Talk:Battle of the Aleutian Islands

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this article needs a map. Where are those islands?

Contents 1 Articles about WWII 2 Strategic value 3 American Soil? 4 Not a diversion 5 World War II: Aleutian Islands

[edit] Articles about WWII

Editors and authors of internationally available articles may be unaware, but World War II, despite America's limited casualties compared to some nations, is a very, very sensitive topic in our society. We hold our World War II veterans in special esteem. Because of this, I make the following polite suggestions to my fellow Wikians as we edit and write articles.

1. Avoid writing the expression "the Americans." Americans do not ever refer to themselves as "the Americans." When refering to the US Army or forces of invasion, it is more appropriate to say "US Forces" or to name the military service and regiments involved than it is to say "The Americans."

2. Avoid calling American forces which launched an assault on Attu as "The Invaders." Attu was the property of the United States. The Japanese were "the invaders." The American forces were liberators.

I think you may be being a bit sensitive about this. The U.S. Army's own history of the campaign [1] uses the phrase "the Americans" many times. And "invade" is just a synonym for "attack", used in some other U.S. Army histories for US attacks on occupied Allied territories). However, if these words offend you, change the article to remove them. Gdr 18:36, 2004 Nov 18 (UTC)

Well, I don't know what society you're talking about. I've never heard an American who wasn't an idiot call himself a Unitedstatesperson, but now that I think about it, I haven't heard anyone call themselves a Unitedstatesperson. D. Wo. 07:42, 2005 Apr 10 (UTC)

This discussion appears to have "petered-out" some time ago, but, just for the record, I support referring to USA military forces as "U.S." instead of "Americans." "American" can refer to anyone from the North or South American continents and therefore, isn't a precise enough description for an encyclopedia. Using the term "U.S." should help avoid confusion. It's not perfect (for example, the official name of Mexico is "The United States of Mexico") but it hopefully will work. Cla68 20:47, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Strategic value

An anonymous editor removed the phrase "The islands had no strategic value for either side", commenting "Removed the silly statement about how it had no strategic value, added the belief that Japanese would use Attu to launch aerial campaigns against mainland". I understand that there was fear, but I don't see how that creates strategic value. In particular, I don't think the Japanese could have launched an aerial campaign against the US mainland: they had no long-range bomber, and they lacked the resources to build and supply an airfield in the Aleutians. Please comment. Gdr 18:44, 2004 Nov 18 (UTC)

[edit] American Soil?

The Aleutian Islands were not American soil in 1943; Alaska was not a state at that time. Of course, one could say that because the islands were governed by the United States at that time, they were American soil, but the Philippines, Wake Island and Guam were too. D. Wo. 07:39, 2005 Apr 10 (UTC)

In 1941, Alaska was a Territory of the United States on track for statehood; the Philippines were a semi-independent Commonwealth with full independence scheduled for 1946; and Guam a possession under military rule with no self-administration. So the situations are far from parallel. Gdr 18:43, 2005 Apr 10 (UTC)

Perhaps "American territory" would be more appropriate than American soil then? JW 13:08, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

Canadian historians note the Aleutians were "North American soil" (ie American soil) due to the fact that Canadian conscripts were sent there in 1943. It was due to this technicality (ie being American soil) that they were sent, as the Government promised at that time not to have Canadian draftees fighting on "foreign soil". So the description is apt.Michael Dorosh 17:12, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Didn't Pancho Villa's forces invade Texas in 1910? Czolgolz 22:01, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Not a diversion

In the intro it says that a book makes the case that Operation AL was "not a diversion" - but the article does not include a single reference to any of the evidence presented. Conversely, Lord in BATTLE OF MIDWAY et al all describe it as a diversion to AF, the invasion of Midway. Would it be possible for someone with the book to actually spell out what the reasoning is for the Aleutians not being a Japanese diversion to the Midway battle? If not, then that para of the intro should be deleted.Michael Dorosh 17:12, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] World War II: Aleutian Islands

The article, World War II: Aleutian Islands has been created (by me) based on [2]

I did so before I realized that this page existed. There is certainly more easily digestable information here, and more overall detail there. There are two primary approaches to take:

• Merge any major details from World War II: Aleutian Islands into this article and redirect it.
• Leave it and/or cut out some redundant information, and link to it as a "detailed battle history" from here.

Thoughts? -Harmil 13:08, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

I suggest you make an overall article on the Aleutian Islands campaign which covers the whole campaign at a summary level, with detailed articles on the individual battles and operations. Don't be afraid to break up this page. Gdr 18:18:52, 2005-08-08 (UTC)