 May 24, 2002
"The people of Dutch Harbor and Unalaska will start a week-long series of events to honor the people who served in our military during the time of the Japanese attack against their community," said Stevens. "I look forward to being at the first of these events on Sunday which will take place to commemorate and honor those who died in the attack by the Japanese in June of 1942." According to a United States Navy Combat Narrative obtained from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's online digital library (www.ibiblio.org), the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor and nearby Fort Mears almost simultaneously with their attack on Midway. Just before 6:00 a.m.on June 3, 1942 four bombers approached Dutch Harbor and five minutes later released 16 bombs. Two dropped into the water, but 14 fell in the congested area of Fort Mears. Two barracks and three Quonset huts were destroyed and several buildings were damaged by the hits and resulting fire. Approximately 15 fighters and 13 horizontal bombers participated in the raid. Fighters from Fort Glenn, 65 miles away, were unable to intercept the bombers. At 6:00 p.m. the next day, June 4, fire was opened again as ten fighters attacked the Naval Air Station at Dutch Harbor, followed by a dive-bombing attack delivered by 11 bombers. An old station ship, the Northwestern, was set afire and partly destroyed. The Japanese also hit a warehouse and an empty aircraft hangar. The final attack of the day came 25 minutes later, when five planes with ten bombs (only one effective) hit the magazine area near the south slope of Mt. Ballyhoo. Japanese troops subsequently occupied the Aleutian islands of Kiska and Attu for just over one year. "If anyone wishes to pursue the history of this war, I recommend 'The Thousand- Mile War' written by Brian Garfield. It is an interesting book, the thesis of which is that by splitting their military, particularly their Navy, the Japanese lost the war because they lost the battle of the Coral Sea, which was due to the fact that their vessels were in the Aleutian Islands and apart from their other Navy vessels," said Stevens.
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