The island of Attu in the Aleutians was captured by the Japanese following the bombing of Pearl Harbor and, although it had no strategic value, the Americans were having a morale drop with American land being occupied. So, after 9 months of occupation, the Americans finally launched an attack to reclaim Attu, with the 7th Scouts being an important factor in the attack despite being only 200 men strong. After multiple pushbacks of the assault date, the scouts landed before dawn on May 11th 1943 on Scarlet Beach and made their way to Holtz Bay after climbing more than 3,000 feet to make sure that when the main attack began the Japanese didn’t retreat while at the same time flanking the Japanese. The scouts wouldn’t be discovered for a day after their arrival though despite the fact that they dumped their gear on the ground as they advanced because it was unnecessary, such as gas masks.
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