The Aleutian Campaign in World War II
was of a much greater significance than most people know. The
Aleutian Islands were territories which neither the Japanese nor the
Americans could afford to lose. Americans saw the danger of the
Aleutians being used by the Japanese as an invasion route into North
America and the United States. The possibility of Japanese
occupation of the
Aleutians would also mean the impediment of Russian - American
communications
dealing with the Lend-Lease program. Also, If Japan gained
control over American territory during the war, it would have a
seriously demoralizing effect on Americans. The Japanese feared
that the Aleutian Islands could be used as a jump-off point for an
invasion of the Japanese territories (Attu was approximately only
650 miles from the Japanese naval base at Paramushiro in the Kurile
Islands) and believed that the Doolittle Raid may have originated from
there. For the Japanese, the Aleutian Campaign served as a
diversion for the U.S. military while Japan was trying to take Midway
Island. This was the only WWII fighting done in the Western
Hemisphere and it is the only time beside the attack on Pearl Harbor
that American soil was threatened with fighting in WWII and the only
time it was invaded or occupied. The fighting on Attu claimed
71 Americans killed or wounded per every 100 enemy troops found on the
island, making the cost of the battle second only by proportion to that
of Iwo
Jima. The Americans also were able to examine their first down
Zero. Had the Aleutian Campaign been a victory for
the Japanese, and had the Japanese chose to move onto
mainland North America, things could be very different for America
today.
By Daniel Chiriboga and Kristi Reule