ATTU’S RESIDENTS: DECEASED & SURVIVED

Japanese forces aboard several ships reached Attu on the evening of 7 June, 1942, anchoring in Holtz Bay located on

the west side of the island. It wasn't until the next morning, a Sunday, that the first contingency of Japanese

reached Attu village located near Chichagof Harbor just as the Attuans were leaving church services. Attu's

Unangan residents, along with Etta Jones (Etta's husband, Foster, had been killed shortly after being captured by

the Japanese), were under Japanese control for three months prior to being loaded aboard a Japanese merchant

ship, Yoko Maru, in mid-September of 1942. At this time the village on Attu was still intact. The ship left Attu on

the 14th of September, 1942 heading for Kiska. Anecia Prokopeuff died on board the ship during the passage to

Kiska. At Kiska the Attuans were transferred to yet another ship, the Nagata Maru. They were kept in a cargo hold

that had been used to transport coal. They remained in the hold all the way to Japan save for periodic trips to the

main deck. The trip to Japan took two weeks, with their final destination being the industrial city of Otaru, located

on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. By the end of the war, of the forty people that made it to Otaru, only 24 survived.

Most died of malnutrition and a diet of food to which they were not accustomed. (For a complete presentation of

the Attuan's ordeal, please read the recently published book, "Attu Boy," documenting their personal accounts.

This book can be obtained from the National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, 907-644-3742). The following is a

listing of those who died in Japan, and those who survived (note: Etta Jones also survived and returned to the

United States at war's end):