Military veterans, spouses of those who served and American history enthusiasts gathered Sept. 27 at Chota Recreation Center to hear a unique perspective on one of the most important naval conflicts in World War II.
The monthly Tellico Military History Roundtable welcomed retired U.S. Navy Capt. Rick Creange, who spoke on the Battle of Midway. Creange served as a fighter pilot and was part of the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program, known to many as the “Top Gun” school.
Creange has spent years researching and studying the battle between the United States and Japan in the Pacific Theater on June 4-7, 1942. While there have been extensive books, documentaries and papers written about the battle, Creange focused on why the U.S. decided to go “all in” at Midway.
During his 90-minute presentation, Creange covered the background of the battle and key factors that led to the confrontation. He also provided a glimpse into how American military leaders felt at the time.
Mike Thornton, roundtable moderator, said having the monthly gathering is vital to remembering the nation’s history. As a U.S. Army veteran, Thornton said he understands the importance of self-reflection.
“I think nowadays, a lot of times they always try to say America was wrong here or America was wrong there,” Thornton said. “It’s OK to self-analyze, but we’ve done a lot of great things in American history, too. It’s a great nation, and we want to remind people that everyone in this room has lived through America’s greatest times.
“It’s good to remind people that there are a lot of great things about American history, primarily on the military history side,” he added. “The people who have gone before us have fought to maintain our freedom.”
Creange said he agreed that such a roundtable experience can help preserve history.
“I think it’s great to have a group like this that just loves history and loves to talk about history,” he said. “It’s something that’s missing, especially in schools and society. People never seem to like history. The problem that I see when we try to teach history is people try to teach dates, facts, memorization and what I call the what of history. You need to understand the what, but what’s really a lot of fun — what we did here today — is the why on history. Why did this thing happen?”
The discussion ended with questions and even consideration of possible alternative outcomes of the battle.
While not everyone agreed with the perspective Creange presented, he said that is what makes history so great. He plans to codify his research into a book soon.
“Now that I’m retired, I consider myself a historian,” he said. “I have a master’s in military history. I’m actually trying to write a book right now on that whole time period ... which is a time and place in the Pacific War that’s not really talked about in history. There’s a lot of pieces in other books, but nobody concentrates on the first six months of the Pacific War.”
The monthly roundtable has recently grown and will be moving to a larger venue.
“We have a lot more things planned in the future,” Thornton said. “We’d like to invite people to come and join us. ... You don’t have to be retired military. You just have to love American history if you want to join us.”
The free roundtable is held monthly with the next meeting scheduled for Oct. 25.
As part of the Tellico Village Learn military history series, Thornton will be teaching “The Angels of Bastogne” at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Yacht Club. During that battle, two Army doctors struggled to provide medical care, and two civilian nurses stepped up to save American wounded. There is a $15 fee for the class.
For more information on both events, visit online at tellicolife.org.
