Wake Island ©

A tiny tropic atoll, awash with surf and sand,

  Not the kind of place to make a final stand.

The Oriental Clipper that was Manila bound,

  Landed in the bay and taxied all around.

Marines in dungarees watched the empty sky,

  And manned their naval guns with a big Aye, Aye!

Twenty miles of shoreline was too much to defend,

  But they would have to fight for it until the very end.

A dozen Wildcat fighters facing to the wind,

  Devereaux’s Battalion, drilled and disciplined.

Equipped with Springfield rifles from a bygone war,

  They were the bravest men in this fightin’ Corps.

The radio crackled with the latest news,

  A Japanese attack had lit the fatal fuse.

Each Marine stood tall watching for the foe,

  All of them knew they’d soon be in the show.

First came the bombers diving from a cloud,

  They hit the airfield hard and it was awful loud.

Got most of their Wildcats, only four remained,

  The Japanese would ponder the advantage that they gained.

The final Pan Am Clipper flew on back to Pearl,

  Leaving Wake alone against the whole damn world.

Daily bomber raids kept them on their toes,

  The pilots and the gunners to the task arose.

Then they spied a fleet a-comin’ from the sea,

  Here they’d hafta’ fight with no place left to flee.

They held off their fire until the ships came close,

  Then with their Fivers they dealt some deadly blows.

The smoke and the fire engulfed the Japanese,

  Today was not the day for this Island to be seized.

Japan lost two destroyers and several hundred men,

  Then they slunk away to try and try again.

At Pearl they sent some help with a relief ship,

  Though they all knew it would be a wasted trip.

Twenty-Three December, Nineteen Forty-One,

  Would be the day they’d fight until they all were done.

With the odds of survival gittin’ kinda’ small.

  They would have to fight with their backs against the wall.

At night a dozen landings poured the troops ashore,

  While the bombs and shells made an awful roar.

The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, stood before the world

  As the awesome battle ‘round them whirled and whirled.

Little squads of men held out until the end,

  Marines will never quit and they will never bend.

The issue was in doubt with too many Nips about,

  From their last redoubt, Semper Fi! they’d shout

Some say they should have held on until they all were gone,

  Waiting for the rescue ship that wouldn’t come at dawn.

All in all, they gave much more than they got,

  Inspiring our great nation by the way that they fought.

LDT 10 November 2023.

The 248^th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.

Semper Fi!

         The Wake Island Marines held out against overwhelming odds for 15 days. They lacked radar and fire control equipment for their naval and anti-aircraft guns. They inflicted far more casualties than they suffered themselves, sinking 2 destroyers, a submarine and some supporting vessels and downing a dozen or more aircraft. About 500 Marines, Sailors and Soldiers were captured on Wake along with over 1000 civilian construction workers. Throughout their captivity, the Marines from Wake Island kept their unit integrity and most survived the war.

Wake lost its significance as a Pacific base and was bypassed by US forces as they leapfrogged toward Japan. The cut-off Japanese forces on the atoll were harassed throughout the war by shelling and attacks from the air. One of the worst atrocities of the Pacific war occurred on Wake in October 1943. Ninety-Eight US civilian construction workers kept there as slave laborers were machine-gunned by their captors.

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