The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-11-20


with light packs, and only one
change of socks. There had been
some question about whether the
men should be heavily outfitted, but
they were finally sent in light. Shoes
were the usual field issue, without
hobs, instead of a heavier arctic
boot. Bedding rolls were not con-
Sidered necessary. Everything was
planned on the basis Of a quick
campaign, but it didn't work out
that way.
JAPS AND WEATHER
Aside from the fanatical defense
put up by the Japs, the weather was
worse than had been expected. The
intensity of the cold and the damp
was such that it penetrated every
thing. The smoothsoled shoes slip
ped on the rocks, causing falls. Some
units, which became temporarily
isolated on mountain tops, suffered
heavily. Efforts were made to drop
them extra clothes, particularly ex-
ira socks, from planes. Some of the
men said they didn't even get a
chance to change socks during the
entire campaign. They all fought
and lived on emergency rations a.
lone.
Perhaps the heaviest single cause
Of non-battle casualti-s came from
the immersion cases-men who got
their feet wet and in the intense
sold, suffered from frostbite and in
extreme cases, freezing. There were
a number of amputations, particu-
larly of fingers and toes, though War
Department data do not reveal the
exact numbers. In all, the non-bat-
tie caSualties-the cases of men sick
or injured and not returned to &C
tive duty ran over 1000, or nearly
equal to the number wounded in
battle, 1135. The number of U. S.
killed was 342, with So missing in
action.
The Seventh division, which took
Attn, was made up of regular Army
units filled up by men from the first
drafts. The division got its final
combat training at the Desert Train
ing Center in California and Arizona.
The wisdom Of sending a DESERT
trained division into the Aleutians
may be open to question, but War
Department staff officers are in
clined to minimize this, saying that
Just because a division is battle
trained by maneuvers in the desert
doesn't mean that it has to go into
desert or jungle warfare.
STTRPRISE ELEMENT
The question of why troops that
had been winter trained in the
Rockies, or troops that had been in
Alaska, some of them for three
years without leave, were not as
signed to the assault on Attn cannot
be answered for reasons of security
ano. without knowledge of general
staff planning and the need for
keeping the operation as secret as
possible. Moving of troops stationed
in Alaska might have been learned
by enemy intelligence 70 reconnais-
SARGE and photographed the punch"
before it landed. AS it was handled,
the assault on Attu was completely
surprise attack.
Any attempt to make scandal of
mistakes on Attu would probably
end up nowhere. AS matter of fact,
this information was made available
to Truman Committee Senators Kill
gore and Ferguson, who visited
Alaska during the summer, and they
made no formal report on their
findings, believing the war effort
would not be helped IL these dis
closures. Casualties-battle and non
battle-were not excessive for this
kind of operation-probably about
Is per cent of the ground forces,
much less if the strength of the
naval and air support forces is in
cluded. The entire Jap garrison of
well over 1000 was wiped out. Also,
the capture of Attu made it neces-
sary for the Japs to evacuate Kiska,
giving the Americans two islands
for the price of ore.