Comeal Andrews of the 93rd obsessed his grandniece, Judith Baker. From her much loved Grandfather, she heard about this brother of his all of her life. She knew he served in World War II and lost his life. But that’s all she knew. Judith contacted researcher Chris through our website https://www.93regimentalcan.com and Chris …
Tag Archives: Aleutians
Defending Skagway
Defending Skagway, Alaska from the marauding Japanese posed more problems than you might think. Luckily, to one young Lieutenant’s eternal relief, it turned out that Skagway didn’t need defending. In June 1942 Lt. Darrel M. Schumacher of the 340th Engineering Regiment cooled his heels in Skagway. He and his men would walk to the Teslin …
WWII killed women too.
WWII killed women, especially nurses, right along with men—an equal opportunity disaster. The War killed Ruth Gardiner. Ruth entered the world in 1914 in Calgary, Alberta; came with her parents to Eastport, Idaho at age three. The Gardiners wandered a bit through the lower 48—Noyes, Minnesota then Pennsylvania. Twenty-three old Ruth trained as a …
The Devil’s Brigade
In 1943 the Americans took back Attu, drove the Japanese to suicide. They targeted Kiska next, totally unaware that in response to the Attu assault, the Japanese had abandoned the second island. According to Stan Cohen’s book, The Forgotten War Vol. 2, Americans had intercepted the evacuation order, but Admiral Kincaid didn’t believe it. On …
Japanese Occupation
At the end of June 1942, the Japanese occupied American Territory at Kiska and Attu. Unacceptable. The Japanese had assaulted the American Naval base at Dutch Harbor then occupied the two American Islands in the Aleutians. At the same time, they laid a trap for the United States Navy at Midway and the trap backfired. …
Americans Reacted
Millions of frightened and angry Americans had known nothing of the Aleutians or a possible threat to America’s interests there—until an actual threat materialized, seemingly out of nowhere. The land route to Alaska vaulted onto front pages and into newsreels, and the spotlight of public attention suddenly came to focus on the Alcan Highway Project—except …
They Soldiered On
When the Japanese attacked, the men on the Alcan soldiered on. The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor In spring 1942 seven regiments of the Corps of Engineers had headed into the wilderness of British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska, trailed by mountains of equipment and swarms of support troops. They came to build a land route to …
Inhospitable to Human Beings
As inhospitable to human beings as any place on earth, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands offer roaring winds, bitter cold, active volcanoes… But the people known as “Aleuts”, perfectly adapted to their environment, have lived there continuously for 8,000 years. The Aleuts knew little of the rest of the world and the rest of the world …
Another Task Force
Another task force still lurked off the Aleutians. The Japanese carrier task force had bombed Dutch Harbor, not once, but twice, completed their mission. But another Japanese task force, the one carrying invasion troops still lurked. The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor The Japanese Came Back As the opposing forces in the Aleutians struggled through the …
The Japanese Came Back
The Japanese came back. The Japanese had arrived at the Aleutians, attacked Dutch Harbor from the air on June 3, 1942. Luck had, for once, been with the Americans on the ground. The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor–the First Time Knowing little about the layout of the base, the Japanese pilots had engaged targets at random; …