My Dad served at a base on the Aleutian Islands. He was in the Air Force and he was there when the Korean War broke out. He has many tales of his time in the Air Force based on the Aleutian Islands. He turns 80 this year and I would like to plan a trip and take him back. Is there still a base there? He recalls the landing strip to be like flying into a mountain and before you hit it, ';take a hard right'; to land. Does anyone remember this base? Does anyone know what is still there? Any military presence still there?
Dad turns 80, stationed on Aleutian Islands - Korean War
The best thing you can do is to get a copy of ';The Thousand Mile War'; and go through it with your dad in one manner or another. That is the tale of WW II in the Aleutians. Hopefully it will jog his memory. There were a number of bases, of course, of which Fort Glenn was in today%26#39;s paper. I will post that URL in a follow up posting in case TA doesn%26#39;t like linking to newspapers, but it tells the story of segregated unit on the Island.
Shemya is an island that was built up as a base for retaking Attu Island from the Japanese, 40 miles farther east. Today the Air Force has control %26amp; it is not the one your father was on, as it is a flat %26#39;2 x 4%26#39; miles in measurement.
Attu and Kiska were captured by the Japanese and there was a nasty battle fought on Attu to regain the island. I flew in there some years ago and do remember a sharp right to come into the runway. Runways near mountains are not at all unusual in Alaska. The Coast Guard has control of the Island today and runs a LORAN station as a backup to satellite navigation for ships. It seems Kiska is abandoned today. Adak was a large navy base but that was turned back to the Aleuts about 10 years ago. You can fly in there.
Both Shemya and Attu are restricted and you must go through the Air Force to get to Shemya. It is tightly controlled as it is a part of our missile defense system today. Attu may be easier to get permission to land on, but I believe there are no longer commercial flights. perhaps 15 years ago Reeve Aleutian used to fly a charter out there once a year for serious bird watchers. If you Google each of those islands your will find a treasure of information and web sites. Remember, they are only about 1,500 miles from Anchorage. A charter plane ... well, if it costs $3000+ for a twin engine to go 500 or 800 miles, what is your guess on the cost of a charter to Attu, if you get permission to go?
The Coast Guard is full of reasonable people, so if you do narrow it down to Attu, see what they say. If you want a refresher flight around the Aleutian Islands, come back and ask and we can look into who flies out, at least to Adak. Pen Air is one airline.
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Dad turns 80, stationed on Aleutian Islands - Korean War
From today%26#39;s newspaper,
Student locates segregated compound on WWII map
AREA N: Aleutian post housed the last all-black military unit.
By MIKE DUNHAM
mdunham@adn.com
Published: February 21st, 2009 12:03 AM
Last Modified: February 22nd, 2009 12:05 AM
An unfamiliar notation on an old map of Fort Glenn in the Aleutians had Chris Roe puzzled.
the full article is at
www.adn.com/life/alaskana/story/698187.html
If that link stops working, you have enough there to search for it on the web.
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