Contact: Chaplain David M. Wagner, 951-787-9776
SAN DIEGO, Calif., June 6, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- On Saturday, June 4, 2016, the USS Midway hosted the 74th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway. In attendance were Verna Linzey, escorted by AW2 Jonathan Howland, USN, and by her son Chaplain, Major Jim Linzey, USA (Ret.). They attended in honor of Verna's late husband CAPT Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., CHC, USN (Ret.), who was a Seaman Second Class on the USS Yorktown in the Battle of Midway.
Photo: Navy Color Guard on the USS Midway posting the colors for the 74th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway. Photo courtesy of Chaplain Jim Linzey
RADM John McLaughlin, USNR (Ret.) was the master of ceremonies as the president and chief executive officer of the USS Midway Museum. After he gave the welcome, the invocation was delivered by Captain Terry Corgon, USN, Chaplain, US THIRD Fleet. Then the opening remarks were given by VADM Nora Tyson, Commander, US THIRD Fleet. The address was given by Ian W. Toll, award winning author of historical military books. He retold the story of how the United States won the Battle of Midway.
June 4-7, 1942 was when the United States won the most decisive victory in the history of Naval battle. This was the turning point on the Pacific front in World War II. United States naval strike forces with bombers and torpedo planes dealt a decisive blow to the Imperial Japanese navy carrier task force. The Battle of Midway lasted 6 minutes.
The Imperial Japanese navy lost four large aircraft carriers which were among the six that attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States lost the USS Yorktown (CV 5) and the USS Hammann (DD 412).
The US naval strike forces which included three aircraft carriers—the USS Yorktown, the USS Hornet, and the USS Enterprise—sailed within 200 miles northeast of Midway to protect Midway from the attack of the Japanese fleet. When the carriers sailed northwest toward their destination, an eerie sense of despair filled the Yorktown. Seaman Second Class Stanford Linzey felt it and was consumed by this fear. On June 3, 1942, he lay in his bunk in the dark. It was pitch black and silent. He asked God to remove this fear. After praying for a long time, the fear disappeared and he sensed relief and a deep abiding peace regardless of what might befall the Yorktown.
His wife, Verna Linzey, was back in San Diego and did not know anything about the impending battle or her husband's sense of fear and experience in prayer. But at the same time, about 5,000 miles away from her husband, she felt a strong desperation to pray for him. She did not know why. But she knelt in prayer by the side of their bed. It was between five and six o'clock in the evening California time. After praying for an hour, she, too, felt relief just as he did that same hour. When they later compared notes, they realized they had united in prayer simultaneously.
Japan did not know that the United States had three aircraft carriers near Midway. Our torpedo planes began the attack on the Japanese aircraft carriers, but they had no cover. So the Japanese combat air patrol from above came down and shot all but two of our torpedo plans out of the sky.
At 10:24 AM on June 4, 1942 one of the most savage sea battles in naval history broke out for six minutes. Then it was all over. Japan had lost. Just when the Japanese Command had thought they had won, our dive bombers suddenly attacked and bombed three Japanese aircraft carriers. They became blazing. Admiral Nimitz stated, "I want that last carrier," referring to the Hiryu. So the USS Yorktown searched, found, bombed, and sank it.
