VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — "They had no right to win. Yet they did, and in doing so, they changed the course of a war," so says an inscription on the World War Two Memorial in Washington, referring to the Battle of Midway.
It became the pivotal Naval battle in the Pacific.
A little over six months after the disaster at Pearl Harbor, America needed a win.
It got one when the U.S. Navy inflicted what the Naval History and Heritage Command called "a smashing defeat on the Imperial Japanese Navy."
"The men and women who supported the force who went into battle at Midway knew that they were facing long odds, but they also knew their nation was depending on them, so they did what their duty required on them," said Tyler Bamford, Naval History & Heritage Command historian.
According to the National World War II Museum, the Japanese lost more than 3,000 men, four carriers, one cruiser and hundreds of aircraft.
The museum says, "this critical U.S. victory stopped the growth of Japan in the Pacific and put the United States in a position to begin shrinking the Japanese empire."
And on this 82nd anniversary of the three-day battle's end, Navy leaders gathered at the Association of Naval Aviation Monument in Virginia Beach to remember.
"The Battle of Midway was more than a clash of Naval forces. It was a crucible in which the character of a nation was tested and affirmed against superior numbers and against all odds," said Rear Admiral Douglas Verissimo, Naval Air Force Atlantic Commander.
The courage exhibited by the Midway heroes serves as an enduring inspiration for Naval aviators who have followed in the decades since -like former Oceana Commanding Officer Bob Geis.
"Well, I think that the aviators that flew in the Battle of Midway are beacons for Naval aviation. Being a part of that legacy is something I'm extremely proud of," he said.