Governor Bill Walker has declared June 3rd to be recognized as Dutch Harbor Remembrance Day. Statewide all flags will fly at half-mast to recognize Japan’s World War II attack on Dutch Harbor.
The 1942 bombing was the first hostile action on Alaskan soil; 25 servicemen were killed.
Later on, Dutch Harbor was attacked again as well as the communities of Adak, Kiska, and Attu.
In response to the June 3rd strike, the United States uprooted Unangan people and sent them to internment camps in Southeast Alaska where they suffered from disease and malnutrition.
Governor Walker hopes Dutch Harbor Remembrance Day will honor the military who served and died defending the United States, and the Aleut people who died while interned.
