Mass grave found on Attu

The_Historian · #1 (**permalink**) July 24th, 2007, 07:32 PM

Soldiers' remains found on remote Alaska island - Yahoo! News

Skipper · #2 (**permalink**) July 25th, 2007, 07:18 AM

Interesting find. They are possibly those of the Japanese soldiers who committed suicide and whose bodies were found by U.S. troops after the battle.

The_Historian · #3 (**permalink**) July 26th, 2007, 03:10 PM

Every chance, Skipper. I wonder how many more they'll find?

Skipper · #4 (**permalink**) July 26th, 2007, 04:51 PM

I believe it's a matter of time. Many more were buried although it is possible that others were washed away by the sea. I don't think all will be recovered as the men were buried at random wherever they were found . Do you know how they committed suicide? (bullet, Harakiri, pills jumping from cliffs etc..?)
There may be an autopsy of the remains that may tell the cause of the death.

The_Historian · #5 (**permalink**) July 26th, 2007, 05:35 PM

If they're truly Japanese, the causes of death were likely to be any or all of those.

Skipper · #6 (**permalink**) July 27th, 2007, 08:16 AM

It's just a guess, but I suppose that the U.S. troops being the ones left on the field, had to opportunity to give a decent burial to their slain, especially as the battle was short and I don't think the Japanese had time to make mass graves, or to even gather the victims while under heavy fire. This is why I assume they are probably all japanese.

bf109 emil · #7 (**permalink**) May 9th, 2008, 05:33 PM

Can remains not be identified as to either Japanese or US...and has anyone given thought as to being Canadian, as this was the only site for draftee's until later to be sent involuntarily into combat

The battle also marked the first time Canadian conscripts were sent to a combat zone in the Second World War. While the government had pledged not to send draftees overseas, the fact that the Aleutians were North American soil enabled the government to deploy them. There were cases of desertion before the brigade sailed for the Aleutians. In late 1944, the government changed its policy on draftees and sent 16,000 conscripts to Europe to take part in the fighting.[6]
The battle also marked the first combat deployment of the First Special Service Force, though they also did not see any action.

On August 7, 1943, an invasion force of 34,426 Allied troops landed on Kiska. Castner's Cutthroats were part of the force, but the invasion force was made up of units primarily from the United States 7th Infantry Division. The invasion force also included about 5,300 Canadians. The Canadians primarily came from the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 6th Canadian Infantry Division. The Canadian forces also included the Canadian component of the First Special Service Force, also known as the "Devil's Brigade").

bf109 emil · #8 (**permalink**) May 9th, 2008, 05:39 PM

Quote:

The 2006 documentary film Red White Black & Blue features two veterans of the Attu Island campaign, Bill Jones and Andy Petrus. It is directed by Tom Putnam, and debuted at the 2006 Locarno International Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland on August 4, 2006.
In February 2008, a group of American veterans led by John E. Jonas TSGT USAF (Ret.) began a petition to have the Japanese memorial removed or relocated from the island and replaced with two U.S. funded markers: one to the Japanese soldiers who died on the island and one to the Americans. Jones and others were upset to find out that the Japanese memorial on Attu was erected on or near the site of a massacre of wounded American soldiers by the Japanese on the battle's final day.

maybe american after all if removal of numerous corpses proved to be to mass an operation...

bf109 Emil