[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 68 (Thursday, May 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4819-S4820]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DUTCH HARBOR

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have sought recognition today because, 
on Sunday, I will travel to the Island of Unalaska and attend the first 
in a series of meetings that will take place to commemorate and to 
honor those who died in the attack by the Japanese in June of 1942 
against what was then known as Dutch Harbor.
  Dutch Harbor is a harbor within the Bay of Alaska. It is an area not 
quite 2,000 miles out from Anchorage. It is a very interesting place. 
It is a wonderful place to be.
  The people of Dutch Harbor will start a weeklong series of events to 
honor the people who served in our military during the time of the 
Japanese attack against Dutch Harbor.
  I am indebted to the University of North Carolina online library for 
its Aleutians Campaign Web site which we researched today to make 
certain I would properly report this attack to the Senate today.
  On June 3, 1942, the Japanese, having come into Alaska at Attu and 
Kiska, where they invaded our islands and occupied them, moved on up 
the Aleutian chain and attacked Dutch Harbor. There was located near 
Dutch Harbor an Army fort known as Fort Mears.
  This attack, by the way, to give it some historical reference, was 
about the same time as the attack on Midway Island. It was about 6 a.m. 
when four bombers approached Dutch Harbor and released 16 bombs on the 
fort and into

[[Page S4820]]

the area of Fort Mears. Fourteen actually fell into the congested area 
of Fort Mears occupied by Army personnel. Two barracks and three 
Quonset huts were destroyed, and several buildings were damaged by the 
hits and resulting fire. About 25 men were killed and about the same 
number wounded that day.
  About 15 fighters and 13 horizontal bombers participated in the raid. 
There were fighters from Fort Glenn that tried to intercept the 
bombers, but to no avail.
  At 6 p.m. on the next day, June 4, fire was opened again as 10 
fighters attacked the naval air station at Dutch Harbor. Then 11 
bombers delivered a dive-bombing attack through a series of openings in 
the overcast, which is almost a normal situation in the Aleutians. The 
chief damage was to four new 6,666-barrel fuel tanks to supply our 
military in the Aleutian chain. An old station ship, the Northwestern, 
was set afire and partly destroyed. The Japanese also scored hits on a 
warehouse and an empty aircraft hangar.
  The final attack on Dutch Harbor came about 25 minutes later when 
five planes dropped 10 bombs near a magazine area that was on the south 
slope of Mount Ballyhoo.
  The air raids on Dutch Harbor killed 33 U.S. servicemen, 10 
civilians, and wounded 50. Japanese troops, arriving with a task force 
of 2 aircraft carriers, 12 destroyers, 5 cruisers, 6 submarines, 4 
troop transports, and other vessels, subsequently occupied these 
Islands of Kiska and Attu for over a year.
  If anyone wishes to pursue the history of this war in the Aleutians, 
I recommend the ``1000 Mile War'' written by Brian Garfield. It is a 
very interesting book. His thesis is that by splitting their military, 
particularly their navy, the Japanese lost the war because they lost 
the Battle of the Coral Sea due to the fact their vessels were in the 
Aleutian Islands and split off from the regular navy.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that after my remarks an 
article from the Unalaska/Dutch Harbor Historical Timeline be printed 
in the Record. It is entitled ``Where does the Name ``Unalaska'' Come 
From?''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See Exhibit 1.)
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I shall enjoy being at Dutch Harbor on 
Sunday, and I commend to the Senate the memory of the fact that there 
is another harbor that was attacked. Pearl Harbor was attacked, as we 
know, in December of 1941. Dutch Harbor in our State was attacked 6 
months later in June.
  I thank the Chair.

                               Exhibit 1

              Where Does the Name ``Unalaska'' Come From?

                            (By Ray Hudson)

       The name ``Unalaska'' does not reflect a thwarted attempt 
     to secede from the 49th State, nor does it imply that the 
     residents of Unalaska view their community as one that runs 
     counter to the majority of the State, although some might. 
     Either of those explanations would be more interesting over 
     the last two hundred years.
       Between 1890 and 1899 the United States Board on Geographic 
     Names standardized the spelling of this town and the Aleutian 
     island on which it is located by selecting ``Unalaska'' from 
     several names that had been in use up to that time. 
     Variations included ``Ounalashka,'' ``Ounalaska,'' 
     ``Oonalaska,'' and ``Oonalashka.'' These spellings all 
     derived from the Russian spelling of a word which was itself 
     a shortened version of an original aleut word: 
     ``Agunalaksh.'' Unalaska island may have derived its name 
     from its proximity to the Alaska Peninsula. The Aleuts called 
     the Alaska Peninsula ``Alaxsxa'' or ``Alaxsxix''--the 
     ``mainland.'' The Russians adopted this as ``Alyaska'' from 
     which ``Alaska'' is derived. ``Popular belief has it, 
     incorrectly, that the name means `The Great Land', with 
     almost sacred connotations.''
       Thus ``Unalaska'' does not mean not-Alaska, nor not-the-
     Great-Land. If anything, the name defines its geographical 
     location in terms of the Alaska Peninsula.
       In fact, to compound confusion, this town has three names. 
     First, there is ``Unalaska.'' Before ``Unalaska,'' however, 
     this community was known as ``Iliuliuk'' in Russian or in 
     Aleut as ``Iluulux'' or ``Illuulax.'' This early word 
     referred to the curved approach one took in a skin boat when 
     approaching the village. The word may also have had 
     connotations of ``Harmony.'' (In 1806 after almost 30 years 
     of sporadic fighting with the local Aleuts, Nikolai Rezanov 
     of the Russian-American Company named the community ``Dobroye 
     Soglasiis''--the Harbor of Good Accord. [Ignoring the Russian 
     presence, the Spanish laid a surreptitious claim to Unalaska 
     on August 5, 1788, and called it ``Puerto de Dona Maria Luisa 
     Teresa de Parma, Princesa de Asturies''.] The third name 
     which is frequently applied to this community is ``Dutch 
     Harbor.'' This specific harbor is one of many within the 
     greater Unalaska Bay and is said to have been given its name 
     because a Dutch vessel was the first to anchor there. The 
     name dates from the late 18th Century. In the 1880's a dock 
     was built at Dutch Harbor and people sailing to Unalaska 
     booked passage for Dutch Harbor. During WWII the military 
     constructed a runway at Dutch Harbor, not far from the dock. 
     After the war private airplanes took over the airstrip, and 
     so people flying into Unalaska were ticketed for Dutch 
     Harbor.
       Consequently, new-comers often refer to this city as 
     ``Dutch Harbor'' while more permanent residents use 
     ``Unalaska'' and really old-time Aleut speakers say 
     ``Ounalashka.''

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.

                          ____________________