000 years Japan had never been defeated. There was no word for surrender in the Japanese dictionary. And although the Japanese government never believed it could defeat the United States, it did intend to negotiate an end to the war on favorable terms.
It was the deployment of a new and terrible weapon, the atomic bomb, which forced the Japanese into a surrender that they had vowed never to accept. Harry Truman would go on to officially name September 2, 1945, V-J Day, the day the Japanese signed the official surrender aboard the USS Missouri.