Please accept this invitation to commemorate the decisive American victory at Midway made possible because of the immense skill and bravery of the men who fought in the skies, on land, and in and under the sea. The outcome of the battle was truly built on their heroism and sacrifice. And on this day and every day, we honor the service of our heroes.
Guest Speaker(s) includes:
Colonel Gregory D. Gadson (US Army, Retired), former US Army Wounded Warrior Director, Garrison Commander of the U.S. Army Fort Belvoir. He is also a bilateral above-the-knee amputee, actor, and motivational speaker. He served in the U.S. Army for more than 25 years as a field artillery officer and served on active duty for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Joint Forge, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Benjamin Resnick is a historical archaeologist and a senior director/assistant vice president with GAI Consultants, Inc., a full-service engineering and environmental consulting firm. Ben specializes in the study of historic-period resources focusing on military sites, urban sites, farmsteads, and GIS-based applications to archaeological predictive modeling. He has authored or coauthored numerous reports and publications over the last 30 years including articles in the SAA Archaeological Record, Interpreting Space: GIS in Archaeology, The Archeology of Landscape and Geographic Information Systems: Predictive Maps, Settlement Dynamics, and Space and Territory in Prehistory, South Carolina Antiquities, Industrial Archaeology, and a public monograph entitled, For the Sake of the Living: A Civil War Battlefield Burial, Gettysburg National Military Park.
Daniel A. Martinez is Chief Historian for the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument. His areas of responsibility include the USS Arizona Memorial and Visitors Center, the USS Utah Memorial, the USS Oklahoma Memorial, and the other Historic Sites along Battleship Row.
Senator Mike Gabbard, Hawaii District 20
What: Battle of Midway 76th Commemoration Ceremony
When: Saturday, June 2, 2018, 9:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m.
Where: Ewa Field World War II Revetment District, Historic Barbers Point Stables, Kalaeloa, Hawaii 96707
Who: Opened to the public
Attire: Military Duty Uniform or Aloha
Sponsored by: American Veterans (AMVETS) Hawaii and the Barbers Point Riding Club
The Battle of Midway was a major turning point in World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost two thirds of its aircraft carriers and many of the crews and officers aboard them. Japan remained a threat, but after losing Midway, their strategy turned to defense.
John Bond:
“We can firmly document now the largely unknown direct involvement of Ewa Field in what is considered the greatest naval battle in American history… The Midway battle aircraft revetments at Ewa Fields are by far the most important sites of national significance.”
Roland Emmerich:
“At the time, the Americans were the underdog,” he explained. “It was one of those moments where, against all odds, people came together and did the impossible. A lot of pilots died in this battle. I want to make a monument to them and it would be great to make a movie about it.”
Emmerich to destroy more things with Battle of the Midway film
https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/05/roland-emmerich-to-destroy-more-things-with-battle-of-the-midway-film/
Ewa Field World War II Revetment District, Historic Barbers Point Stables is located inside the Barbers Point Golf Course, a Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) MWR facility.
Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/EStckPRRN9K2 Passing the golf course entrance continue until seeing Barbers Point Riding Club sign, turn right – go all the way to the gated entrance by the solar PV farm.
HONORING THE VETERANS
The Battle of Midway was quite literally “the line in the sand” in the Pacific. Here the U.S. faced an overwhelming enemy, and won. This victory changed the course of the war.
The victory at Midway was made possible because of the immense skill and bravery of the men who fought in the skies, on land, and in and under the sea. The outcome of the battle was truly built on their heroism and sacrifice.
Battle of Midway 76th Commemoration Ceremony Script (Draft)
Order of Events:
0850 – 0900: Prelude Music, concluding by 11:25 (USMC Band)
0900 – 0902: Welcome – The theme for this year’s ceremony is “Honor The Service” (Donna Gishitomi, MC)
0902 – 0910: National Anthem & Hawaii Poohi (Mililani HS Choir, sings after MC intro)
0910 – 0913: Invocation (Chaplain, LCDR Philip Ridley after MC intro)
0913 – 0918: Introduction of Speaker (Valerie Van der Veer, after Invocation without intro)
0918 – 0925: Speaker – Senator Mike Gabbard, District 20 (after MC intro)
0925 – 0935: Speaker – COL Gregory Gadson (U.S. Army, Ret.), former US Army Wounded
Warrior Director, Garrison Commander of the U.S. Army Fort Belvoir. He is also a bilateral above-the-knee amputee, actor, and motivational speaker.
0935 – 0945: Speaker – Daniel Martinez, Chief Historian for the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument
0945 – 0955: Speaker – Benjamin Resnick is a historical archaeologist and a senior director/assistant vice president with GAI Consultants, Inc.
0955 – 1015: Music – Armed Forces Medley Salute (USMC Band without signal after speaker, Band Director cues services to rise)
1015 – 1020: Music – Battle Hymn of the Republic and God Bless America (USMC after band, and manage timing before, during, and/or after flyover)
1020 – 1025: Flyover (Flight Team) (1020 is Requested Arrival Time)
1025 – 1030: Battle of Midway Commemoration Essay: “What Battle of Midway Means to Me” (MC)
1030 – 1035: Remembering Battle of Midway Casualties (Donna Gishitomi, MC)
1035 – 1040: Placing the Wreaths (after MC intro) – AmVets Hawaii – National Park Service – Others
1040 – 1045: Music – America the Beautiful (USMC Band after MC intro)
1045 – 1050: Battle of Midway Tribute – Playing of Taps (USMC Band, after MC intro) (There will be no Rifle Salute due to the horses at the event)
1050 – 1053: Benediction (Chaplain, LCDR Philip Ridley after MC intro)
1053 – 1057: God Bless The U.S.A. (Mililani HS Choir, sings without signal after Benediction)
1057 – 1059: Retirement of the Colors (USMC Color Guard, after MC order)
1059 – 1100: Concluding Remarks (MC)
1100 – 1115: The USMC Band plays closing music without signal, and while the guests disperse.
End of Program.
AMVETS Hawaii is an all-volunteer, veterans service organization. Our mission is to provide advocacy, support and assistance for military, veterans and their families.
Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future
Preserve and Honor: Remembering the legacy of those who came before us
Educate and Inspire: Passing the legacy on to the generations who will follow
AmVets Hawaii Preservation Program
To inform, influence and inspire;
To honor and never forget those who died not only at Pearl Harbor and Ewa Field, but also those who died in sea battles or distance coral atolls: Coral Sea, Midway and Wake Island. Their names often never recognized or mentioned for their sacrifices.
It is our duty and our solemn vow to never forget those who fought and died.
– President Lincoln
Phone: 808-382-6835 Email: admin@amvetshawaii.org Website: amvets-hawaii.org
Address: American Veterans Hawaii, 4725 Bougainville Drive, 323, Honolulu, Hawaii 96818
AMVETS
With roots in World War II, Amvets was congressionally chartered by President Truman. Expanded membership includes honorable service in any uniformed element of the U.S. Armed Forces since World War II.
Young WWII veterans returning from the war provided the impetus for forming AMVETS. The established veterans groups, like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, were regarded as stale and rigid, not really in tune with the interests and needs of this new generation of veterans. As the number of returnees swelled into the millions, it was evident that some sort of new veterans national organization would materialize. A few loosely organized veterans clubs were formed at colleges and universities initially; then the movement mushroomed into more than seventy-five separate groups scattered across thirty states.
The leaders of this new generation of veterans wanted their own organization. One of the groups, a club formed by veterans attending George Washington University and those employed by the federal government, took the lead. The American Veterans of World War II, Inc., as the organizers called themselves, began contacting other groups around the country. Each group was invited to send two delegates to a conference in Kansas City, MO., “to discuss the federation of the existing veterans groups which had formed out of WWII.” Eighteen of them, representing nine veterans clubs, met in Kansas City, Mo., and founded The American Veterans of World War II on Dec. 10, 1944.
Less than three years later, on July 23, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed Public Law 216, making AMVETS the first World War II organization to be chartered by Congress. Since then, the original charter has been amended several times to admit as members those who served in different eras. On 16 October 2002 the 107th Congress enacted Public Law 107-241 (H.R. 3214), an Act to amend the Charter of the AMVETS organization to “AMVETS (American Veterans)”. Today, membership in AMVETS is open to anyone who is currently serving, or who has honorably served, in the U.S. Armed Forces from World War II to the present, to include the National Guard and Reserves.
