Japanese Invasion of Alaska

While I tend to post articles pertaining to happy times, ‘Firsts’ are also traumatic experiences. And I cannot think of a much more somber time than that of war. Among the few things that adults may remember from social studies class is World War II. Stories and images from the attack on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and the Holocaust are ever present in our minds. But one battle of WWII has since been long forgotten, if people even knew of it in the first place. I will now recount the melancholy and epically frank tales of the “thousand mile war” when Japan invaded Alaska.

With a newfound enemy only 2,200 miles from Seattle, WA, the United States military sought to build air bases in the Aleutian Islands, a chain of more than 300 volcanic islands extending 1,200 miles west of the Alaskan Peninsula. The future battleground would consist of 70 of these islands from the peninsula to Attu, the U.S.’s most westward territory. Attu is only some 650 miles from Paramushiro, the northern most bastion of the main Japanese defenses.

After Pearl Harbor, Japan’s top naval strategist, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, believed that by defeating the Pacific Fleet at the island of Midway, we would be forced to consider peace terms. He decided that a diversionary attack would be made on Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island at the same time to draw a percentage of the Pacific Fleet away from Midway. Ground force would then occupy Attu and another island, Kiska, establishing bases to shield their home land against further attacks.

On May 5, 1942, an armada of 200 ships, including five heavy and three lights carriers, and 700 aircraft headed towards Midway from Japan. Halfway there, carriers Ryujo and Junyo changed course towards the Aleutians under the command of Admiral Kakuji Kakuta. The now established Alaska Defense Command (later designated the Eleventh Air Force) had developed bases at Otter Point and Umnak Island for the defense of the naval installation at Dutch Harbor. Two 5,00 foot airstrips made from pierced-plank steel matting each held a squadron of Curtiss P-36s and P-40 Warhawks, Douglas B-18s, and Martin b-26 Marauders.

P-40 Warhawk

Navy patrol pilots began searching on June 1 as far as their fuel loads would permit. The carriers were soon spotted about 400 miles south of Kiska. At 4:30 a.m. on June 3, Japanese Zero fighter planes and Kate dive bombers attacked Dutch Harbor and nearby Fort Myers killing 78 men. Attacks continued through the next day with Japanese planes attacking fuel tanks, barracks, gun positions, and SS Northwestern, a barrack’s ship and power plant.

A landing party of 1,250 men went ashore on Kiska on June 7, along with 1,200 more the next day on Attu. A reconnaissance plane soon radioed that there were four Japanese troop transports and a destroyer lurking in Kiska harbor.

Japanese invasion fleet gathers in Kiska Harbor.

America’s first move was on August 26 when a fleet of 250 tugboats, barges and fishing scows put engineer troops ashore at Adak Island 250 miles east of Kiska to construct an airfield. On September 11, 1943, American engineer troops landed on Amchitka, 75 miles east of Kiska, constructing an airfield. Bombers could now make the flight from there to Kiska 4-6 times a day.

Though the enemy is also your biggest opposition during war, weather, especially In Alaska, took more lives than fighting. By the end of October 1942, 72 American planes had been lost, but only nine to enemy fire.

The only sea battle during the Aleutian campaign was the Battle of the Komandorskis in late March. The battle lasted 31 ½ hours and is noteworthy as one of the longest continuous gun duel in naval history.

American land forces did not enter Attu until May 11th on what was called “Operation Landcrab”. With 4,000 troops ashore, the island was soon under U.S. control. Thanks to Japanese suicide attacks, only 28 of their 2,300 soldiers survived. American losses totaled 549. Allied planes could now run bombing runs in the Kuriles, a string of islands running southwest from the Kamchatka Peninsula.

PBY Catalina over Alaska

After the fall of Attu, Japan realized that their time in the Aleutians was done and soon withdrew all their men from the island. Unaware that they had retreated, Allied hit the island with heavy shelling for 36 hours straight from battleships, cruisers, and destroyers along with 300,000 pounds of bombs. When the 34,000 strong combat force was assembled to go ashore, 5,300 men of the Thirteenth Royal Canadian Infantry Brigade was there to help. However, they were to find nothing except a dozen dogs the Japanese had left behind.

On September 11, 1943, B-24 and B-25 bombers dropped 12 tons of explosives on targets at Paramushiro and Shimushu. The Japanese managed their last attack on October 13, when nine heavy bombers dropped bombs in Massacre Bay and the nearby airfield. During the Kuriles campaign, six enemy ships were sunk, 29 planes were downed, and 155 Americans died.

Fewer than 10,000 Japanese troops tied up 300,000 Allied troops from June 1942 to August 1943. The last intelligence report of the Eleventh Air Force in 1945 summarized the war as thus: “The Aleutian Islands, on the Great Circle Route from North America to the Orient, may not have fulfilled their hope of becoming the ‘Northern Highway to Victory’, but they certainly are destined to be aerial highways to peace.”

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Yodeling

Yodeling is a form of singing that involves holding an extended note that repeatedly changes from the chest register to the falsetto/head register.

While the origin of yodeling is still unclear, it is believed to have been developed in the Swiss and Austrian Alps as a method of communication between mountain peaks.

Swiss Alps

The inner workings of yodeling are actually quite simple. All humans have at least two vocal registers, the “head” and “chest” voices, which result from different ways a tone is produced. Most people can sing tones within a certain range of lower pitch in their chest voice and a certain range of higher pitch in their head, or falsetto, voice.

Experienced singers can find the gap between these two extremes. Yodelers can switch between the two at high volumes several times in a few seconds. Going between these two extremes creates the synonymous “voice break” you hear from yodeling.

Yodeling is often heard in American bluegrass and country music.

If you’d like to learn how to yodel yourself or see some more bizarre yodeling videos, visit yodelcourse.com for more information.

Did you know?- According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word “yodel” came from the Bavarian word jodeln meaning “to utter the syllable jo”.

I want to know…Where do you think the most absurd place to start randomly yodeling would be? Maybe during the middle of a eulogy or perhaps an interview? Post a comment and let the discussion brew!

Caves

When looking for excitement, we rarely think outside the box. For example, when I was trying to think of a topic for this blog post I kept going through places I wanted to travel to someday. I was thinking about mountains, oceans, and historic places, but then it hit me. I was only looking from the surface up, while there’s a whole other world underneath us.

Caves are technically defined as “natural underground voids large enough for humans to enter.” They are formed in a process known as speleogenesis, where erosion from water, tectonic forces, microorganisms, pressure, atmospheric influences, and animal digging all play a role.

Yet most caves are formed in limestone by another process titled dissociation where traces of carbon dioxide are mixed with water creating carbonic acid. This new chemical breaks down the calcium carbonate within the limestone.

Though they may look like barren hollows meant only for the likes of Satan, a unique diversity of animals make their homes in caves. Animal species that are limited to a cave habitat are called troglobites. The majority of these animals have developed certain characteristics, labeled troglomorfies, which either help with survival or are just happenstance from living underground. These include:

• loss of skin pigment
• loss of eyes or optical functionality
• elongated appendages

Aquatic troglobites (stygobites), such as the Alabama cave shrimp, feed on nutrients from detritus that flows into the cave along with assorted animal feces. Other stygobites include cave fish and salamander, and the Olm; a blind amphibian living in the caves of Southern Europe.

cave fish

Olm

Because caves tend to be isolated from one another, each cave has its own separate ecosystem. This causes many species that reside within their walls to be endangered, such as the tooth cave spider, the gray bat, and the trapdoor spider.

tooth cave spider

grey bat

Caves also hold historical importance as being used for shelter, burials, and spiritual activities by our early ancestors. The Great Cave of Niah, in Malaysia, contains evidence of human habitation dating back 40,000 years. Caves are, in fact, still being used in the preservation of wine and cheese; their constant temperatures and high humidity make them ideal environments.

Did you know?- The world’s longest cave is Mammoth Cave in central Kentucky. Known to contain 360 miles of passageway, this national park comprises 52,385 acres of Mississippian limestone strata covered with a surface layer of sandstone. Their park website can be found here.

Boomerangs

If you’ve ever thrown one of these next items, you know how difficult it can be to learn and how painful it is if you don’t keep your eye on it. We’re going back to Australia for the ancient hunting weapon called the boomerang.

NOTE: This post does not cover anything about Boomerang the television channel. If you were looking for vintage cartoons instead, click here.

A boomerang is a curved piece of wood that was originally used for hunting. The most famous style of boomerang is the returning, which when thrown follows an elliptical path and returns to its starting point. Non-returning boomerangs make up the rest of the designs which have been referred to as throwing sticks and ‘kylies’. The weapons have been traced back to the Egyptians, Native Americans, and inhabitants of southern India.

However, some boomerangs were not thrown at all but used in hand-to-hand combat by Australian Aborigines. On this island, the oldest traceable boomerangs have been recorded at 10,000 years old.

It has been speculated the returning boomerangs could have also been used for hunting in help to the noise generated by their movement. Their wings could clip leaves in trees or scare birds lying in an open field into flight where they would be captured in nets managed by other hunters. Throwsticks were used mostly for larger game, such as the Kangaroo, that when thrown would strike the animal’s legs and prevent it from escaping.

Today, this sport is mostly just that. Competitive boomeranging has sprung up all over the globe and includes these contest types:

• Accuracy
• Endurance (number of catches achieved in five minutes)
• Fast Catch (time taken to throw and catch the boomerang five times)
• Trick Catch
• Consecutive Catch
• Maximum Time Aloft (MTA)
• Long Distance
• Juggling (a boomerang must be in the air at all times)

Boomerangs aren’t just a great physical activity for adults but kids too. With advances in technology, boomerangs can now be mass produced from lighter, less dangerous materials like foam and plastic. To find multiple designs for children, competition, and recreational purposes go to boomerangs.com for your perfect match.

I want to know?- If there was a villain who attacked his foes with a boomerang, what would his/her name be? Leave a comment.

Orcas

Off all the places I wish to visit, large portions are simply areas where unique animals have chosen to make their home. With my mother operating her own dog training business, I have learned to love almost all animals as part of the family. And while the animal I am about to describe may not be the most rare I think it holds a place in almost everyone’s inner child’s heart. They are the prize of Sea Worlds across the United States and known by some as only “Shamu”. I speak of the killer whale.

Officially known as the Orca, or less commonly the Blackfish, this beauty of a beast is NOT A WHALE! It is actually the largest member of the dolphin family. They have been labeled as ‘killer whales’ because they have been known to hunt other whale species for food.

Created in five distinct types, orcas are highly social, forming family groups which constitute some of the most stable in the world. Pods usually consist of 5-30 whales, although some pods may combine to form groups of 100 or more. All pods are lead by females and each pod is thought to have its own form of dialect resulting in different languages from group to group.

All orcas have the distinguished black back, white chest and sides, and white patches above and behind the eye. Though newborns come out the womb with yellow/orange tint that eventually fades to white. While males range from 19-26 feet long and weigh in excess of 6 tons, females are smaller ranging 16-23 feet in length and 3-4 tons in weight. Unlike most dolphins, the killer whale’s pectoral fin is large and rounded with the male’s being twice as high and as well as narrower than the female’s.

Together, these characteristics make it one of the fastest marine mammals often reaching speeds in excess of 40 mph! Coupled with their need to travel sometimes 100 miles a day, the orca can stir up quite an appetite.

An apex predator, killer whales are known as the wolves of the sea for the reason of hunting in packs. On average, each whale eats 500 pounds of food each day. They have a wide diet and are known to consume sharks, squid, sea lions, seals, walruses, seagulls (?), penguins, and other fish.

?- A captive killer whale in Friendship Cove discovered that it could regurgitate fish onto the surface, attracting sea gulls, and then eat them. Other whales then learned the behavior by example.

Females bare a single calf every five years beginning at the age of fifteen. The sex lives an average of 50 years, with males only living 30, and those in captivity barely making it to their mid-twenties.

Like dolphins, orcas use echolocation (bouncing sound off of objects to determine their location) to hunt, and use a series of high-pitched clicks to stun prey. They are found most commonly in the Pacific Basin (where Canada curves into Alaska) as well off the coasts of Iceland and northern Norway.

In 2007, orcas were put on the U.S. Endangered Species List.

Killer Whales in National Parks

• Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska
• Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska
• Olympic National Park, Washington