Modern armies had never fought before on any field that was like the Aleutians….
Long before the war, Attu was one of the earliest Federally protected wildlife resource areas. Japanese and American soldiers alike were scoured by 120 mile-per-hour winds, drenched by rain, and blinded by fog.
Under the command of General Archibald V. Arnold, they quickly organized a defense made up of medics, engineers, and service personnel who began hurling hand grenades at the Japanese. Most Japanese soldiers saw the plan as a chance for an honorable death, not a great victory. Imperial Army officers during the winter of 1942/43. Surrender was profoundly dishonorable, and soldiers were instructed to commit suicide rather than be captured.
On the beaches, some American soldiers threw grenades into the ocean in the hopes of catching fish. The more than two-week battle ended when most of the Japanese defenders were killed in brutal On 7 June 1942, six months after the United States On 11 May 1943, units from 17th Infantry, of Maj. Gen. On 21–22 May 1943, a powerful Japanese fleet assembled in Tokyo Bay in preparation for a sortie to repel the American attempt to recapture Attu. On May 28, he had only 800 men available for combat, plus 600 men who had been wounded over the last two weeks of fighting. The Japanese Peace Monument on Attu Island, July 2007. The first combatrelated exposure suffered by American forces in World War II occurred on Attu. If untreated, trench foot could turn gangrenous and result in amputation. When possible, the Americans took the superior clothing from dead Japanese soldiers, risking being shot by their own troops when they saw the enemy uniforms.When rations dwindled, soldiers on both sides began to go hungry. Of the 40 captives, 16 (40%) died from disease and starvation.In May, 1943, after a prolonged air campaign, U.S. troops piled into transport ships to to expel invaders from American soil for the first time since 1812. To reduce the effects of the cold, the Japanese built earthen billets on Attu. The Americans buried 2,351 Japanese in mass graves on Attu, and it is thought that several hundred more were buried in the hills.The Battle of Attu ranks as the second deadliest battle in the Pacific Theatre (in proportion to the number of troops engaged) falling just behind Iwo Jima.
Lasting 18 days, the Battle of Attu was one of the deadliest battles of World War II, but it remains one of the least well-known.On May 11, 1943, 12,500 U.S. soldiers landed on the northern and southern ends of Attu Island. That night, Dr. Tatsuguchi recorded in his diary, “[there are]continuous cases of suicide….heard they gave 400 shots of morphine to kill wounded….”At 3 a.m. on May 29, Company B of the U.S. 32nd Infantry received an order to march to battalion headquarters to get a hot breakfast, leaving a handful of sentries on guard. Tatsuguchi studied medicine in California before the war. As a result, major changes in Army footwear, outdoor gear, tents, and food occured. Some malnourished Americans overran Japanese positions after the enemy retreated and fought over the food and ammunition left behind. The first combatrelated exposure suffered by American forces in World War II occurred on Attu. If a soldier chose to surrender, his dishonor spread to his family; some wives of POWs killed themselves to escape the shame brought on them by their husbands. Military strategists had estimated the battle to last only two days. Unfazed, the Japanese continued to advance, and desperate hand-to-hand combat erupted as the defenders fought for their lives. Dr. Paul Tatsuguchi, an American-trained Japanese medic, wrote in his diary on May 28, “Ate half-dried thistle. The Japanese Northern Army secretly evacuated its remaining garrison from nearby The loss of Attu and the evacuation of Kiska came shortly after the death of Admiral A U.S. Navy reconnaissance photo of four Japanese Mitsubishi A6M-2N Rufe seaplane fighters at Holtz Bay, Attu on 7 November 1942. Although the battle continued throughout the day, the Japanese were not able to mount another concentrated attack. Colonel Yamasaki was killed late in the day as he led another wave up Engineer Hill.The Japanese armed forces followed a Samurai warrior code, known as the “Bushido Code.” Bushido condemned weakness and extolled battle, bravery, loyalty and obedience.