| Original caption: “SBDs attack Wake Island.” A Douglas SBD Dauntless over Wake Atoll. Wake Island is closest, with Wilkes Island in the distance and Peale Island to the right of the photo. The SBD carries a 1,000-pound (56 kilogram) bomb. The Wake garrison of 1,603 United States Marines and Navy personnel that surrendered on December 23, 1941, included 1,150 civilian contractors of the Morrison-Knudsen Company, there to build the atoll’s defenses. All but 98 were shipped off the island by September 1942 and sent to Prisoner of War camps across China. On October 5, 1943, Task Group 14.5, with USS Essex (CV-9), USS Yorktown (CV-10), USS Lexington (CV-16), USS Cowpens (CV-25), USS Independence (CVL-22), and USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24), bombed Wake Island. The Task Group strafed and bombed Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands for 2 days, and fought the Japanese aircraft that rose to defend the Japanese-held atoll. The Task Group dropped 340 tons of bombs on the atoll, and the accompanying cruisers and destroyers hurled 3,198 8-inch and 5-inch projectiles at ground targets. The raid did extensive damage to the infrastructure on the atoll, and 31 Japanese planes were destroyed on the ground. Imperial Japanese Captain Shigematsu Sakaibara (December 28, 1898 – June 19, 1947), the commander of the Wake garrison, was certain this was a prelude to an invasion. On October 7, Lieutenant Torashi Ito (- September 1945) had the 98 American civilians blindfolded and bound, and lined up seated at an anti-tank ditch on Wake Island. Lieutenant Commander Souichi Tachibana (???? – ????) ordered them machine-gunned down, and rifle fire joined in to kill all of them. 1 man fell into the ditch and then crawled out to hide in the dunes of Wilkes Island. His name unknown, there he carved “98 US PW, 5-10-43” before he was recaptured. 3 weeks later, Sakaibara personally beheaded him. The International Red Cross asked questions, but the Japanese never provided answers. Sakaibara was promoted to Admiral in 1944. After the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sakaibara ordered the remains exhumed and moved to the American cemetery at Peacock Point. There they were dumped into another mass grave. When USS Levy (DE-162) arrived to retake possession of Wake, all the Japanese told the same, word-for-word story: During the October 1943 bombings, half of the Americans were killed in an air raid shelter, while the rest panicked and rioted and were killed by Japanese guards. The story seemed manufactured to the Americans. Soon after the Japanese surrendered Wake Atoll on September 4, 1945, Admiral Sakaibara and 15 of his officers and men were arrested and sent to Kwajalein to stand trial for the murder of the 98 Prisoners of War. 2 men committed suicide en route and left statements that implicated the admiral and others. While being held during the trial, which was conducted by a special military commission for war crimes, Lieutenant Ito also killed himself and left behind a signed statement. Tachibana admitted that he and Sakaibara gathered the men to coordinate statements before the Americans arrived in September 1945. After being confronted with this statement, Sakaibara finally confessed that he had ordered the execution of the 98 Americans and stated that all responsibility should rest on his shoulders. The trial concluded with a sentence of death for Admiral Sakaibara and Lieutenant Commander Souichi Tachibana. Tachibana’s death sentence was reprieved, however, and he was resentenced to life in prison. Sakaibara was transported to Guam and hanged. His last statement was “I think my trial was entirely unfair and the proceedings unfair, and the sentence too harsh, but I obey with pleasure.” Section G of the Punchbowl National Cemetery in Honolulu features a large, flat, marble gravestone, measuring 5 by 10 feet (1 1/2 by 3 meters), the largest in the cemetery. On it are listed the names of 178 men. This common grave holds the remains of all the unidentified military and civilian burials repatriated from Wake Island in 1946. Many of these men were killed during the siege, and circumstances did not allow proper burial and identification. Of these names, 98 represent the men who the Japanese executed in October 1943. After several years of unsuccessful attempts to separate the remains and identify them, they were interred together during a ceremony at the Punchbowl in 1953. Most of the families of the 98 were not notified of the fate of their loved ones until January 1946. Letters from the American Prisoner of War Information Bureau stated only the location and date of death, but did not explain the circumstances. Other families who may have changed address during the course of the war were more challenging to reach. The family of Archie Pratt did not learn of his fate until 1953. Some families had already suspected the fate of the 98, as Admiral Sakaibara’s trial and sentencing had made the headlines in the stateside newspapers. The war was over, the executions had occurred more than 3 years previously, and the public had already been outraged with the news of similar massacres in the Philippines and in the European Theater. No national acknowledgement of the Wake Island massacre ever materialized. Photo by Lieutenant Charles E. Kerlee (March 28, 1907 – January 23, 1981), United States Naval Reserve. Kerlee was already well-known as a professional, award-winning commercial photographer. As such, he was approached by a United States Navy Reservist, Lieutenant Commander Edward Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973), himself a famous commercial photographer from New York. Steichen had a simple proposal – that Kerlee consider joining the United States Navy, not as a sailor or soldier, but as a cameraman. The top brass within the United States Navy, realizing that Steichen’s talents could help foster public support, had tasked him with assembling a special naval unit composed of the world’s best photographers and videographers to document the war effort. Steichen, in turn, called on his circle of friends, associates, and competitors, including Kerlee. Within a few months, Charles Kerlee found himself on board the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) and headed out to sea and into battle. His camera remained at work until the last days of the war. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1636.jpg |
| Image Size | 410.05 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2624 x 1972 |
| Photographer | Charles E. Kerlee |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 5, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Wake Island |
| Country | Wake Atoll |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | NWDNS-80-G-43454 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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