Location
Runs the length of Wake Island, roughly east to west.

Construction
Built by Morrison-Knudsen Company, one of of eight construction companies called the Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Morrison-Knudsen was contracted to build an airfield, seaplane base, and submarine base and to dredge a channel into th elagoon to allow access for submarines.

Missions Against Wake
December 8, 1941 - August 6, 1945

Gregory Urwin's "Facing Fearful Odds" tells:
"After the fall of the island, the American POWs were marched to the runway and seated in rows facing a line of Japanese machine guns. The men were certain that they were to be executed. Indeed, this was the plan of the Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops who held them. Only the intervention of Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka, who commanded the invasion force, prevented the slaughter. After Kajioka arrived, an interpreter read a proclamation to the prisoners that said, in part: "The Emperor has gracefully presented you with your lives."An unknown voice bellowed from the crowd of Americans: "Well, thank the son-of-a-bitch." With the exception of a handful of senior military officers and contractors held indoors, the captives remained three days and two nights on the rocky runway."

Today
Today the airfield has restricted access.

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Last Updated
October 1, 2009