Battle forged a strong alliance
SHARRI MARKSON AND AAP IT was the battle that would forever forge a deep bond between Australia and the United States.
The May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea, where 600 Australian and American sailors and airmen lost their lives, created an unbreakable alliance that would ensure the friendship of 75 years of successive presidents and prime ministers.
And the memory of the battle, which drove back the Japanese forces, once again united Mr Turnbull and Mr Trump yesterday.
Mr Turnbull said Australia owes its very existence to the US’ support in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
“The victory in the Coral Sea was the first setback to the Japanese in the Pacific War; the Moresby invasion force was turned back and, by sinking one and damaging two Japanese carriers, it laid the foundation for the decisive victory at Midway a month later,” he said.
“Churchill called this time the ‘hinge of fate’ and he was so right. The ‘hinge of fate’ turned to victory for America, Australia and our allies.”
Mr Trump reaffirmed the strong US-Australian bond.
“From the beaches of Normandy, a vicious, vicious fight, to the jungles of Vietnam and the desert landscapes of the Middle-East, where lots of progress, believe it or not after all these years, is being made, Americans have had no better friends than the Australians,” Mr Trump said.
“I mean that. We are proudly and profoundly grateful for Australia’s contributions in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and their help fighting against terrorism following the terrible attacks of September 11.”
News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch, whose father, Sir Keith Murdoch, in 1948 founded the American Australian Association – which last night raised over $2.5 million to support veterans, said he would be one of the few in the room old enough to be alive when the men fought with such courage during the Battle of the Coral Sea.
“We are all here on this day because you were there on that day 75 years ago,” he said.