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Alaska Territorial Guard Day   Printer Friendly

WHEREAS, Alaska Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening feared Alaska would be the next target for attack following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and knew the United States did not have the extra soldiers and equipment to protect and defend his Territory; and

WHEREAS, Majors Marvin “Muktuk” Marston and Carl Scheibner were dispatched across Alaska to recruit and enlist volunteers to train and prepare to defend their towns and villages if the Japanese invaded, forming the Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG); and

WHEREAS, 6,600 men and women, mostly Alaska Native and some as young as 11, enlisted in the ATG to patrol more than 5,200 miles of Alaska coast; and WHEREAS, the Army provided some radio equipment, World War I uniforms, rifles, and ammunition, but no pay or provisions were given to the volunteer force which was dissolved after the end of World War II; and

WHEREAS, the members of the ATG were volunteers and Alaska was not yet a state, and so the service of ATG members was not considered military service; and

WHEREAS, in 2000, Senator Ted Stevens introduced legislation that changed federal law so ATG members received credit for their time in active federal service, and making them eligible for benefits from the Veterans Administration; and

WHEREAS, on October 18, 2004, the long overdue recognition of the service of the ATG took place when Mr. Sam Herman became the first Alaska Territorial Guardsman to be presented a discharge certificate from the United States Army. Today, almost 2,000 Alaska Territorial Guard veterans have applied for, and received, honorable discharges;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sean Parnell, Governor of the State of Alaska, do hereby proclaim October 18, 2009 as:

Alaska Territorial Guard Day

in Alaska, and encourage all Alaskans to honor and thank those veterans of the Alaska Territorial Guard for their loyal service and sacrifice in defense of our State and freedoms.

Dated: October 18, 2009