A Veterans Day Photo Tribute - including unique history RE: the WWII Battle on U.S. Soil in Alaska

1northcoin

The memorial services that were planned to be held today at Alaska's National Cemetary located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in conjunction with Veterans Day have been cancelled as a consequence of three record breaking snowfalls this week.

Below, through my narrative and photos, I offer a virtual Veterans Day Tribute to those who served specifically in World War II and who are buried there.

Among those who served in World War II and who are buried at Alaska's National Cemetery are a number of family friends from my father's generation in addition to my own father.

The subject National Cemetery is also the final resting place for a lone civilian not related to a family member who served in the military. That individual is Charles Jones who died at the hands of the Japanese who invaded the Alaska Island of Attu when he refused to repair a radio he had destroyed after sending the original message informing the world of the invasion. His having been killed during wartime while performing duties for the military garnered him a place of honor in the cemetery at what is now Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

In addition there is a plot where non-Americans who served in World War II are buried which includes soldiers of the Soviet Union, Canada, and Britain.

That same plot was also once the resting place for the remains of 235 of the more than 2,600 Japanese soldiers who died in the Battle of the Aleutians in Alaska during World War II. In 1953 those remains were repatriated to Japan and in 1981 a headstone Cenotaph made of wood was erected in their memory. When it began to deteriorate it was replaced by another in 2002. Finally in 2018 on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Attu surviving family members in Japan along with the Japanese Americans in Alaska had a lasting headstone that was inscribed by a mason in Japan erected. Fittingly, present at its 2019 dedication ceremony were 120 Japanese troops who were in Alaska for a bilateral joint training exercise. It was also noted that 2019 signaled the beginning of a new era in Japan identified as Reiwa 1. (The eras in Japan correspond to enthronement of a new Emperor and in 2019 the grandson of Japan's Emperor during World War II became Japan's present Emperor. )

Pictured first is my photo of the Battleship Missouri as it is presently moored in Pearl Harbor. It was on the deck of this ship while moored in a Japanese harbor that the peace treaty was signed bringing World War II to an end.

(The photos following were all taken at the above described National Cemetery here in Alaska and include the referenced inscribed in Japanese stone Cenotaph.)

BLUEJAYWAY

Thanks for this. Some Information I was unaware of. My Dad served in Italy in WW2. Was wounded, but made it home. Honors to all who served.

DCW

Great thread. Very educational. I doubt 10% of Americans knew anything about the Japanese invading Alaska.

johnny9434

It's pretty good to see the pics, it's all good 👍

SaorAlba

I believe it is fitting that Japan and the USA have become the strongest of allies after the bitter memories of WWII.

Glen2022

As I recall, (and please, someone with a greater historical background than I, please correct me), the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands to draw US Naval forces from Hawaii North away from Midway. Fortunately for the US, we broke their code and were aware of their intentions from the beginning. This allowed us to station our three aircraft carriers and other ships near Midway Island to repel the Japanese attack on Midway with a decisive victory that turned the tide in the Pacific.

may

It takes a special person to have the guts to do what Mr. Jones did, he is a hero.

streeter

My father was a Sgt, commander of his unit at Attu. I have about 100 photographs from that location including his unit discovering a Japanese miniature sub that was rolled out of the ocean on tracks and hidden.
When I look at these photos and realize that the men were close to my dad's age of 23, it makes me focus more clearly on what they went through at that point in their young lives.

I'll dig some of those photos out. After Attu, he was transferred to the Euro theater. Join the service, get to see the world.

OAKSTAR

Very nice Tribute! 👍🏻 👍🏻

1northcoin

@Ownerofawheatiehorde said:
It takes a special person to have the guts to do what Mr. Jones did, he is a hero.

Yes, I have reflected on that as well. A little added background about him is merited. His wife (whom he met and married late in life) was on the island as a teacher and he was more or less the individual who kept the school operational. His wife ended up being taken to Japan as a POW along with the other civilian residents who, unlike her, were Alaska Natives. Separated from the others, she eventually was joined up with lady Australian POWs whose friendship and association she credited for helping her get through the ordeals of being a POW in a foreign land where no one spoke English. Given her age and experience she became a mother figure for the younger Australian women.

1northcoin

@streeter said:
My father was a Sgt, commander of his unit at Attu. I have about 100 photographs from that location including his unit discovering a Japanese miniature sub that was rolled out of the ocean on tracks and hidden.
When I look at these photos and realize that the men were close to my dad's age of 23, it makes me focus more clearly on what they went through at that point in their young lives.

I'll dig some of those photos out. After Attu, he was transferred to the Euro theater. Join the service, get to see the world.

Thanks for sharing that. I would love to have copies of those photos (even if only digital copies taken with an iPhone) and any related documentary information he may have written - or even your best recorded recollections of what. you were told. Both the Alaska Air Museum and Alaska Veterans Museums here in Anchorage have exhibits relating to the soldiers and battles in the Alaska Aleutians and I am sure they would welcome my providing to them what you have.

FWIW one of my uncles served in Alaska during World War II and traveled to Attu so he may well have met your dad.

Here is an account of his efforts in Alaska as I related them to a group of Japanese college age students that I was teaching in Japan:

Recently I acquired a copy of a book titled, “Alaska National Guard, 297th Infantry Battalion WWII: In the Defense of Alaska” authored by John H. Grainger who served with the battalion. In the preface my father’s oldest brother - my uncle, is quoted. The narrative reads:

“[My uncle], Commanding Officer of the 297th Infantry wrote:

“The 297th Infantry saw more of Alaska than any other group of soldiers during World War II. ‘When the 297th was not being used for guard duty, it unloaded ships, helped build military bases, fished for the Army, operated boats, tested equipment, and trained soldiers.  It performed search and rescue missions and carried out hundreds of other vital military assignments.

“The men of the 297th were especially talented, self-reliant and innovative, able to do anything required of them.  Outstanding personalities and characters?  The battalion was full of them.”

In the body of the book itself there is an account contained in Chapter 16  describing an expedition that took place from December 1943 to March of 1944 that my uncle headed.  Here are a few excerpts from the book:

“Commanded by [my uncle], Commanding Officer of the 297th Infantry, Battalion (Separate), 300 troops from units at Fort Richardson volunteered for winter maneuvers to test winter warfare equipment.  The maneuvers extended over eight weeks, and entailed a march of 140 miles in deep snow with temperatures well below zero, and over some of the roughest terrain in Alaska. 

…..
“December 21 – Talkeetna to Mt. McKinley. He [my uncle] talked to us yesterday about the expedition. ‘We will be entrained at Fort Richardson for Talkeetna, then march from Talkeetna up the Susitna River Valley and overland to Mt. McKinley Park.’ The maneuver is unprecedented in number of men, time and distance covered under winter conditions.
“Volunteers Challenged. Parties of the Alaska Scouts have just returned from a preliminary survey of our route. Three are hospitalized for frostbite. They state flatly ‘that we will never make it.’ In eight weeks on the march in the mountains we will experience Alaska weather at its worst a number of times.”

After detailed descriptions of the events of the expedition as it progressed the chapter concludes with a reporting on the success of the maneuvers reporting that although at the outset 20% casualties were expected, and although none of the Sno-cats or tractors completed the trip, the troops made it with a casualty list of less than 1%.  

The narrative concludes:

“As mentioned before, [my uncle, the Commanding Officer] of the expedition worked the hardest and suffered the most.  He traveled alone with his pack.  Prior to the war he had been a mining engineer and foreman in a gold mine at Juneau.  He was an expert woodsman as well as a dabbler in wrestling.  He was older than any of us at age 39.  He built snow caves to sleep in at night and was one of our casualties [suffering a bout of snow blindness.] ”

logger7

Thanks for the tributes and unique information!

My father and uncle served in WWII in the Pacific.

Interesting story; when my father was coming back from town back to base in Rhode Island once during the war he and a buddy looked over their shoulders as you couldn't hitch hike in the service and Joe Kennedy picked them up and gave them a ride back to the base mentioned how his son was serving in the Pacific.

I liked how Humphey Bogart on one of the post WWII movies where he's fighting organized criminals says why he's fighting the mob, "that's why we fought the war" or something to that effect; in other words fighting the axis powers was like fighting organized criminals who despised the rule of law where all men are created equal and have to abide by the same laws.