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United States Marine Corps memorial to the defenders of Wake Island in December 1941. For 16 days, beginning 8 December 1941, a combined military force of Marine ground and air units, Naval aviation personnel, and an Army detachment – augmented by civilian contractors – resisted near constant attacks by Japanese forces. In the end the island defenders were overwhelmed by the Japanese forces who then occupied the atoll until the end of World War II. Photo courtesy of the US Air Force.