July 17, 1943 – Portland – 0400 hours

Twenty seven B-17’s took off in the darkness and headed west. Thirty five miles out to sea they headed north. By evening fifteen of them landed. They had bombed the Japanese airport at Juneau but twelve of the planes wouldn’t be returning. They’d become victims of Japanese fighters. A lesson learned in Europe had been learned again at a terrible cost. Like Europe, a fortified area in Alaska couldn’t be attacked without fighter escort. The Japanese had a firm hold in North America.

The next few days saw Japanese raids on several additional American and Canadian cities within a thousand miles of Juneau. Fortunately the Japanese didn’t have planes with longer ranges. Fighters were diverted to cover the northern approaches and several KC-17 tankers were diverted to provide them with the ability to roam further and maintain more patrols. The Japanese had brought the war to the Americans. For the first time in nearly a century, foreign troops were occupying American soil and attacking Americans in their homes. The mood of the country had turned sour toward the war and the military and civilian leaders. Clearly something had to be done.

Some additional fighter and tanker planes were recalled from Europe and stationed in the northwest for protection. Several new flights of fighters were stationed there rather than being sent to Europe. The Japanese threat was clearly pulling forces into the area rather than allowing them to be deployed to support the strategic plan. With this increased defensive posture the Japanese bombing raids became sporadic but they were still a threat. They tied up resources that should be available for use elsewhere. The lack of a warning system made the job more difficult and far more costly.

July 31, 1943 – Base Icebox

The engineers had been huddling together since the survey was finished. They worked fourteen to sixteen hours a day, the men joked that the living spaces could be heated with the heat from their slide rules. They had shot sun sights several times to be sure of directions. They had men in the camp line up the poles on the top of the huts with the sun, an accurate time gave the exact compass direction of the line between them. None of the men had any idea what they were doing but they watched and supported them in their work.