Lock and Load Tactical Hell Frozen Over

In June of 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army seized the island of Attu in the Aleutian Islands of the United States’ Alaskan Territory. The United States, fearing the Japanese would use this strategic location as a base to control the northern Pacific Ocean’s sea lanes, launched an assault in May of 1943. The 2,500 Japanese soldiers, mostly of the 301st Independent Infantry Battalion, were dug-in in the high mountains to defend against the Americans of the 7th and 32nd Infantry Regiments of the 7th Division. An arduous, nearly three-week campaign fought in brutal arctic conditions over bleak, rugged mountainous terrain ensued, climaxing in one of the largest Banzai charges of the war.