(There are no harder working and fun people than those who keep Midway (CV-41) alive and ready to experience her guests. Don’t miss a chance to visit what has been saved in honor of her crew and the dozens of her sisters whose presence on the world ocean changed history!)
There was a gathering last week on Ma Midway, the best damn carrier in the Fleet of her time. She may be sleeping a bit at her proud birth in San Diego Harbor, but she has been saved by great effort of hundreds of volunteers. There were two fighter squadrons in Carrier Air Wing Five, both flying the rugged and amazing F-4J Phantom II jets. I had the chance to serve in VF-151, the famous Vigilantes, and our sister squadron, the VF-161 Rock Rivers. There was pleasant rivalry between the two, and sometimes some airborne excitement. The pandemic jarred final plans for many to travel, but the famous Midway Docent Crowd was there to greet those who visited Midway.
It is a surreal experience visiting an enormous chuck of steel that once was alive and ready to make way to any part of the globe bordered by saltwater. A place where the sound of large things moving around was common, and the impact of catapult launches and the thump of recoveries punctuated ordinary conversation. That was a time to be part of a machine that steamed where she was directed, and expected to be ready for whatever was required.
Midway may be at rest now, but she is a special lady, whether alive or resting. Due to the challenges of moving our home across the widest of world oceans, there was inadequate shore-based housing for the bachelors in ship’s company and squadron personnel. So we lived inside her for most of the two year In our time within her steel hull, she resided in distant Japan. From there we sortied to the even more distant Indian Ocean, south to Perth and north to the surreal embrace of GONZO Station.
The South China Sea? Our liquid turf. Sea of Japan? Just around the corner. And Fightertown, USA? Fabulous Naval Air Station Miramar? That was a long ways east, across the mighty and magnificent Pacific, swirled by typhoon and swift moving currents. That was another home, not the one in which we lived. Not the one that on an unusual cloud-free Flight Deck Integrity Watch could draw our interest to the mighty upward thrust of Mount Fujiyama towering above the Kanto Plain.
Thanks to the kindliness of Vigilante Skipper Denny “Rattler” Wisely, I got to see that amazing peak a little closer up. Inverted. On what we described to Tokyo Control as a “routine flight en route recovery at NAS Atsugi.”
For me? Pure magic. Perhaps being a part of her was the magic we all carried away from our time in her firm but loving grasp. Were all such events in life so “routine.” I count them as the ones that changed an ordinary life into and adventure that continues today.
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(Squadron logos of VF-151 {left} and VF-161 {right} grace a greeting table in the Hangar Bay. Center right, former Midway crew member LTJG Winky stands by to greet those who remember!)
Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra and Phil Eakin
www.vicsocotra.com