The decision to surrender Wake Island was unavoidable given that the Japanese had established total air and sea supremacy and the defenders had run out of resources.

“The Japanese have now established ironclad air and sea supremacy off of this island. We can't reinforce it. We are going to run out of bodies and bullets at some point. And the potential result of not surrendering is that this marine contingent is wiped out by the Japanese and to what end?”

The attempt to reinforce Wake Island was a poorly planned operation that resulted in a military liability.

“It's almost like it was again the intentions were good, you know, obviously the intentions are good, but it's almost like he just took everything and just threw it in a pile and said, "Here, go. Just take it all." And didn't really think things through.”

The successful defense of Wake Island on December 11th provided a crucial morale boost for the American home front.

“So the the defense, the successful defense was, you know, as I put in there, was exactly what the doctor ordered in terms of the American morale on the home front because it gave the Americans some sort of hope”