June 4 (UPI) -- Wednesday is the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Midway, which turned the tide against the Japanese during World War II, the White House announced.

The attack by the Japanese Navy on Midway Island marked its last in the Pacific Theater of operations and occurred 1.5 years after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

"After the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Imperial Japan surged across the Pacific -- dealing Allied forces a series of defeats, from the fall of the Philippines to the capture of Hong Kong and Singapore to devastating air raids over Australia," the White House announced in an unattributed online statement .

"With the U.S. Navy still reeling from the surprise attack, Japan's ruthless push for regional dominance seemed unstoppable," the statement

See Full Page