America 250: Presidential Message on the Anniversary of the Battle of Midway

Today, our Nation commemorates the Battle of Midway, the extraordinary air and sea victory that stripped Imperial Japan of its naval supremacy in the Pacific and set America's Armed Forces on a path to ultimate triumph in World War II.

In the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Imperial Japan advanced across the Pacific with fierce momentum, seizing territory and challenging Allied forces at every turn on land, in the air, and at sea. They had their sights on Midway Island, a small but strategically vital American bastion just over 1,000 miles away from Hawaii-the last significant barrier between Japanese naval power and the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

What Imperial Japan did not know was that American ingenuity had already decimated all hopes of victory. Working around the clock in absolute secrecy, U.S. Navy codebreakers had cracked Japan's encrypted communications, piecing together the time, location, and full scope of the planned attack. For the first time since the attack on Pearl Harbor, America had the upper hand.

On June 4, 1942, the skies over Midway erupted in one of the most dramatic clashes in the history of armed conflict. In a battle waged almost entirely by aircraft, Americans heroically manned air defense positions on the island while American aviators flew headlong into a formidable enemy force with breathtaking courage and precision. Wave after wave of American dive bombers descended upon the Japanese fleet with ferocious determination, eventually sinking 4 irreplaceable aircraft carriers and destroying over 200 enemy aircraft. Imperial Japan's dreams of an expanded empire began to slowly fade at the hands of American military might, turning the tide in the Pacific Theater and setting the stage for total victory 3 years later.

Eighty-four years after the guns fell silent over Midway, the legend of this victory burns as brightly as ever, especially during our Nation's 250th year of Independence. In the decades since this epic battle, America and Japan have built one of the world's most enduring friendships, forging an alliance grounded in shared values and a mutual commitment to a free and peaceful world.

From the waters of the Pacific to every battlefield on which America has ever been tested, the unbroken story of American triumph has always been to face down every enemy, overcome every adversity, and emerge each time more powerful, more resolute, and more glorious as the greatest Nation the world has ever known.