ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Officials on Friday posthumously honored more than a dozen members of a largely Native Alaskan citizen militia who protected the U.S. territory from the threat of Japanese invasion during World War II, bringing closure to their families for a service that went unrecognized for decades.
Gov. Bill Walker and state veterans affairs officials presented Army discharge papers to the relatives of 16 deceased members of the Alaska Territorial Guard during a ceremony ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
The event was an emotional time for Rebecca Czyz, the niece of militia member and Inupiat Eskimo sharpshooter Laura Beltz Wright, who was among just 23 women in the 6,400-member unit.
Czyz grew up with her aunt, who died in 1996. She said Wright was an adventurous woman who could outshoot most. She once ran mail by dog sled between villages and later owned a parka shop in Anchorage. She once told her niece that she would be fine with just a tent and a frying pan.
Czyz knew her aunt had served in the Territorial Guard but never paid much attention to that part of her life. She became more interested as she got older, and seeing the discharge papers gave her closure, Czyz said.