Aleutian World War II National Historic Area - Stories (U.S. National Park Service)

The Navy barracks in Dutch Harbor burn after they were struck by Japanese bombs on 4 June, 1942.

RAID DUTCH HARBOR! June 3-4, 1942

Nearly six months to the day after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese struck again on American soil. The bombing of Dutch Harbor signalled the beginning of the Aleutian Campaign and led, in part, to the evacuation and internment of American civilians for the duration of the war. Click here to learn more about the bombing of Dutch Harbor, the Japanese pilots, the American defenders, the innocent victims, and the aftermath.

Japanese troops pose on Attu Island in their winter year. Circa 1943.

THE JAPANESE INVADE, 6-7 June, 1942

On 6-7 June, 1942, the Japanese followed the Dutch Harbor raid with an invasion of American soil. After months of reconnaissance, they landed on Kiska and Attu Islands in the Western Aleutians, over 1,000 miles from Dutch Harbor. On Kiska, they took a small Naval weather crew captive; on Attu, they took the whole village hostage, later shipping them back to Japan as prisoners of war. Click here to find out more about the Japanese invasion: the warnings of the Attuan chief, the desperate attempt by one man on Kiska to avoid capture, and the testimonies of Attuan prisoners of war.

A family from St. Paul waits on the dock for the Delarof to take them away.

EVACUATION & INTERNMENT, 1942-1945

In the aftermath of the Japanese invasion, U.S. authorities scrambled to get civilians out of the war zone. As a result, nearly 900 Unangan (Aleut) people were suddenly uprooted, evacuated from their homes with only a suitcase each, crammed onto crowded transport ships, and taken to internment camps in Southeast Alaska. They would remain in dismal, crowded conditions, suffering from disease and malnutrition, for three long years. Click here to learn more about this little-known chapter in American history.

A pilot braces himself against the fierce Aleutian weather. Courtesy National Archives.

National Archives, 80-G-041721

A pilot braces himself against the fierce Aleutian weather. A Consolidated PBY Catalina (a.k.a., "15-ton Flying Boat") is held down by massive blocks.

THE ALEUTIAN CAMPAIGN, 1942-1943

For 15 arduous months, Allied airmen struggled to take the fight to the Japanese, who were entrenched on Kiska and Attu in the western Aleutians. The Americans and Canadians were forced to battle the weather as well as the enemy - and it was the weather that claimed more lives than the Japanese.