16 Alaska Territorial Guard vets to be honored in Anchorage

Caroline Hoover proudly pins an Alaska Territorial Guard medal on the front of her father's parka during an official discharge ceremony held Oct. 17 in Kipnuk, Alaska. David Martin is one of three surviving members of the Alaska Territorial Guard's Kipnuk unit. A total of 59 residents of Kipnuk, who volunteered to defend Alaska in the event of a Japanese invasion during World War II, were recognized during the ceremony. Kipnuk residents who served with the Alaska Territorial Guard from 1942-1947 were members of a U.S. Army component organized in response to attacks by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. (Photo by Jerry Walton, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs cultural resource manager and native liaison/public domain/Wikimedia Commons)
Caroline Hoover proudly pins an Alaska Territorial Guard medal on the
front of her father’s parka during an official discharge ceremony held
Oct. 17 in Kipnuk, Alaska. (Photo by Jerry Walton, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs cultural resource manager and native
liaison/public domain/Wikimedia Commons
)

Sixteen veterans of the Alaska Territorial Guard will be honored at a discharge ceremony today. Four of them are from Western Alaska.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and Brig. Gen. Laurie Hummel, from the Alaska National Guard and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, will present honorable discharge documents and service medals to the surviving family members of the selected military servicemen.

The 16 Alaska Territorial Guardsmen who will be recognized at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage include Pvt. Frederick A. Asicksik from Shaktoolik; Pvt. Ole O. Bahr, Jr. from Nome; Pvt. Nick Beans from Mountain Village; and Steve Otten from St. Michael.

APRN reports that nearly 2,600 discharge papers have been issued since 2004 to Alaska Territorial Guard veterans as militia members or relatives are found or apply for them.

An Alaska Territorial Guard task force is working to make this ceremony an annual event, according to a release from the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

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