This column is the last of three D-Day columns written by war correspondent Ernie Pyle describing the Allied invasion of Normandy. 

Joseph J. Foss was born on April 17, 1915, outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and became fascinated with flying at the age of 11 when he saw Charles Lindbergh on tour with his aircraft, the “Spirit of St. Louis”, at an airfield in Renner, South Dakota in 1927.

From coaling station to naval base, Pearl Harbor’s strategic importance in the Pacific was widely recognized.

“As soon as the war ended, we located the one spot on earth that hadn’t been touched by the war and blew it to hell.” - Bob Hope, Operation Crossroads by Jonathan M. Weisgall, Naval Institute Press, 1994.

The modern history of Midway atoll includes its commercial uses and post-war reversion of a natural state resulting in its designation as a National Wildlife Refuge.