The Capture of Attu: A World War II Battle as Told by the Men Who Fought There

In 1942 Attu, the westernmost island in the Aleutian chain, was home to two Americans and forty-five Aleut hunters and their families. Located one thousand miles from the Alaska mainland and isolated by year-round damp fogs which manage to survive the constant high winds, Attu was called by an early visitor “the lonesomest spot this side of hell.”

In June 1942 Attu and the nearby island of Kiska were invaded by the Japanese in the hopes of accomplishing several goals: forestalling use of th...