Review of Report from the Aleutians

If you are a big WWII buff you won’t want to miss this documentary. While many people are not aware of it the Aleutian islands proved to be an important part of the war. This documentary depicts the mission of U.S. forces on one of these islands as they station and prepare to attack another island, Kiska, which was occupied by the Japanese.

The Aleutian island, comprised of about 120 small islands, stretch from the tip of Alaska to just under 100 miles from Russia. On the easternmost edge lies, the island of Unimak, while on the southwest Unalaska is located. Kiska, occupied by Japanese forces, is located about 600 miles west of Unalaska.

It is still unknown exactly what the objectives were of the Japanese attacks on the Aleutian islands when they occurred in 1942. It has been speculated that the Japanese might have hoped to conquer the islands in order to gain access to Canada and thereby the northwestern U.S. It is possible that these were considered to be good targets by the Japanese military as they were thought to be poorly defended. The Japanese may have also intended to use their position merely as observation posts.

Either way, the Allied Forces quickly realized that the Japanese occupation in the Aleutian islands was a threat to both America’s and Canada’s security. With Japan maintaining flanking positions in the Aleutians it would also be even more difficult for the Allied Forces to seize the offense in the Central Pacific. The impact of the fact that Japanese troops were technically occupying American soil could not be underestimated either. Not only was it beneficial to the morale of the Japanese troops but it was disastrous to that of the Americans, if word of it were to get out.

This documentary depicts the mission of the U.S. forces as they attempt to oust the Japanese, including footage of the U.S. bombers actually attacking the Japanese occupied island of Kiska.
 

only $4.50