Seventy-five years ago, Japan and the United States were locked in one of the bloodiest battles fought on American soil: the Battle of Attu.
A note to listeners and readers: A person in this story uses an offensive word for Japanese people.
Seventy-five years ago, Japan and the United States were locked in one of the bloodiest battles fought on American soil: the Battle of Attu.
Army veteran Allan Serroll served on Attu Island, which sits at the westernmost end of the Aleutian Islands — closer to Japan than Seattle.
Serroll is now 102. But he’s still haunted by the experience of staring down young men like himself.
“Some of the guys noticed that it was bothering me,” Serroll said. “They said, ‘Look, it’s kill or be killed. It’s your life you’re protecting.’ And they were right.”
In 1943, American troops were streaming into Alaska in preparation for one of the deadliest battles of World War II. That’s because one year earlier, Japanese soldiers had bombed Dutch Harbor, seized Attu Island, and took the Alaska Native people who lived there as prisoners of war.
It was the first time American soil had been invaded since the War of 1812.
Commanding officers told soldiers like Bob Brocklehurst of the 18th fighter squadron that the Japanese were looking to invade the Lower 48 by way of the Aleutian chain.
“They figured that if the Japanese had wanted to, they could’ve come up the Aleutians, taken Anchorage, and come down past Vancouver to Seattle, Washington,” Brocklehurst said.
But according to historian Jeff Dickrell, the Battle of Attu was really about reclaiming stolen land.
“There was a propaganda value in that,” Dickrell said. “Some of the higher-ranking people really wanted that. They wanted to be able to say the Japanese had been cleared from American soil.”
Because the Japanese had the advantage of time, the Americans attacked with quadruple the force — more than 12,000 soldiers. A United News newsreel showed soldiers clambering onto small boats, motoring to shore, and landing on Attu.
“The problem of supplying an expedition to take this vital subarctic outpost is tremendous,” read one 1943 newscaster. “But the Americans are well-trained for landings such as this, and they’re bringing everything they’ll need to hold Attu against future attack.”
The Americans brought heavy equipment, but the lack of roads made it useless.
“It was strictly a foot job,” said Serroll, a former signal corps sergeant in an interview with the National Parks Service (NPS). “You had to walk. You had to carry your equipment.”
The battle started on May 11, and it was supposed to last just a few days. But because of the conditions, it stretched to 19 days.
The Americans slowly advanced on the Japanese from Holtz Bay at the north and and Massacre Bay in at the south, slogging their way through snowy tundra. The Japanese were camped out high in the foggy mountains above the visibility line. As the Americans sent scouts up into the hills, small skirmishes broke out when the two forces met.
