Aleutian Islands campaign

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The Aleutian Islands campaign (Japanese: アリューシャン方面の戦い, romanized: Aryūshan hōmen no tatakai) was a military campaign fought between 3 June 1942 and 15 August 1943 on and around the Aleutian Islands, part of the US Territory of Alaska, in the American Theater of World War II during the Pacific War. It was the only military campaign of World War II fought on North American soil. The islands' strategic value was their ability to control Pacific transportation routes. U.S. General Billy Mitchell told the U.S. Congress in 1935, "I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in the world." The Japanese reasoned that their control of the Aleutians would prevent a possible joining of forces by the Americans and the Soviets and future attack on the Japanese mainland via the Kuril Islands. Similarly, the U.S. feared that the islands could be used as bases from which to launch air raids on West Coast cities such as Anchorage...

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