Midway International Airport
The SBD Dauntless Dive-Bomber on exhibit was recovered from Lake Michigan in 1991, 47 years after it had crashed during training exercises. This is the same type of airplane flown by U.S. Naval aviators in the Battle of Midway, which took place June 4-7, 1942, generally considered the turning point of World War II in the Pacific.
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was joined at a dedication ceremony of the SBD Dauntless Dive-Bomber in September 2004 by Captain Charles E. Ellis of the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla.; Joseph Janotta, chairman of the committee that raised money to restore the airplane; and several veterans of the Battle of Midway. In honor of the battle, the City Council changed the name of Municipal Airport to Midway Airport in 1949. Some 15,000 Naval aviators were trained in the Chicago area during the war.