Alaska Territorial Guard in World War II

Prior to World War II, most of the US military deemed the territory of Alaska as militarily unimportant, to the point where the Alaska National Guard units were stationed instead in Washington state in August of 1941. That changed when the Japanese invaded and occupied two Alaskan islands in June of 1942. The US government responded first by evacuating Unangax̂ villagers and forcibly interning them in Southeast Alaska in facilities without plumbing or electricity for two years where many died of disease. To protect the Alaskan territory from further invasion, Major Marvin R. “Muktuk” conceived of a plan to defend the Alaskan coast with local citizens. The more than 6,300 members of the Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG) were as young as 12 and as old as 80 and represented 107 Alaskan communities and many different ethnic groups, including Unangax̂ , Inupiaq, Tlingit, and, Yup'ik, among others. Without the ATG serving as the eyes and ears of the US military in Alaska, the Japanese may well have invaded the mainland of the territory, setting up an ideal location from which to invade the United States. To help us learn more about the Alaska Territorial Guard I’m joined by Dr. Holly Guise…