Wake Island is variously described as V-shaped, horseshoe-shaped, or wishbone-shaped. I like the last best, and so it seems appropriate to recall Thanksgiving on Wake Island in 1941. Thanksgiving fell on November 20, 1941, on Wake, other islands, D. C., and two-thirds of the states. For the third Depression year in a row, President Franklin Roosevelt had proclaimed Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November instead of the traditional last...

On Wake Island the United States Marine Corps memorial stands tall, a stark white spire against a blue sky. Nearly fifty years since its dedication in 1966, the memorial remains well tended and frequently visited. Marines passing through Wake pay their respects year after year, often leaving medals and pins or picking up a paint brush to give the memorial a fresh white coat, as a visiting general did last week. The defense of Wake Island in...