Episode Recording -- "The Battle of Midway: A Military and Propaganda Triumph over the Axis Powers"

2:00–4:55: Propaganda In The U.S.:

Propaganda played a powerful role in deepening racist attitudes in the U.S., especially during the

20th century. Defined as biased or misleading information used to promote a political cause, propaganda

surged during wartime to gain public support. During World War II, anti-Japanese propaganda depicted

Japanese people as dangerous animals—often with exaggerated features like fangs (instilling fear and

justifying racial discrimination. Even cultural figures like Dr. Seuss contributed to these racist portrayals.

One iconic example of U.S. propaganda is Uncle Sam, a symbol designed to inspire national pride and

unity, but also to mobilize public support for war. This widespread propaganda created a climate of fear

that enabled policies like Executive Order 9066, which led to the unjust internment of Japanese

Americans. By demonizing the Japanese, the government’s messaging fueled racism and public

compliance. Documentaries like The Battle of Midway show selective storytelling, highlighting enemy

losses while omitting American casualties to maintain morale and support.

5:12–7:23: The Monroe Doctrine and Feelings on the Home Front

The Monroe Doctrine emphasized U.S. isolation and dominance in the Western Hemisphere, a

stance challenged by both World Wars. Charles Lindbergh argued that U.S. involvement abroad,

especially in European conflicts, betrayed American values of independence and self-defense. He

believed staying out of global affairs preserved national strength. In contrast, Theodore Roosevelt’s

Corollary promoted U.S. intervention, asserting it was America’s duty to police the Western Hemisphere.

This expansionist mindset led to deeper foreign involvement and made the U.S. a target. These ideas tied

into American Exceptionalism—the belief that white, Christian Americans were destined to lead.

Rudyard Kipling’s poem The White Man

’

s Burden reflects this ideology, framing imperialism as a moral

duty, though it often caused more harm than help.

7:37–9:42: Battle Logistics and Japanese Perspective

The Battle of Midway was a pivotal turning point in World War II, crippling Japan’s expansion

plans and reshaping the course of the war. According to Craig Symonds in The Battle of Midway, the

island was essential for Japan’s strategy to gain dominance in the Pacific and move closer to the U.S.

After their loss, Japan lacked the resources, bases, and reach needed to continue its campaign. In Midway:

The Battle That Doomed Japan, Fuchida Mitsuo and Masatake Okumiya describe the immense

losses—four fleet carriers, two cruisers, 320 aircraft, and 3,000 soldiers—which left Japan too weak to

recover. Despite their pride, Japan's refusal to surrender led to further devastation, including the atomic

bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Still, the U.S. victory was not just luck. As Mark Healy notes, it

was a triumph of intelligence, strategy, and resilience by the U.S. Navy, showcasing American military

foresight and bravery.

Hello everybody, and welcome back to the battleboard podcast. Again I'm your host Hugh Wiley,

and we'll discuss the battle of Midway. The M midway Islands reclalaimed by the US. in 1859 through a

group of islands sitting in the middle of the Pacific halfway between the US and Asia. There were

approximately 1000 miles northwest of Honolulu, and in 1867 the U.S coal depot established on one of

the islands where large steamers would refuel. The dominion of the islands was later put under control of

the U. navy by Theodore Roosevelt. The islands did never see much traffic until the use of planes and by

1935 they had become an integral part of the US crossing the Pacific. Midway gained more infrastructure

as its time passed, and by 1940 the US government was working on a submarine base on the island. Japansoon saw the importance of midway for the ability to fight in the Pacific. At the same time the US. saw

that if Japan took midway there would be a serious threat to the Hawai islands just 1000 miles southeast.

The focus of the battleboard podcast is to see the deep relevance of how both forces reacted to the loss of

equipment in life, and how it was justified to the civilians of each nation. The U. government was so keen

to instill constant feelings of success and triumph in the American people during the battle, later revealing

only the positive and honorable aspects of it. as seen in a remembrance article in the library of Congress

called a true American hero, we see the story of a Mr. Frank Riggs and American soldier who saved the

lives of a shocking two70 U. S. soldiers on the fourth day of battle, helping the soldiers escape from the

sinking York town events like this or what so commonly reported from the point of view of the U. S

government, and there is not denied that lieutenant Riggs is a hero, but there is plenty of missing

information about the loss of American lives.

“Congressional Record | Congress.Gov | Library of Congress.

” A True American Hero, March 28, 1996.

https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-142/issue-2/extensions-of-remarks-section/article

/E18-1.

The next section is propaganda. By highlighting the US use of propaganda we can see how that

may have deep and racist behavior in the United States. What is propaganda? Well its definition,

according to the oxford dictionaries, an informative, especially biased or misleading nature used forote or

publicized a particular political cause or point of view, so that being said, propaganda became a very

popular at the turn of the 20th century, when there was an influence of wars being fought and the US

government needed ways to convince citizens that what they were fighting for was worthwhile it could

possibly benefit the United States. often represented during the second world war with drawings of

Japanese soldiers, sharing the same characteristic as wild animals, portrayed as rats, nive them with some

sort of fangs in their mouth. Even Dr. Seuss drew racist configurations of Japanese people during this time

and a famous cartoon of Japanese civiliansighed in the US with bricks at TNT, also in the article by the

history of the US Navy.

“Racism in Anti-Japanese Propaganda.

” Anti-Japanese propaganda. Accessed April 22, 2025.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/hrnm/Education/EducationWebsiteRebuild/AntiJapa

nesePropaganda/AntiJapanesePropagandaInfoSheet/Anti-Japanese Propaganda info.pdf.

One of the first and still most famous useive propaganda is the creation of Uncle Sam, a character

that embodies the American spirit and is a called to arms to get something done the American way. He is

a white man with a long white beard and an American flag top hat, often saying, I want you, the point at

the viewer. This type of propaganda was hugely important for the Arab providing a face for the U. other

than a president or other officials. Uncle Sam is best described in full by the library of Congress,

describing the importance of his figure during wartime.

James Montgomery Flagg,

“I Want You.

” Ca. 1917, Via Library of Congress (LC-USZC2-564).

Bell, Danna.

“Uncle Sam: American Symbol, American Icon: Teaching with the Library.

Congress, July 1, 2014.

https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2014/07/uncle-sam-american-symbol-american-icon/.

” The Library ofIn FDR's executive order, number 9066, we see the racism that comes from fear of the Japanese

living in the U. He made his exclusion zones to put any Japanese American person away if they were

deemed a threat. Obviously all of them were deemed a threat by their appearance, so they were all sent off

to Japanese exclusion camps. The American citizens were so easily fearful of the enemy because of their

different race, but also because of propaganda. If it hadn't been for the U. ever been preaching to keep a

close look on the American Japanese living in the US, the racism wouldn't have scatterrocketed the way it

did, leaving so many Japanese Americans locked away for the majority of the war. This unjust treatment

is just a side effect of all the negative propaganda that produces fear and citizens.

Franklin D. Roosevelt,

“Executive Order No. 9066.

” The American Yawp Reader, February 19, 1942.

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/24-world-war-ii/fdr-executive-order-no-9066-1942/.

At minute 17:11 of the battle midway podcast documentary, we see some of the pride of the U.

military, saying how many Japanese boats they had sunk and how many Japanese soldiers they had killed,

providing their ability to succeed, but then it says nothing about the American casualties in order not to

scare the American people. many American soldiers died as well, but it goes against the U. S. government

way treats its citizens. If they had shown footage of our soldiers being shot down by Japanese soldiers,

there would have been frenzy, but instead the opposite footage of Japanese soldiers losing their lives.

John Ford,

“The Battle of Midway,

” 14 Sept. 1942,

www.amazon.com/Battle-Midway-Henry-Fonda/dp/B004QFSKMA. (April 4, 2025)

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This chapter is about the Monroe doctrine and the feelings on the home front. Next I took a view

involvement and how it connects the previous events such as the Monroe doctrine. The concept of the U.

staying in the western hemisphere and managing it, but leaving all else alone is thoroughly challenged by

the world wars and how that effect is seen in the grander scheme of the war in the battle midway. Charles

Lindber warns against the U. involvement in the war because it directly goes against the Monroe doctrine

and what makes the US so special. He says that our isolationist policy is what makes this country so

strong and getting involved with every little playground fight is going to make this nation crumble to the

ground. independence and self defense are some strong suits, getting involved with European affairs, we

will lose the two things putting us ahead.

Charles A. Lindbergh,

“America First.

” The American Yawp Reader, April 23, 1941.

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/24-world-war-ii/charles-a-lindbergh-america-first-1941/.

The Roosevelt colorary on the other hand is the exact opposite of Limburg and is a cause for

deeper US expansion of involvement than ever. Roosevelt said it was the job for the US to be the police

power of the western hemisphere, and that by walking round the big stick we should be able to control the

relationships with all the neighboring countries in the area. The downside of that is with a big stick you

get a big target on your back, and that's exactly what happened to the US entry in the second world War.

Roosevelt saw it as the American duty to shoot down any government that was a threat to the Americanway of living and beliefs of this nature that tied to a firm concept of American exceptionalism,

exceptionalism where the white Christian men are chosen by God to do whatever it takes to preserve their

way of life.

Theodore Roosevelt,

“Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905).

” National

Archives and Records Administration, December 6, 1904.

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/roosevelt-corollary.

Here's a brief excerpt from Rudyard Kiplings, the white man's burden. Take up the white man's

burden, no toddy rule of kings, but toil on surf and sweeper the tale of common things. The porch you

shall not enter, the roads you shall not tread, Go mark them with your living and mark them with your

dead. This is stanza for rud Kipling's the white man's burden, a poem breaking down the concept of

colonialization is the job for the white man to balance other countries back from equality. Well, reality is

the opposite. It was not written about the second world war, but it is clear that the emotions of many

Americans had remained unchanged in its release of this poem.

Rudyard Kipling,

“The White Man’s Burden.

” Stories and Poems, October 8, 2015.

https://doi.org/10.1093/owc/9780198723431.003.0071.

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Let's break down the actual events that occurred during those four days of battle and how the

Japanese lost doo their nation for the rest of the war in the future because of the bomb streaming job on

Nagasaki in Yoshima. In the book the battleattle in Way, there is a chapter on Japaneseic operations,

where the author Craig Symmonds shows all the Japanese expansion plans into the Pacific and closer to

the US and how crucial the island and midway was for their plan. After the loss of the battle, Japan was

simply unable to expand the way they had planned due to the lack of bases in the Pacific that could give

them enough room and resources to land planes, repair boots and moved closer to the US without the

ability to expand and connect the Pacific Japan was practically out of options.

Craig L. Symonds,

“Japanese Strategic Operations.

” The Battle of Midway, Oxford University Press, New

York City, NY , 2011, pp. 98–156.

In another book, Midway, the battle that doomed Japan by Fuchida Mitsuo and Masatake

Okumiya , we see more of this Japanese perspective as stated before, in our bally they were beaten in

what they did with their loss. After the battle had ended, to Japan had depleted most of its weaponry and

lacked time to build more, though a prideful culture they refused to surrender and later faced the wrath of

an atomic bomb. If they had lost fewer ships and planes, they would have been able to maybe survive a

few more battles. The midway being so drastic, it cut Japan out of the war. Japan lost its four main fleet

carriers, two cruisers, 320 aircraft, and around 3,000 soldiers.

Fuchida, Mitsuo, and Masatake Okumiya. Midway - the Battle That Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy

’

s

Story. 72–80 Ballantine Books, 1987.Though Japan strategically lost the battle, there is no need to deny the American intelligence used

in the battle. The Japanese had more planes and boats, but like an Alamo like defense was being used by

the US to their strong suit. the American victory at M midway's remarkable testimony to the bravery, self

sacrifice foresight and technical expertise of the U.S. Navy. indeed,essor Samuel Morrison emphasized

the latter point when he spoke of Midway as a victory of intelligence, stated by Mark Healy in the book in

Midway, 1942, turning point in the Pacific.

Mark Healy,

“The Battle: 4 June.

” In Midway 1942: Turning Point in The Pacific, 49–89. Westport, CT:

Osprey Publishing Limited, 1953.

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We looked at the military tactics using the battle in midway, or was seen how the battle affected

the rest of the war, especially the later use of bombs seen at Hiroshima and Magasaki. I also tied back to

the presidents and leaders of the time. On June 4, 1942, the Japanese bombed several US aircraft carriers

on the island in midway. The Japanese retreated to refuel and then more US aircraft carriers were sent as

back up. The battle lasted four days and on the second day at battle the Japanese were forced to retreat

and leave the battle ground because of sheer loss and then equipment. The Japanese loss of this battle

determined many future battles and took a shot the confidence of the nation going forward into the future

with the U. We also saw the racism that comes from propaganda or I'm with the US treatment of Japanese

Americans here back at home.

For everyone who tuned in this we thank you so much for falling along as I uncover some more

of the profound meanings and reasoning behind some of the most famous battles in history. I'll love to

hear feedback from the listeners to hear what you all liked and y' what y' thought was cool or even

something you' never heard before. I always have Google forms so the listeners can voice their opinions

and rate their weekly podcasts to help me improve the way the listener improves their historical

knowledge. Next episode will be going back to July 1, 1863 Pennsylvania if you know, you know thank

you to all the avid listeners and people who have helped me along the way to make this podcast so

special, and as always this has been the battle board podcast with Hugh Wiley.