Kodiak, Alaska – Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park is a 221-acre state park expanse of peaceful forested trails, expansive views and surprising historical artifacts from World War II.
I feel like I should have known about this. Apparently, during WWII, the Japanese bombed a US naval base at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and they invaded and occupied two of the outer Aleutian Islands. Most of the residents (mostly Alaskan Native) were evacuated to Southeast Alaska. However, the Japanese interred some of them as prisoners of war (and not all of the prisoners survived).
Kodiak Island became an important staging ground for the Aleutian Campaign, which lasted about one year. At least 550 and as many as 1500 US soldiers died in this campaign. (I’m not sure why there is such a big discrepancy here. There were many non-combat deaths due to disease and frostbite, so maybe they did not keep track.)
Fort Abercrombie was one of four fortified installations on the island, built as part of the coastal defense system. During the Aleutian Campaign the forts played an important role in protecting the island’s naval base. Now at the state park, paths wind through the forest to bunkers, mounted artillery and other remnants from WWII. A former ammunition magazine contains a small military museum.
When I travel in Europe, it has always struck me that that WW2 history is still vivid, while it feels like ancient history at home. But here it is, right here in Kodiak, Alaska, where there are still bunkers and artillery and other remnants of war scattered about the island. Wild.
