astern, the Marines and sailors waited for the attack. An observer marveled at the "very calmlackadaisical air" with which the defenders waited for the strike, "as though they had been living through this sort of thing all their lives"(Stevens 98). "Open fire when targets are in range," 6th Battalion headquarters notified all guns at 6:30 a.m. One minute later, Midway's guns opened fire. A Kate erupted into flames and dove straight down. A second Kate crashed into the lagoon, missing the PT-boats. The remaining Kates struck Sand Island, destroying three oil tanks and setting fire to a seaplane hangar. The attack on Eastern Island began with an unforgettable incident. "Suddenly the leading Jap plane peeled off," an eyewitness wrote. "He dove down about 100 feet from the ground, turned over on his back and proceeded leisurely flying upside down over the ramp." The Marines watched for a few seconds, then opened fire and shot him down. Val dive-bombers struck VMF-221's arming pit, killing four mechanics and exploding eight 100-pound bombs and 10,000 rounds of .50-caliber machine-gun ammunition. Another Val demolished Eastern's powerhouse, disrupting Midway's electricity and water distillation plant. Japanese efforts to render Eastern's runways useless were unsuccessful; only two small craters were left on the landing strips. Midway's defenders fought back with everything they had.Major Dorn E. Arnold of the 6th Defense Battalion fired a Browning Automatic Rifle at the enemy; a sailor on Sand Island used a Colt .45. Second Lieutenant Elmer Thompson and another Marine fired a .30-caliber machine gun from a crippled SB2U. The Japanese attack ended at 6:48 a.m. The all-clear sounded on Midway at 7:15, and the process of picking up the pieces began. Kimes ordered VMF-221's fighters to land. Six Buffaloes staggered in. Including four aircraft that landed during the raid, only 20 U.S. fighters had survived. Of those, only one Wildcat and a single ...
