Hey Val, noticed you have used the 'battle of Midway' reference a few times lately.
Brings back a memory, BH & I were walking down Dee Why strand about 20 years ago, a beach on northern side of Sydney.
Bit of a cafe circuit, noticed an old bloke having bit of a turn in front of us, both ran up to support him and deposited him in the shade at an empty table in one of the outdoor cafes.
His family caught up and thanked us in American accents and the BH just replied "No worries we own you one", the yanks looked at her with puzzled expressions and BH explained just a throwaway line some aussies still used at the time in reference to the naval battles in WW2 and how they saved Australia's bacon.
Turned out the old gentlemen was there, not midway but coral sea, on one of the cruisers in support of the carriers.
He perked up fairly quickly and for next 15 mins or so a very respectful and dignified Q&A developed between few of the cafes clients & the old gentlemen, he perked up quite quickly and quite lucid.
Forget most of the conversation, what sticks in my mind was his explanation of how the cruisers ran parrallel to the carriers to protect them with anti aircraft defense. My overriding memory however at the end a crowd of about 50 had gathered and listening with great respect, he was starting to tire and his son (I think) shut it down, the crowd as one gave him a 3 pip cheer and 30 years dropped from him in seconds.
Could not image being thurst into a situation like that at 20 years old.
