Patriotic street names?

There is an intersection in Rapid City, SD that is patriotic to the max.   It is the intersection of Midway Avenue and Doolittle Street. What's the significance? Hey, don't you read history: Midway Avenue pays tribute to the June 1942 WWII battle of Midway.  

This clash between the U.S. and Japanese navies was a stunning victory for the Americans, and a catastrophe for the Japanese, who lost four aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser to the American's one carrier and one destroyer. Many historians consider this battle the turning point of WWII in the Pacific.  

It is a name fit for an avenue, especially in Rapid City: South Dakota native John C. Waldron led the USS Hornet's Torpedo Squadron 8 into battle at Midway. Sadly, he and most of his squadron mates died.

Doolittle Street honors not a battle but a man: James H. Doolittle.  A man who did little in name only!  An aviation pioneer, there are but a few instruments in an aircraft's cockpit Doolittle did not play a role in the perfection or creation of. He also set numerous speed records in air racing. Additionally, Doolittle was a military hero.  He led the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan in April of 1942.  

For this act he later was awarded the Medal of Honor.  He closed out WWII as commander of the Eighth Air Force in Europe.  A street bearing his name is just one of the many honors Doolittle received both during his life, and posthumously.  And having it junction with a street named after Midway is doubly apt: Historians suspect that the Doolittle Raid stung the Japanese navy into premature action that led to the Midway debacle.

Patriotic street names are hard to come by outside of Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia. Discovering the intersection of Midway and Doolittle in Rapid City was a delightful surprise for this history buff. This only made me love Rapid City even more than I did before. Sure, it is an offbeat travel sight, but man oh man can it stoke up love for America in your heart!

Photo by Richard H.