Page 66 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

had two levels, the largest and heaviest stacked in the lower level, and we rode on
benches in the upper level. After closing the doors and taxiing to the end of a 10,000
feet long runway, the engines were revved at full speed for almost two minutes. Finally,
as the brakes were released, the plane moved slowly forward, and then gradually
picked up speed as we rolled down the runway for an incredibly long time. Finally,
when the end of the runway appeared, the huge machine lifted off the ground and
slowly climbed above the Alaskan landscape. It took seemed to take at least 10 to 15
minutes to reach an altitude that would clear most of the surrounding terrain.

After six hours, the plane stopped on Adak Island long enough for us to eat a meal, then
took off for Shemya. It took only two more hours for us to reach our destination. After
my first look at Shemya, I wrote home that “this place is really different from any place
I had ever been”. We were taken to our living quarters in an old building that formerly
was a hospital in World War II. Inside it was quite nice. It had a snack bar, mess hall,
place to watch movies, and a barber shop all in one building. The problem was this was
near the northern side of the island, and the weather station was on the southern side.

We were halfway between Tokyo and Anchorage, and the nearest large island was
Attu, about 40 miles to the west. The Japanese Northern Army had occupied that island
during World War II in 1942. Prior to that, two school teachers, Foster and his wife,
Etta Jones, had been selected by the Department of the Interior to move to Attu, teach
school and set up a weather station at the westernmost island of the Aleutian chain.

A weather report from that site was essential because most storms that struck Alaska
came from that area. The island had a small native population of Aleuts, who were a
very gentle and friendly people who didn’t like the Japanese. The Japanese soldiers had
secretly settled on the opposite side of the island while the battle of Midway was taking
place to the south.

One day the enemy soldiers came over the mountain, forced the teachers from their
home and interrogated Foster about his radio transmissions. His wife saw him
surrounded by the soldiers and then shot in the head. The entire account can be read in
“Last Letters from Attu”, a book compiled by Etta Jones after she was taken prisoner
and survived a Japanese POW camp in Japan throughout the entire war.

58