Navy cancels Battle of Midway ceremony due to Virginia Beach mass shooting

The Navy is canceling its Battle of Midway ceremony at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront due to the mass shooting in which 12 people and the gunman were killed at the city municipal center.

The ceremony was scheduled for Friday at the Naval Aviation Monument Park to mark the 77th anniversary of the battle. The Battle of Midway was a turning point for the Allied victory in the Pacific and was fought from June 3-7, 1942. 

“It is with a heavy heart we make this decision,” Rear Adm. Roy Kelly, commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic, said in a statement Tuesday. “At this time, we are focused on our community and helping remember the wonderful lives of those we lost.”

The Navy held a moment of silence for the victims on Monday at Naval Air Station Oceana. The base is a few miles from the site of the shooting.