Alaska Territorial Guard

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Alaska Territorial Guard
Alaska Territory, United States
Nickname(s)Eskimo Scouts, Tundra Army
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Marvin R. Marston

The Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG), more commonly known as the Eskimo Scouts, was a

Tlingit, Tsimshian, Yupik, and most likely others. In later years, all members of some native units scored expert sharpshooter rankings.[2] Among the 27 or more women members were at least one whose riflery skills exceeded the men.[3] The ages of members at enrollment ranged from 80 years old[4] to as young as twelve[5] (both extremes occurring mostly in sparsely populated areas). As volunteers, the Alaska Territorial Guard members were those who were too young or too old to be eligible for conscription
during the World War II.

One first-hand estimate states that around 20,000 Alaskans participated, officially or otherwise, in ATG reconnaissance or support activities.[6]

The ATG served many vital strategic purposes to the entire Allied effort during World War II:

  • They safeguarded the only source of the strategic metal platinum in the Western Hemisphere against Japanese attack.[7]
  • They secured the terrain around the vital Lend-Lease air route between the United States and the Soviet Union.
  • They placed and maintained survival caches primarily along transportation corridors and coastal regions.

In addition to official duties, ATG members are noted for actively and successfully promoting racial integration within US Armed Forces,[8][9] and racial equality within the communities they protected.[10]

Several former members of the ATG were instrumental in achieving

Alaska Constitutional Convention
.

In 2000 all ATG members were granted US veteran status by law, acknowledging the contribution of the ATG, some of whose members are still living.[11] But efforts to find the surviving ATG members and assist them through the application process are difficult due to lack of written records, oral cultures, lack of trained staff, passage of time, and unclear bureaucracies and advocates.

Nevertheless, active correction of the historical record is proceeding through the Alaska Army National Guard, office of Cultural Resources Management and Tribal Liaison ((888) 248-3682 toll-free) as well as the Office of Veterans Affairs, State of Alaska, PO Box 5800, Ft. Richardson, AK 99505-5800, (907) 428-6016.

Conditions leading up to the ATG

The original Alaska Territorial Guard patch created in 1942.[12]

Before World War II, Alaska was regarded by US military decision makers as too distant from the contiguous United States to effectively protect, and of little strategic importance.[13]

"...the mainland of Alaska is so remote from the strategic areas of the Pacific that it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which air operations therefrom would contribute materially to the national defense." – General Malin Craig, US Army Chief of Staff, November 1937[14]

This stands in marked contrast to the attitudes of US military leaders during the Cold War immediately after World War II:

"...as I continue to correspond and to talk with people throughout the United States and the Department of Defense, they too can see clearly the importance of these two battalions which you make up. The real honest-to-God and real-world first line of defense in Alaska ... nearer our opponent, Communist Russia, than any other armed troops in the United States." – General James F Hollingsworth, Commanding General, United States Army Alaska (USARAL), February 1971[15]

True to the earlier viewpoint, the US Army reassigned all

military reserves or any form of Home Guard
. In the face of an encroaching enemy, the defense of nearly 34,000 miles (55,000 km) of US coastline was left to the best efforts of unorganized local citizens and already overworked seasonal laborers.

That enemy was demonstrating a definite interest in taking Alaska. In the early months of 1942, a Japanese Navy reconnaissance unit was caught on film making detailed surveys of Alaska coastline.

Enemy combatants strode unopposed onto American soil and made inquiries among the populace about the local economy.

Dutch Harbor and the occupation of the Aleutian Islands of Attu, Kiska and Adak
that June.

Creation of the ATG

By the time of the Dutch Harbor bombing, Major Marvin R Marston had submitted a new plan to defend the entire Alaska coast by enlisting the local citizens.

Saint Lawrence Island and contemplating the fate of the locals he'd met.[20] Marston's proposal finally met with favor when word of it got to Alaska territorial governor Ernest Gruening.[21] Gruening had sought to organize a new guard for Alaska, including every able man and boy, since he got word that the US Army would reassign the Alaska National Guard.[16]

Motivated by the recent Dutch Harbor attack, the

Alaska Command assigned Major Marston and Captain Carl Schreibner within days to serve as military aides to Governor Gruening. Shortly after, Gruening and Marston flew a chartered plane to begin setting up units of the new Alaska Territorial Guard. This included one of the most strategically important sites in all Alaska, a tiny mining town called Platinum—the only source of that strategic metal in all the Western Hemisphere.[7]

The enrollment drive continued into early 1943, the organizers travelling in all kinds of weather and by every available mode of transport, including

dogsled. When a promised plane failed to arrive after a week, Major Marston set out by dogsled on an epic 680-mile (1,090 km) trip around the Seward Peninsula, during the coldest winter in 25 years.[22] He survived by foregoing standard military survival training in favor of the native methods of his Eskimo/Scout and Office of Strategic Services member guide, Sammy Mogg.[23]

Thanks to Marston and Mogg's heroic effort, the ATG stood as a first line of defense for the terrain around the

Axis Powers. This vital lifeline allowed the US to supply its Russian ally with essential military aircraft.[24] This lifeline had proven to be crucial to Russia's survival during Operation Barbarossa
.

Organization of the ATG

Authority

The Alaska Territorial Guard was organized in June 1942 under the authority of the office of the territorial governor, Ernest Gruening, who served as Commander-In-Chief. All members took an oath to obey the Governor's orders. The governor was directly supported by the ATG

Juneau
.

Mission

The mission of the ATG was to play a defensive role for the entire coast of Alaska.[25] Offensive action was the responsibility of Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, with North Pacific forces operating from large bases at Dutch Harbor, Cold Bay and Anchorage.

Explicit within the ATG mission was that of protecting the terrain around the American terminus of the

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, then to Ladd Field, Alaska (now Fort Wainwright) and on to Nome. Soviet pilots flew the planes from there to the Russian Far East.[24]

By Date

The Alaska Territorial Guard operated from its inception in June 1942[26] until it was officially disbanded on 31 March 1947.[27]

By Geographic Area

The Territory of Alaska was divided vertically by the 156th Parallel[28] into Eastern and Western Areas. To the Eastern Area was added Southwest Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, which had been evacuated of non-combatants.[29]

The Western Area had a Field Headquarters in

Saint Lawrence Island
, where Major Marston first conceived his plan).

The Eastern Area was headquartered in

Douglas, Ketchikan, Palmer, Hoonah and Sitka
.

By Ethnic Group

The Alaska Territorial Guard was drawn from 107 communities and from these ethnic groups:

Tlingit, Tsimshian, Yup'ik
, and probably more.

By Rank

The ATG, being organized by US Army officers,[30] made use of the same US Army rank structure, with these exceptions:

  • Throughout the duration of the ATG, no member rose above the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, including the Adjutant "General".
  • The designation "Private" appears to have been little used, though most members were in fact of Private rank.[31]

By Workload and Pay

The 21 staff officers were all full-time, paid positions (except for the governor, whose ATG duties were in addition to his regular office and without added salary). All other positions were strictly part-time volunteer, without pay.

By Sex

That total includes at least 27 ATG members who were women. Most women served as nurses at the

Kotzebue, although at least one woman served the ATG's primary mission alongside the men. Laura Beltz Wright of Haycock is also noted for being the best sharpshooter
in her company, scoring 98% bulls-eyes.

By Age

The age of ATG members at enrollment ranged from 80 years old[4] to as young as twelve,[5][21] even though official regulations put the minimum age at sixteen.

By Number

All told, there were 6,389 members of the Alaska Territorial Guard, according to an official roster.[1]

Unofficial tally

Alongside those who served in the ATG, many others worked to support them, including food service, providing equipment and supplies to the Quartermaster, repair work, etc. Major Marston put the estimate at 20,000 Alaskans who materially participated in ATG activities, in his Western Area alone.[6]

ATG Activities

All ATG members except the 21 staff officers served without pay, and had to perform their new ATG duties in addition to the often difficult challenges of subsisting in Arctic and extreme marine environments.

The ATG trained for and/or actively carried out the following:

  • Issuing of weapons and ammunition[32]
  • Instruction, drill and target practice[33]
  • Transport of equipment and supplies[34]
  • Construction of ATG buildings and facilities[6]
  • Construction of airstrips and support facilities for other military agencies as needed[35]
  • Coastal and inland scouting patrols
  • Breaking hundreds of miles of wilderness trails[36]
  • Setup and repair of dozens of emergency shelter cabins[36]
  • Distribution of emergency food and ammunition containers for the US Navy[37]
  • Firefighting[36]
  • Land and sea rescue[36]
  • Enemy combat

The ATG received commendations for:

  • Shooting down Japanese air balloons carrying bombs and eavesdropping radios[38]
  • Rescue of a downed airman[36]

In addition, some ATG members performed the following:

  • Medical care at the field hospital in
    Kotzebue[39]

ATG Artists

During the 1930s, as part of

Aleutian Campaign and other Alaskan military operations, including the new Alaska Territorial Guard. Some of their work was featured nationwide on a number of wartime posters
. The artists included:

Other artists, born in Alaska and already well-known, gained further exposure through contact with ATG members and artists:

  • Otto Geist,[47] later an ATG major.[48]
  • George Aden Ahgupuk (also known by the indigenous name Twok) [1] - a Shishmaref artist since boyhood and later the village's postmaster, he was befriended by Major Marston, who wrote and spoke of his artistry within and outside the ATG.[49]

ATG influences

Plaque honoring the ATG and the Alaska National Guard at the Alaska Veterans Memorial.

Several former members of the ATG were instrumental in achieving Alaska Statehood. In 1958 three of the eleven members of the Alaska Statehood Committee were former ATG members.[50] Seven delegates to the Alaska Constitutional Committee had served with the ATG. Both are listed below under Noted ATG Members.

The ATG actively and successfully promoted

Navajo, Comanche and Choctaw Code talkers
did elsewhere during World War II.

ATG members were also active in promoting racial equality in their communities, insisting on equal treatment for natives and whites alike at movie theaters, restaurants and other public facilities.[10]

Recent developments

Discharge ceremony, 2008

In 2000 Alaska's senior

Honorable Discharges to all Americans who served in the Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG).[11] Stevens was himself a World War II veteran, flying with the Army Air Corps
in China.

The bill was signed into law by President Bill Clinton that August.[52]

Because of disagreement as to whose responsibility it was to seek the ATG veterans out to inform them of the new law, and because of the advanced age and geographic isolation of many of the veterans, a temporary position, filled by retired colonel

honorable discharge for about 150 ATG members. They estimate there are several hundred more yet to be found.[11]

Bob Goodman and the ATGO have pleaded the case of the ATG members and spouses with US senators, two Alaskan governors, most of the

Alaska Native Regional Corporations
and other corporations and foundations.

Timeline of ATG-related events

U.S. government poster from World War II.

Noted ATG members

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Roster of the Alaska Territorial Guard, Alaska Territorial Guard, 1947
  2. ^ Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 7–8
  3. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 104e
  4. ^ a b Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 127–128
  5. ^ a b Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 5
  6. ^ a b c Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 190
  7. ^ a b Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 51, 54–57
  8. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 210–212
  9. ^ Necrason, C F (1969), Epilogue - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 210–212, 215–217
  10. ^ a b Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 130–140
  11. ^ a b c d e f Alaska Territorial Guard Organization
  12. ^ http://www.ak-prepared.com/asdf/Acrobat_Docs/ASDF%20Recruiting%20TriFold.pdf [dead link]
  13. ^ Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction to Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 2–3
  14. ^ a b c Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 3
  15. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 209–212
  16. ^ a b c d Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 3–4
  17. ^ a b Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 32–33
  18. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 33–34, 54–57
  19. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 37–48
  20. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 31–32
  21. ^ a b Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 45–47
  22. ^ a b Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 123
  23. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 66–70
  24. ^ a b Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 40l, 65–66
  25. ^ Blakeney, Thomas (1969), Appendix A - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 221–222
  26. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 44–47, 50–52
  27. ^ a b Necrason, C F (1969), Epilogue - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 190
  28. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 50
  29. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 207
  30. ^ Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction to Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 4
  31. ^ Roster of the Alaska Territorial Guard, Alaska Territorial Guard, 1947
  32. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 104n
  33. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 40g, 40i, 40o, 104f, 104i, 200e, 200f, 200k, 204
  34. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 104a, 104f
  35. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 34–37
  36. ^ a b c d e Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 204
  37. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 40p
  38. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 159, 204
  39. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 40k
  40. ^ Heurlin, Rusty, Back the Attack
  41. ^ Heurlin, Rusty, From Metlakatla to Barrow - The Territorial Guard
  42. ^ Gruening, Ernest (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 6
  43. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 40g, 40n
  44. ^ Jones, Joe, Major Marston
  45. ^ Jones, Joe, Signing Eskimos into the Alaska Territorial Guard
  46. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 40d, 40p
  47. ^ a b "Florence Nupok Malewotkuk". www.calacademy.org. Archived from the original on June 10, 2007.
  48. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 191–192
  49. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 103–104
  50. ^ Alaska Statehood Committee, University of Alaska, archived from the original on 2006-09-08
  51. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 205, 210–212, 215–217
  52. ^ "govinfo". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  53. ^ Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 1
  54. ^ Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 2
  55. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 17–22
  56. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 24–25
  57. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 33–34
  58. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 37–39
  59. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 45–50
  60. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 65–68
  61. ^ Necrason, C F (1969), Epilogue - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, p. 214
  62. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 138, 191–192
  63. ^ Gruening, Ernest (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 1–9
  64. ^ Marston, Marvin (1969), Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 200m
  65. ^ Gruening, Ernest (1969), Introduction - Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War, October House, pp. 8–9
  66. ^ Lester, Jean. 2008. Jorgy: The Life of Native Alaskan Bush Pilot and Airline Captain Holger "Jorgy" Jorgensen. Ester Republic Press.

External links

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