Wake Island Genealogy

No Indigenous Genealogy Wake Island has no permanent inhabitants and access is restricted. However, as of 2017, there are about 100 Air Force personnel and American and Thai contractor residents at any given time.

There was no permanent indigenous settlement on the Wake Island atoll, although oral traditions show it was visited by Marshall Islanders.

Location

Wake Island is a coral atoll in the North Pacific Ocean about two thirds of the way from Hawaii to Guam.

Affiliations

Wake is a part of the Micronesia island area of the Pacific. Some Marshallese consider Wake Island part of the Marshall Islands. It is also considered an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States. Access is restricted to U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force activities.

History

Wake Island has been sparsely inhabited, or often uninhabited. In 1935 Pan America Airlines built an air station on Wake Island, the first permanant settlement. In 1941 at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Wake Island atoll and the American marines there were attacked, invaded, and captured by the Japanese. On 5 October 1943 the Japanese massacred 98 American civilians there.