The memorial services that were planned to be held today at Alaska's National Cemetary located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in conjunction with Veterans Day have been cancelled as a consequence of three record breaking snowfalls this week.
Below, through my narrative and photos, I offer a virtual Veterans Day Tribute to those who served specifically in World War II and who are buried there.
Among those who served in World War II and who are buried at Alaska's National Cemetery are a number of family friends from my father's generation in addition to my own father.
The subject National Cemetery is also the final resting place for a lone civilian not related to a family member who served in the military. That individual is Charles Jones who died at the hands of the Japanese who invaded the Alaska Island of Attu when he refused to repair a radio he had destroyed after sending the original message informing the world of the invasion. His having been killed during wartime while performing duties for the military garnered him a place of honor in the cemetery at what is now Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
In addition there is a plot where non-Americans who served in World War II are buried which includes soldiers of the Soviet Union, Canada, and Britain.
That same plot was also once the resting place for the remains of 235 of the more than 2,600 Japanese soldiers who died in the Battle of the Aleutians in Alaska during World War II. In 1953 those remains were repatriated to Japan and in 1981 a headstone Cenotaph made of wood was erected in their memory. When it began to deteriorate it was replaced by another in 2002. Finally in 2018 on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Attu surviving family members in Japan along with the Japanese Americans in Alaska had a lasting headstone that was inscribed by a mason in Japan erected. Fittingly, present at its 2019 dedication ceremony were 120 Japanese troops who were in Alaska for a bilateral joint training exercise. It was also noted that 2019 signaled the beginning of a new era in Japan identified as Reiwa 1. (The eras in Japan correspond to enthronement of a new Emperor and in 2019 the grandson of Japan's Emperor during World War II became Japan's present Emperor. )
Pictured first is my photo of the Battleship Missouri as it is presently moored in Pearl Harbor. It was on the deck of this ship while moored in a Japanese harbor that the peace treaty was signed bringing World War II to an end.
(The photos following were all taken at the above described National Cemetery here in Alaska and include the referenced inscribed in Japanese stone Cenotaph.)
Below, through my narrative and photos, I offer a virtual Veterans Day Tribute to those who served specifically in World War II and who are buried there.
Among those who served in World War II and who are buried at Alaska's National Cemetery are a number of family friends from my father's generation in addition to my own father.
The subject National Cemetery is also the final resting place for a lone civilian not related to a family member who served in the military. That individual is Charles Jones who died at the hands of the Japanese who invaded the Alaska Island of Attu when he refused to repair a radio he had destroyed after sending the original message informing the world of the invasion. His having been killed during wartime while performing duties for the military garnered him a place of honor in the cemetery at what is now Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
In addition there is a plot where non-Americans who served in World War II are buried which includes soldiers of the Soviet Union, Canada, and Britain.
That same plot was also once the resting place for the remains of 235 of the more than 2,600 Japanese soldiers who died in the Battle of the Aleutians in Alaska during World War II. In 1953 those remains were repatriated to Japan and in 1981 a headstone Cenotaph made of wood was erected in their memory. When it began to deteriorate it was replaced by another in 2002. Finally in 2018 on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Attu surviving family members in Japan along with the Japanese Americans in Alaska had a lasting headstone that was inscribed by a mason in Japan erected. Fittingly, present at its 2019 dedication ceremony were 120 Japanese troops who were in Alaska for a bilateral joint training exercise. It was also noted that 2019 signaled the beginning of a new era in Japan identified as Reiwa 1. (The eras in Japan correspond to enthronement of a new Emperor and in 2019 the grandson of Japan's Emperor during World War II became Japan's present Emperor. )
Pictured first is my photo of the Battleship Missouri as it is presently moored in Pearl Harbor. It was on the deck of this ship while moored in a Japanese harbor that the peace treaty was signed bringing World War II to an end.
(The photos following were all taken at the above described National Cemetery here in Alaska and include the referenced inscribed in Japanese stone Cenotaph.)
