On the recordMay 25, 2017
as we approach Memorial Day, we remember the men and women who sacrificed their lives in devotion to the causes of liberty, freedom, and democracy. As such, I would like to take the opportunity to speak about one event in our Nation's history that had a profound impact on my great State of Alaska. June 3 marks the 75th anniversary of the Aleutian Islands Campaign of the Second World War. This ``Forgotten Battle'' began with the bombing of Dutch Harbor and subsequent invasions of Adak, Kiska, and Attu, AK by the navy of Imperial Japan. For the Allied forces, this campaign resulted in 1,481 casualties, 640 missing, and 3,416 wounded, but perhaps what is even less known, is the impact this conflict had on the Aleut--Unangan/ Unangas--peoples of Alaska. In the months of June and July of 1942, Aleut communities were damaged, homes and personal possessions rummaged through or destroyed by Allied forces, and more than 881 Aleut civilian residents of the Pribilof Islands and the Aleutian Islands west of Unimak Island were relocated to temporary camps in Southeast Alaska. Forty-two residents of Attu were taken to Japan in September 1943, where they spent the rest of the war as prisoners, and nearly half of them died, mainly of hunger and malnutrition. The campaign ultimately ended in an Allied victory with the Japanese withdrawal from the Aleutians in 1943, but the effects are still felt by those communities and peoples who were impacted.…
