Date: March 19, 2002
My father served on Adak and Amchitka Islands during World War 2. He arrived on Adak in late 1942, and remembers that it was about a month after the base was established. He was stationed there almost 1 year, before being sent to Amchitka. He made a brief stopover again on his way home in 1944.
The photos show practice landings made at Kuluk Bay, prior to the landings to retake Kiska Island from the Japanese. Dad said that during his year on the island that they lived in tents like the ones shown in one of the photos. The church was a Quonset Hut, and the mess hall was the most substantial building on the island. Dad says the day he took the photo of his friend with a barrel that had washed up on the beach, they were just walking around the island. The barrel contained lard. Dad said the rocky beach was on one side of the island, but I don't know exactly where.
He believes that he has more photos stored somewhere, and he also has many photos of Amchitka Island, if you are interested.I hope you will find the photos interesting, and can use them. Let me know if you would like more details of life on the island in 1942 &1943. My dad's stories make it sound like a beautiful but pretty hostile environment.
Regards -- Richard Kurish
You can also start the show from any of these photographs: