At 16:22 James D. Reily, Sr 1st Lieutenant US Army Corp, POW Stalag-Luft III WWII- age 92? a bombardier who was shot down over Austria and was liberated from a POW camp in May 1945.
THE SHIP:
1945 Commissioned as the largest warship in the world for a decade, the 1st too large for the Panama canal.
1946 1st carrier to operate extensively in the sub-arctic
1947 Operation Sandy: only succcessful launch of a German v-2 rocket from a ship the dawn of naval missile warfare.
1963 1st successful landing using "hands off" auto pilot technology
1965 Midway pilots shoot down 1st MiG of the Vietnam War.
1973 Midway pilots shoot down the last MiG of the Vietnam War
1973 1st aircraft carrier home-ported in a foreign country: Yokosuka, Japan
1975 Leads evacuation of Saigon; rescues 3,073 refugees in 2days
1991 Flagship of Persion Gulf air operations Desert Storm
1991 Rescues 1,8000 Americans feeling Mt Pinatubo eruption
1992 Decommissioned in San Diego, Ca
2004 Opens as the USS Midway Museum in San Diego
2010 Surpasses 5 million visitors since opening
2012 1st Navy ship museum to host 1 million visitors annually