Reference Entry
ATTU DECLARED SECURE
In the remote Aleutian Islands off Alaska, American and Japanese forces fought in some of the harshest conditions of the Second World War. On May 30th, 1943, after weeks of bitter combat on steep, fog-shrouded slopes, United States commanders declared the island of Attu secure. Japanese defenders had launched a massive final attack only days earlier, leaving tangled lines of casualties in a brutal close-quarters battle.
Dated Historical Context
A RECORDED MOMENT IN HISTORY
Attu declared secure
In the remote Aleutian Islands off Alaska, American and Japanese forces fought in some of the harshest conditions of the Second World War. On May 30th, 1943, after weeks of bitter combat on steep, fog-shrouded slopes, United States commanders declared the island of Attu secure. Japanese defenders had launched a massive final attack only days earlier, leaving tangled lines of casualties in a brutal close-quarters battle. For American soldiers, many of whom were new to Arctic warfare, the campaign tested their ability to fight in freezing temperatures, deep mud, and near-constant cloud cover. Securing Attu removed a foreign foothold from American territory and paved the way for operations to retake nearby Kiska. The Aleutian campaign never drew the attention of larger theaters, but it underscored that the Pacific war reached all the way to the nation’s own shores.
Read the complete weekly DispatchTrackpads Source Register
