[6/3/2023 revised WWI death statistics in third paragraph] Every Memorial Day Americans pay their respects at the graves of veterans and loved ones in well-kept cemeteries decorated with flags and flowers. Most are unaware of the history that brought over one hundred seventy thousand dead servicemen home from the far-flung battlefields and seas of the Second World War. In the fall of 1945, the U. S. Congress approved a program unprecedented in...

The U. S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services recently announced that it is partnering with Parallel Flight Technologies to develop and test a drone-based system for aerial delivery of rat poison on Wake Island. Wake’s last rat eradication program took place in May 2012 and, during my visit there six months prior, preparations were well underway as authorities mapped bait stations and helicopter distribution routes and adopted strict...

While the spectacular Mauna Loa lava flows have been getting all the attention in the last couple of weeks, another volcano is making noise 3,800 miles west of Hawaii. Ahyi, a submarine volcano in the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, began erupting underwater in mid-October. Hydroacoustic sensors on Wake Island, 1400 miles away, were the first to pick up the sounds of activity, and data from seismic stations on Guam and a Japanese...

A new book by Gabriel M. Brady, published in September 2022, takes a deep dive into the postwar controversy over command of Wake Island during the siege and battle in December 1941. In Wake Island: New Insights into the Past: The Story of Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Cunningham’s Struggle for Justice (revised), Brady steadfastly defends Cunningham as he delves into the events, errors, rivalries, and omissions that elevated the role of Major...

After writing the blog post “Last Man Standing” a few weeks ago, declaring Pearson Riddle, Jr., the last living civilian survivor of Wake Island, I knew I couldn’t justify the title without also researching the military personnel stationed on Wake in 1941. While my focus has always been on the civilian side of the Wake story, I have long intended to verify the military rosters and fill in their personal data. That “back burner” project came...