Was any part of the current 50 states of the US occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War?

Part of Alaska was occupied (although of course Alaska did not have statehood at that time). This occupation involved the Aleutian islands, when Attu and Kiska were invaded on 3 June 1942 by Japanese forces in order to divert American forces away from the main Japanese attack at Midway Atoll. The U.S. Navy, having broken the Japanese naval codes, concluded that this was just a diversion, and it did not expend large amounts of effort in defending the islands. More than 90 Americans were taken to Japan as prisoners of war. Most of the civilian population (over 800) of the Aleutians and Pribilovians were interned by the United States in camps in the Alaska Panhandle. During the Aleutian Islands Campaign, American and Canadian forces invaded Japanese-held Attu and defeated the Japanese, and subsequently regained control of all the islands (15 August 1943).

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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280 Comments

Marilou Tuason

Unfair, trick question . Wasn't Part of the US at that time.

Alicia Santos

Alaska was not a State at the time. Very misleading question

Mark Kubacki

Current 50 states was worked into the question.

Gary S. Hughes

Question did say current U S., good question

Ann Anniss

You all need to spend more time reading the question and less time whining!

John Y. Allison

Read the question. it did not say any state was occupied. It asked if any part of the current 50 states was occupied by the Japanese. It requires a little bit of thinking but is pretty straightforward.

srsireed

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Steve Linda Imhoff

Slippery question. I think that would have been considered occupation of Russian territory. I understand the question read current 50 states, but my understanding is these questions are intended to test general knowledge, not to see how many you can trip up on technicalities.

John Y. Allison

Steve Linda Imhoff, Alaska was purchased from Russia in the 19th century so no way it could have been Russian territory.

Howard Groopman

What's the problem? It clearly asks if any of the CURRENT 50 states was occupied. Alaska is one of the current 50 states. Not misleading at all. There were 48 states during WW2, and one of the future two was occupied.

houghtom

Marilou Tuason, the words current United States indicates that Alaska wasn't a state at the time but became one.

houghtom

My Dad flew B25s and B26s in that campaign. He said the dangers he faced were mostly bad weather. The Japanese zeros up there used pontoons to land on water. The pontoons made them less maneuverable.

Kelly Tharp

The U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, so we owned it. It was granted territorial status in 1912. In 1942, two of the outer Aleutian Islands—Attu and Kiska—were occupied by the Japanese during World War II. Alaska was granted U.S. statehood on January 3, 1959. So, it wasn't a state as WW 2 went from 1939, or 1941 (depending on what event you want to say started it), and the war ended in 1945. But, it was a territory - so technically it was ours, just not yet a state. Kinda a sneaky question.