World War II: Alaska at War

How it affected Alaska and the Alaskan Native People

On June 23rd, 1942 the Japanese planes bomb Dutch harbor Alaska then a few days later Attu and Kiska Island on the Aleutian chain of Alaska was invaded and taken and its residence sent to POW camps in Japan, hence bringing Alaska directly into WWII. What all happened in Alaska during WWII? What would it mean for its people? Would if forever change Alaska?

I chose this topic for several reasons the first being I have lived in Alaska off and on for the majority of my life so its history is a curiosity to me because I have heard stories over the years some of which came from my family who have lived here since the 1950’s. My grandparent’s also adopted an Alaskan Native baby girl who was a direct descendent of the Alaskan Natives interned here during the war. My Grandfather also an American soldier during WWII and I heard a few stories from him as well although he didn’t like to talk about it much. Through the stories I have heard through these connections I knew I wanted to learn more about what happened here and about what happened to the Alaskan Natives during the war here in Alaska.

What I already knew

I already know that Alaska was attacked by the Japanese during WWII and that many of the Alaska Natives suffered greatly due to this. Not because the Japanese but because of our own government removed them from the Islands in which they lived and put them into internment camps supposedly to protect them from the Japanese but in truth the U.S. government treated them horribly and made them to live in deplorable conditions. I know that during this time the Alaska Natives were introduced to alcohol and that it had devastating effects on them that can be seen to this day. I know that in response to the Japanese attacks on Alaska that the military set up numerous vantage point bases that were abandoned after the war and the ruins of some like the ones on the cliffs of the mountains in resurrection bay can still be seen today and have become tourist attractions. I know about the internment camps because my grandparents adopted a baby Alaska native girl in 1960, her grandparents and possibly her biological parents were survivors of the internment camps and had turned to alcohol and Patty my adopted Aunt was taken from them so my grandparents adopted her.

When I got older one day my grandmother told me Patty’s story and how she came to be in their care. I know about the attacks on Alaska and the building of the vantage point bases because one year when I was going to the Salmon derby located in Seward Alaska on resurrection bay I was looking for things to explore while we were there and not fishing and discovered the cliff side base and others located there. That peek my curiosity and I did a little research. I wanted to do the hike to see this cliff side base that included pill boxes among other things so badly but being as it was a cliff side location I was physically unable to make that hike. I also know that what happened here in Alaska during and after WWII is often called the forgotten war.

What I want to find out

I want to find out what all happened here in Alaska during and after WWII and the affects it had on the people here? What would it mean for its people? Would if forever change Alaska? If so how did it change Alaska and its people? I needed to research the answers to these questions because this part of WWII history is not usually taught in the history books and is in large part not known about it is the forgotten war.

The Story of my Search

I quickly discovered in doing my research that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. I was quite difficult to locate verifiable sources on the subject. However through dedication I was able to discover many things about this war in Alaska and the answers to my questions. I found that I had a heavy heart a lot of the time while I was researching this topic as many of the things I found reflected quite poorly on our government at the time as it did not treat the Alaskan Natives very kindly. I found that there were many things about WWII and Alaska that I did not know nor apparently are they common knowledge at all. I find this to be a shame because as it turns out Alaska played an important role in WWII and in the time since. I found that Alaska played a strategic role in the defense of America and still does. I also discovered some information from some unlikely sources that I was quite surprised by sources such as a coin collector’s website, never thought I would find hard to locate Alaska WWII history there but there it was.

The Results of my Search

I learned many things actually did happen here in Alaska During and after WWII that forever changed Alaska and the Alaskan people most profoundly the Alaska Natives, referred to here as the Aleuts but there are many tribes or villages so there are many different names so simplicity sake I will mostly be using the term Aleuts.

On June 23rd, 1942 the Japanese planes bomb Dutch harbor Alaska then a few days later Attu and Kiska Island on the Aleutian chain of Alaska was invaded and taken and its residence sent to POW camps in Japan, hence bringing Alaska directly into WWII. When the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor and then Attu and Kiska it was in fact a diversionary tactic to divert attention and troops away from Midway so the Japanese would have an easier time in that battle, it didn’t work. (Kiffer, 2007)

The Aleuts

In response to the Japanese attacks on Alaska the U.S. Government forced the evacuation of 880 - 900 Aleuts from their homes in the Aleutians and Pribilof Islands. All Alaska Natives were required to leave, but some white residents remained behind. (Alaska at War) Because of a Japanese scout plane sighted on 12 June by an Atka resident, the Aleuts were sent to their fish camp approximately three miles away. They returned later that night to find their village being consumed by flames. American troops, as part of a scorched earth policy, felt that it was in the better interest of America to burn the Aleuts' homes rather than allow the Japanese to occupy them. (Cueva, 1998)

Mandatory evacuation applied to all people of at least one-eighth Aleut blood. While the policy was not officially based upon race, racial distinctions were evident. (Cueva, 1998) The evacuees were transported via the navy to southeast Alaska where they lived in abandoned, disintegrating canneries and camps for the duration for the war. The canneries and camps lacked proper sanitary conditions, warmth, and privacy. Small children and the elderly suffered the most.

These internment camps had a death rate of about 1 in 10 comparable to that of the enemies POW camps. Because they were considered wards of the government, officials for the administering U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wanted the Aleuts to live in camp communities so that it would be easier to manage them. The evacuated Aleuts, therefore, were not allowed to return home during the war. (Alaska at War) it was well known among the Aleuts that the German POW’s at Excursion Inlet were treated better, had better shelter, food and sanitation than they did. (Funter Bay: Aleut Evacuation and Internment)

Once the Aleuts were allowed to return to their villages after the war it was not the welcome home they were hoping for. Some in fact were not allowed to return home to their original villages and instead were dropped at larger villages so the government could better provide services such as schools this however was just propaganda the true reason for the government making them concentrate into larger villages is they could better control them and force them to assimilate to the American way of life. (World War II A resource quide for Teachers and Students, 2000)

“Upon their return to the islands after the war, the Aleuts found their homes destroyed. Entire villages had been burned to the ground and their personal belongings looted by American military personnel. In response, Aleuts began the fight for reparations for loss of property and income that affected them long after the war. With the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1988, Japanese Americans, who were interned during the war based on a racist measure born of wartime hysteria, were awarded damage claims, and this law led to restitution for Aleuts as well. After nearly 40 years, the Congress and the president both agreed that the U.S. government mistreated Its own citizens at a time with the country was fighting to preserve democracy.” (Alaska at War)

Through my research I discovered that there were many other things that happened here in Alaska during WWII and things that happened after WWII because of what happened during WWII.

German POW”S in Alaska

I learned that you can be surprised at what you can learn on a coin collector’s website. I learned that there were 700 German Prisoners of War were brought to Alaska in June of 1945 to dismantle the Alaskan Barge Terminal and that the Camp was closed in November 1945. That unlike the Aleuts, American Citizens the German Prisoners of war were issued booklets having strips of money in them called chits in various denominations to be used in the camp ‘Kantine’. This POW camp was located at Excursion Inlet Alaska. It wasn’t until March 2013 no chits from the Excursion Inlet Camp were known to exist. (Gilkos, 2014) In fact all U.S. POW camps issued chits to their prisoners for use in the camps canteen and that the chits issued were only usable in the camp in which they were originally issued. (Dave)

Ward Lake

Ward Lake Internment camp was in the best condition of the 5 camps the Aleuts were sent to during WWII so the government thought those Aleut would be better off than the ones sent to the other camps the fact was they really didn’t because 160 – 200 were sent there and it was a location only built to hold a max of 70 people. (Kiffer, 2007) Ward Lake was the only Aleut Internment Camp connected to civilization by a road so bootlegging became a problem within the camp. (Kiffer, 2007)

The Alaska Highway

I learned that President Roosevelt approved the plan to build the Alaska/Canada highway to connect Alaska to the U.S. so the Military would have a land route into Alaska. Also that the United States Military did not know what to do with the African American units because they wanted to keep them away from civilian communities So shipping young African-Americans in engineering units to Canada and Alaska to supplement the White Units assigned to build the Alaska Highway became the perfect solution. They sent three African-American units the 93rd, 95th, and the 97th engineers. (The Road to Civil Rights: World War II - The Alaska Highway)

Of the 10,000 American soldiers who built the highway, almost 4,000 were African-American. Prior to the Alcan Highway Initiative, African American units did not interact with white units. When it was determined that the highway would not be completed in time if more troops were not made available, Congress allowed three black regiments—the 93rd, the 95th and the 97th, to work alongside the white units. (Alaska at War) While all the troops assigned to build the Alaska Highway had harsh conditions to endure the African American troops had it significantly worse. The white troops were given wood barracks with heaters to sleep in and the black troops were given tents. The White troops were also given the better equipment to work with. (The Road to Civil Rights: World War II - The Alaska Highway)

In Large part because of the African Americans accomplishments and the respect they earned from the white troops also working on the Alaska highway the U.S, Army would soon become integrated and this was a huge step in the African-American struggle for racial equality (The Road to Civil Rights: World War II - The Alaska Highway)

The Alaska Territorial Guard

The Alaska Territorial Guard, which operated until 1947, was organized as a military reserve force component of the U.S. Army. “Muktuk” Marston successfully recruited 6,368 volunteers who served without pay from 107 communities throughout Alaska. The ATG brought together Aleut, Athabaskans, Inupiaq, Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Yupik, Alutiiq and whites in a joint effort to protect their homeland. They served many vital strategic purposes during the war. (Alaska at War) Particularly, they safeguarded the only source of the platinum in the Western Hemisphere, and secured terrain around the vital Lend Lease air route between the United States and Russia. ATG members are remembered for actively and successfully promoting racial integration within U.S. military forces, and racial equality within the communities they protected. (Alaska at War)

The Lend Lease Program

Beginning in 1942 to supply England, the Soviet Union, China, and other Allied nations with vast amounts of war material from the United States. Aviators ferried military aircraft and supplies through Alaska to Russia, following what was called the Northern Air Route. (Alaska at War)This changed the tide of the war, and it was costly. Before aircraft and defense materials could be ferried through Alaska, roads and intermediate airfields had to be built, which increased the quality of infrastructure in the state. (Alaska at War) The air route was difficult and dangerous for both planes and pilots, with the most difficult leg being the 3,500 mile journey from Fairbanks to Central Russia. 140 pilots were killed and approximately 133 aircraft were lost in the ferrying effort - the majority of accidents occurring on the flights between Siberia and Moscow. (Alaska at War)

Alaska in Danger of another Attack

I learned that there were many things that happened after the war in direct relation to Alaska’s involvement in the war and the continued threat Alaska was under from other countries because Alaska is the easiest gateway to attack Americans on U.S. soil. That after WWII the next threat to the United States—the Soviet Union—sat only a mere 60 miles across the Bering Strait from Cape Prince of Wales, near Nome. The realization thrust Alaska back into the national defense spotlight. Not since Bering’s landfall had Americans been more aware of Alaska’s proximity to Russia. (Alaska at War)

Military Activity since WWII

(NOTE: This section Is taken directly from my source (Alaska at War) and is just included in this paper to show that there is actually a lot of Military action here in Alaska and is not actually my research paper just some good to know added information)

During the Korean conflict, Congress appropriated $11.7 to $14.4 billion annually to support the military’s needs. By 1953, the amount jumped to $50.4 billion and much of this amount would be spent on the defense of Alaska. (Alaska at War)
The Air Force embarked on a program to build a system of distant early warning radar sites across the Canadian arctic and northern Alaska, to provide early warning against bomber attacks coming over the Polar Regions.” The Air Force began to work on the DEW line in northern Alaska in 1953. (Alaska at War)
In January 1957, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the extension of the DEW line into the Aleutians. Work was completed in early 1959, and the sites were turned over to Alaska Air Command control on May 1, 1959. (Alaska at War)
Alaska became an even tighter link in the national defense chain when military leadership introduced the White Alice system designed to improve communications between Alaska’s radar sites. (Alaska at War)
The Underground testing of Nuclear Weapons at Amchitka Island Alaska from 1965 - 1971 (Alaska at War)
- October 29, 1965 Project Longshot – 80 Kiloton explosion 5.75 on the Richter Scale (Alaska at War)
- October 2, 1969 project Milrow – Forced geysers of mud and water from local streams 50ft tall (Alaska at War)
- November 6, 1971 Project Cannikin - (Largest of the test) The Atomic Energy commission conducted the Nuclear explosion to test a warhead for the Spartan Missile, a Ballistic Missile Defense Program (Alaska at War)
  - It was 400X larger than the Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima (Alaska at War)
  - The shock registered 7.0 on the Richter Scale (Alaska at War)
  - Two days after the explosion, a crater more than a mile wide and 40 feet deep had formed (Alaska at War)
  - Today, the buildings, roads, and even an airstrip that once supported the nuclear test at Amchitka are gone. The three underground shafts are entombed in concrete and obscured by tundra grasses. Atop Cannikin's 6,000-foot shaft, a small salt-tarnished plaque commemorates the Nov. 6, 1971 nuclear explosion, the largest in U.S. history. It is the only official reminder of the firestorms unleashed here during the Cold War. (Alaska at War)

Reflection

Through all my research on Alaska and WWII I have learned many things. I learned that Alaska played a very significant although often forgotten roll during and after World War II. I learned that the in the process that the American government treated Alaskan Natives horribly, sent them to internment camps (supposedly for their own protection) and their death rate in those camps rivaled that of POW camps in Japan and other enemy countries at the time. I learned that we also had camps for Japanese-American’s, German-Americans, and Italian Americans and that we also had enemy POW camps and all those were treated better (much better) than the Alaskan Natives were in their internment camps. I learned that the Alaskan Natives never fully recovered from their time spent in the camps and that Alcoholism, bootlegging became a problem with the Alaskan natives. That these problem passed from generation to generation and now the Alaskan Natives have the highest Alcoholism, suicide, violence, domestic violence, sexual violence, mental illness, alcohol related death, fetal alcohol syndrome and effect rates of any American population today and that it can be traced back to WWII. I also learned that there were three African-American units sent to Canada and Alaska to help build the Alaska Highway and this was a racist move by the U.S. Government to keep them away from civilized communities but the African =American troops prevailed and earned respect among the White troops they worked beside and later because of the accomplishments they achieved in WWII the U.S. Army soon was desegregated. This was a huge step forward in the African-American’s struggle for equal rights. Above all I learned that the although we condemn other placed for their treatment of people the U.S. Government and the American people can be just as guilty of treating people horribly and of being racist and bigoted.

References

Alaska at War. (n.d.). Retrieved from LitSite Alaska: http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=Timeline&page=The-Great-Depression,-WWII-and-The-Cold-War&cat=Alaska-at-War

Cueva, C. (1998, October 01). America's Territory: The Aleut Evacuation - A Grave Injustice. Retrieved from AK History Course: http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=215

Dave. (n.d.). Internment Camps. Retrieved from world and Military Notes: http://worldandmilitarynotes.com/pow/excursion-inlet-alaska-usa-pow-chit/

Funter Bay: Aleut Evacuation and Internment. (n.d.). Retrieved from WordPress: http://saveitforparts.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/funter-bay-history-aleut-evacuation-and-internment/

Gilkos, P. (2014, 06 19). Alaska Camp for 700 German POW's known by a single 1-cent 'Kantine' chit. Retrieved from Coin World: http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-war-ii-pow-camp-in-alaska-known-by-single--kantine--chit.html

Kiffer, D. (2007). A Sad Chapter of World War II in Alaska; Aleuts Relocated for Safety, Yet many died at Ward Lake. Retrieved from SitNews: Stories In The News; Ketchikan Alaska: http://www.sitnews.us/Kiffer/AleutWardLake/062307_aleut_wardlake.html

National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Document Fodrm. (1997). Retrieved 2014, from Nationa Parks ervice: http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/oha/publications/militaryinfragba.pdf

Rohide, A. (2007, 02 15). Seward. Retrieved from Seea Coast Defense Photos: http://www.sdphotos.org/ca/seward/index.html

The Road to Civil Rights: World War II - The Alaska Highway. (n.d.). Retrieved from Highway History: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/road/s16.cfm

World War II A resource quide for Teachers and Students. (2000). Retrieved from Nation Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/aleu/forteachers/classrooms/wwii-in-alaska.htm