Commemorative center: remembers Unalaska's role in WWII.

• Author: Pilkington, Steve
• Position: Alaska this Month - Brief Article

Only six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, now more than 60 years ago, the Japanese bombing of Dutch Harbor and subsequent invasion in the Aleutian Islands changed Alaska's face and altered the lives of Alaska Natives living in the region and the soldiers sent there to fight.

On June 3, 1942, Japanese aircraft struck U.S. Army and Navy installations at Dutch Harbor on Unalaska. Following this attack, the Aleut people on the island were involuntarily removed to locations in Southeast Alaska until their return in April 1945.

It was a dramatic time in Alaska's history and the frenetic weather of the islands played as much a part of the conflict as the soldiers themselves. For years tourists who visited Unalaska have been taken to see bunkers and pillboxes remaining from the conflict as well as other landmarks remaining, like the airport weather station.

After 60 years have passed, the National Park Service and the Ounalashka Corp., Unalaska's Native village corporation, in a public/private partnership, recently opened the Aleutian World War II National Historic Area Visitors Center in the restored weather station.

"It's really great; it was so well received," said Mya Renken, executive director of the Unalaska/Port of Dutch Harbor Convention and Visitors Bureau. "There are photos about the U.S. and Canadian military presence. It even talks about the Japanese military experience in the region."

The facility is open daily this month, except for Mondays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and officials hope to continue a series of historical lectures that began during the opening ceremonies for the center.

"It was wonderful," Renken said. "We even had vets in the audience."

The stories behind the Aleutian campaign are fascinating. According to the National Park Service, U.S. forces at Fort Mears met the first attack on June 3 with antiaircraft and small arms fire, but on June 4, the Aleutian Tigers (eight P-40s), engaged the Japanese planes in aerial dogfights.

The U.S. planes were launched from Cape Field at Fort Glenn, a secret airbase on neighboring Umnak Island. The Japanese had thought the nearest airfield was on Kodiak, and Cape Field, disguised as a cannery complex, had remained...