The only WWII battle fought on American soil has been nearly forgotten — a brutal, fog-shrouded struggle where the weather killed as many men as the enemy.
The Aleutian Islands campaign, fought from June 1942 to August 1943, was the only World War II military campaign on North American soil. When Japan seized the islands of Attu and Kiska in June 1942 — the first foreign occupation of American territory since the War of 1812 — it sent shockwaves through the American public and created urgent pressure to retake the islands.
Japan's invasion of the Aleutians was likely a diversionary feint timed to coincide with the Battle of Midway, intended to draw American naval forces away from the Central Pacific. If so, it failed completely — the U.S. had broken Japanese naval codes and Admiral Nimitz knew the plans in advance, allowing him to keep his carriers focused on Midway while deploying separate forces to Alaska.
The strategic value of the islands was real and alarming. General Billy Mitchell had told Congress in 1935: 'I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world.' Japan feared the chain could be used as a stepping stone for a combined American-Soviet assault on the Japanese mainland. The U.S. feared Japanese bombers could use the islands to strike Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles.
Retaking the islands proved far harder than expected — not primarily because of Japanese resistance, but because of the Aleutians themselves. The chain is one of the most hostile environments on Earth: dense fog, hurricane-force winds called 'williwaws,' sub-zero temperatures, and volcanic terrain made supply, navigation, and combat operations extraordinarily difficult. Troops suffered severe frostbite and exposure casualties that rivaled combat losses.
The Battle of Attu in May 1943 was one of the bloodiest island assaults of the Pacific War relative to its size. After 18 days of grinding combat, the surrounded and starving Japanese garrison launched a desperate banzai charge on May 29 — nearly 1,000 men charging directly into American lines. When it was over, only 28 Japanese soldiers had survived out of a garrison of roughly 2,900. American forces suffered over 3,800 casualties.
The recapture of Kiska in August 1943 produced one of the war's great phantom battles. After a three-week bombardment and a massive amphibious landing of 34,000 American and Canadian troops, the invaders found the island completely empty. The entire Japanese garrison of 5,183 men had silently evacuated by submarine and destroyer under cover of fog two weeks earlier, completely undetected. Friendly-fire incidents during the confused landing killed 32 soldiers and wounded 50 more — all casualties of an enemy that wasn't there.