The author consulted primary materials in the Marine Corps Historical Center Archives Section (including the source material gathered for Col Robert D. Heinl, Jr.’s 1947 monograph _The Defense of Wake_); Reference Section (November/December 1941 muster rolls); biographical material on many of the individuals involved in the defense of Wake, and Subject Files on Wake; Personal Papers Collection (Claude A. Larkin, Henry T. Elrod, and John F. Kinney Collections), and Oral History Collection (James P. S. Devereux and Omar T. Pfeiffer Interviews) as well as in the Naval Historical Center Operational Archives Branch. Charles L. Updegraph, Jr.’s _U.S. Marine Corps Special Units of World War II_ (Washington: HQMC, 1972) proved useful for background on defense battalions, while Woodrow M. Kessler, _To Wake and Beyond: Reminiscences_ (Washington: MCHC, 1988) and James B. Darden III, _Guests of the Emperor: The Story of Dick Darden_ (Clinton, North Carolina: The Greenhouse Press, 1990) provided illuminating insights. Older, but still useful, general works concerning Wake Island include Winfield S. Cunningham (with Lydel Sims), _Wake Island Command_ (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1961), James P. S. Devereux, _The Story of Wake Island_ (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1947) (by the author’s own admission, a ghost-written “romance”); and Robert D. Heinl, Jr., _The Defense of Wake_. On general Pacific strategy (including the attempt at relief of Wake), see John B. Lundstrom, _The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway_ (Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1984). Articles and periodicals consulted: from the _U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings_: Ross A. Dierdorff, “Pioneer Party--Wake Island” (April 1943) and Homer C. Votaw, “Wake Island” (January 1941). See also John R. Burroughs, “The Siege of Wake Island: An Eyewitness Account,” _American Heritage_ (June 1959) and Robert D. Heinl, Jr., “We’re Headed for Wake,” _Marine Corps Gazette_ (June 1946). _About the Author_ [Illustration] Robert J. Cressman, currently a member of the Naval Historical Center’s Contemporary History Branch, earned both a bachelor of arts in history, in 1972, and a masters of arts in history, in 1978, at the University of Maryland. Formerly also a historian in the Marine Corps Historical Center’s Reference Section, from 1979-1981, he has published articles in such publications as the _Naval Institute Proceedings_, _Marine Corps Gazette_, and _The Hook_. He is the author of _That Gallant Ship: USS_ Yorktown _(CV-5)_ (1985), and editor and principal contributor of _A Glorious Page in Our History: The Battle of Midway, 4-6 June 1942_ (1990). With J. Michael Wenger, he has co-authored _Steady Nerves and Stout Hearts: The USS_ Enterprise _(CV-6) Air Group and Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941_ (1990) and _Infamous Day: Marines at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941_ (1992), another title in this World War II commemorative series of publications. [Illustration]