"It was the only land battle in the war fought in the Americas, the first amphibious landing by the U.S. Army and, aside from Iwo Jima, the most costly in terms of the percentage of American casualties. "For every hundred of the enemy, about 71 Americans were killed or wounded,"according to the official Army history. It was the first time in the war that the U.S. military retook occupied American territory, and the first time the Army encountered the fanatical fight-to-the-death ethos of the Japanese. It remains the only time American soldiers have fought an invading army on American soil since the War of 1812.
It was the deadliest battle on the continent since the Civil War".
Our mid-distant cousin ☺ Deborah emailed a couple weeks ago with this article from the Anchorage Daily News; (she lives on Kodiak Island, remember). Uncle Tader was stationed on Attu (Dad's brother Ted), so we have a more-than-passing interest in that part of the war. Was he there as early as May, 1943? I don't know when he enlisted or what job he had in the army...but he was there. Wow.
Thanks, Deborah!
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