Report From the Aleutians

 

If there is a forgotten theater where American troops fought in World War II, it is most definitely the Aleutians.  The Japanese took Attu and Kiska, islands in the Aleutian chain,  in June of 1942, to forestall the Aleutians being used as a base for a move on the Japanese Home Islands from the Aleutians.  Due to the rugged weather conditions, the US had never seriously entertained using the Aleutians as a staging area for future offensives.  However, Attu and Kiska were American territory, and national pride, as well as alarm from the Alaskan territorial government, made inevitable an American campaign to take back the strategically worthless islands.

Large reinforcements of planes, ships and men were part of a huge buildup which culminated in the retaking of Attu, after a very hard fight, in May of 1943 which resulted in 3900 American casualties and the death of all but 29 of the 2900 Japanese garrison.  Kiska was taken on August 15, 1943, the invasion force learning after landing that the Japanese had vacated the island.