Unity soldier died in “forgotten” battle in Alaska during World War II

The Battle of Attu on one of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands is known among historians as the “Forgotten War” of World War II.

A man from Derry Township is making sure his great uncle, one of the 549 U.S. soldiers killed in that battle, is not forgotten.

David W. Bates was a native of the village of Trauger, Unity, and was 21 years old when he was killed in action on May 14, 1943, while participating in the campaign to expel the Japanese forces that had occupied Attu.

Scott Hudson remembered the stories about Bates and his sacrifice told to him by his grandmother, Dorothy Hudson, one of the soldier’s seven sisters.

“She told me stories about how he was killed at Massacre Bay,” Scott Hudson said. “She said, ‘I miss my brother. His nickname was Bud.'”

Scott Hudson said he spent about a year searching records online and at the National Archives in Maryland to learn more about what happened in Alaska and to honor his great-uncle and the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country.

Bates enlisted in service for his country in August 1942.

“My grandmother said he would join the Army when the time came,” Hudson said. “He probably thought he wouldn’t be drafted because he was the only boy in the family.”

Hudson reviewed his family’s correspondence and noted, “My great-grandmother mentioned that she never saw her son again after he was drafted. All his furloughs were canceled. He completed his training and was sent away, and she never saw him again.”

Bates was a private in Company L, 17th Infantry Regiment. Like his comrades among the 12,500 U.S. soldiers who arrived in Attu on May 11, 1943, he found himself in a fierce battle with Japanese enemies for control of the island and was ill-prepared for the harsh weather there.

According to a National Park Service report on the battle, the Army had not taken weather into account when equipping troops with outdoor gear. Many suffered from cold, frostbite, fever and “trench foot” – a condition of reduced blood flow to the feet caused by soldiers not being able to remove their soggy, poorly made boots for weeks.

The conditions the soldiers faced led to changes in the Army’s equipment and supplies in the field, according to the Park Service.

In relation to the number of troops involved, the 18-day battle on Attu is considered the second deadliest battle in the Pacific during World War II, just behind the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Bates was one of 549 U.S. soldiers who died on Attu. Other American casualties included 1,148 wounded, 1,200 with severe cold injuries and 614 suffering from various illnesses, including hypothermia.

Among the Japanese occupation forces, 2,351 people died and 28 were taken prisoner. The Park Service noted that many of the Japanese dead, faced with defeat, followed a traditional warrior code and committed suicide.

Five days after his death, Bates was buried by the military at Little Falls Cemetery on Attu.

The government covered the costs in 1948 when Bates was exhumed and his body brought home with military escort. After a visit to the Hartman Funeral Home in Latrobe and a funeral service at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Trauger, he was reinterred with military honors in Unity Cemetery.

“My grandmother wanted to see him, but she was told he couldn’t be seen,” Hudson said. “My great-grandfather had a heart attack that day,” but he survived.

A War Office telegram dated June 3, 1943, informed Bates’ parents William and Cleo of his death in action, although the date of his death was initially incorrectly given as May 17.

Given the initial secrecy surrounding the Aleutian operation, it took some time for the family to learn that David Bates had died on Attu. The telegram and other documents the family initially received revealed only that the death had occurred in the “North American area,” Hudson discovered.

A mixture of pain and pride regarding Bates’ death is evident in a copy of a letter that Bates’ mother had sent to military officials and which Hudson held in his hands.

On August 12, 1943, she continued to search for more information about the place where he had been killed, but expressed gratitude for correspondence from her son’s captain and chaplain, who “told her how bravely my son had died.”

She added: “He was my only son. I gave him everything I had and was so proud of him. His death certainly left a hole in my heart, but I know there is a just God and I put my trust in him.”

His life ended prematurely in the war, and since Bates only had two years of high school education, he was never able to reach his full potential in civilian life.

Among his few personal items that he sent home from Alaska were two fountain pens, a key, a lighter, a comb, two books, a leather wallet, and three cents.

Hudson’s search for more information about his great-uncle is not over yet. He plans to contact other relatives, including finding out the whereabouts of a posthumous Purple Heart that was awarded to Bates.

Last year, Hudson’s family had a bronze plaque placed next to his great uncle’s Unity headstone to ensure that the memory of his service and sacrifice is preserved.

“It is a good thing to remember and honor him,” he said.