Top Photo: The Battle-Damaged Helmet of Alvy Morgado. Gift in Memory of Alvy Morgado, 2021.039.001

On December 7, 1941, American outposts and installations in the Pacific were attacked by forces of the Empire of Japan. Six months later, on June 3, 1942, they attacked again, this time against American islands in the Alaskan Territory. Within four days, the islands of Kiska and Attu had been occupied by the Japanese, seeing the capture of American naval personnel and the deportation of the local Aleut population to the Japanese Home Islands. The fight to take back these islands would be long, arduous, and bloody, with the American-to-Japanese casualty ratio only exceeded by that of the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. This helmet, worn by one of the 15,000 American servicemembers sent to take back the island of Attu in May 1943, offers a window into the chaotic last attack of the Japanese garrison that came within a hair’s breadth of breaking the American lines.

In May 1943, Alvy Edwin Morgado was a 24-year-old Private First Class in Company I, 3rd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. The son of Portuguese immigrants, Morgado was born and raised in Chico, California. He had been drafted into the US Army on February 18, 1941, as part of his hometown’s “third and largest group” of draft quotas: a grand total of 36 men. He joined the 17th Infantry at Fort Ord in California and spent a year on duty within the state before Morgado and his fellow soldiers were selected for the duty of retaking the Aleutian Islands from their Japanese occupiers. The 7th Infantry Division was put through amphibious training at Fort Ord and San Luis Obispo from January to April 1943, deploying north on April 24. Just 17 days later the men finally landed on the muddy, freezing shores of Attu’s Massacre Bay.

A 1944 Office of War Information map depicting the American advances leading up to May 26,1943. Company I would be the rightmost line touching the bottom of the Japanese perimeter. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

The men were met with determined resistance and unrelenting weather, with fog reducing visibility and the cold leading to sickness and injury. Morgado, serving under Staff Sergeant Charles H. Roberts, was designated assistant squad leader as his company advanced along the American right flank of the Sarana-Chichagof Pass. On May 26, Company I relieved the 17th’s Company L near Vanderlaan Peak, the last major elevation before the remaining Japanese strongpoints surrounding Chichagof Harbor.

This aerial view of Japanese positions south of Chichagof Harbor near Vanderlaan Peak on May 24, 1943, shows the area’s typical defensive trenches. Courtesy of the National Archives 

That day, Company I began pushing forward against the 16 Japanese defenders entrenched on the elevation’s peak, with sporadic gunfire slowing the Americans down and resulting in the death of one infantryman. At nightfall the Japanese descended the slopes and attacked with a volley of grenades, an act that ultimately failed to dislodge the Americans from their new foxholes. Company I chose to advance before dawn on the 27th, with scouts from 3rd Platoon catching the defenders unawares and taking out four of the enemy with a volley of grenades. Automatic weapons were quickly brought up to suppress and eliminate the remaining 11 Japanese infantrymen, with the company commanders deciding to take over the now vacant positions in addition to the foxholes dug the previous night. One of the “dead” Japanese turned out to be pretending and made a run for it, later taking himself out with a grenade before he could be captured.

At night, two Japanese soldiers approached to see who was in control of Vanderlaan, with one making it back to his lines. With the enemy now likely aware of their position, the men of Company I’s 3rd Platoon reinforced the snow trenches in their area with “shelter boxes” and two Browning Automatic Rifles before being relieved by the men of 1st Platoon. Roughly 20 men were assigned to this point position, while the others were pulled back to guard the approaches. A water-cooled M1917A1 heavy machine gun was set up using Prestone antifreeze to let it function, as well as a lighter air-cooled M1919A4. For a while, nothing happened.

Troops with the 7th Infantry Division in the mountains of Attu alongside a snow trench similar to the ones used by Company I. Courtesy of the National Park Service

According to Roberts, the Japanese assault began around 3:00 a.m. on May 29 with a mortar barrage that overshot the American positions. The light machine gun crew fired a few shots before movement was seen by 23-year-old Private First Class Clarence John Steinbach. His shouted challenge was answered in surprisingly good English, confusing some of the defenders into thinking it was actually an American patrol coming to reach them. It was at this point that Alvy Morgado entered the fight.

Rushing to foxholes occupied by members of his squad, Morgado called for the men to rise up and brace for an attack. One of his fellow soldiers, 21-year-old Private Raymond Vincent Braun, told him it was just “our own patrol.” Morgado yelled at Braun to get out again just as a Japanese soldier stood to fire. Reacting quickly, Morgado raised his own weapon and shot the attacker. Now alerted, the rest of the men around him began to fire as Japanese troops hurled grenades and English insults as they advanced and fired. The company’s heavy machine gun froze up despite the use of antifreeze, forcing the crew to rely on sidearms to aid in the area’s defense. Morgado was stationed near Braun when a Japanese rifleman shot him in the helmet. Knocked down and bleeding, he wandered to the rear in a daze. Roberts remembered hearing Morgado calling back to Braun to “take your pills” before returning to the fight.  

After roughly an hour of fighting, the Japanese began to advance in the gap between 1st and 2nd Platoon. Two men were sent to plug this gap, one of whom was likely Morgado. According to his Bronze Star citation, Morgado saw an enemy patrol breaching his unit’s lines on their right flank and advanced on it without regard for his own personal safety. He then closed the distance until he was confident that he could hit his targets in the predawn gloom, dropping to one knee and opening fire. In the resulting firefight, Morgado successfully killed three members of the Japanese patrol and personally pushed their advance back enough for the line to stabilize. He also experienced his own brush with death, as a Japanese 7.7mm rifle round, fired from down the slope to his left, tore through the side of his helmet and exited the top. Miraculously, this bullet hit high enough to not puncture his helmet liner  , likely leaving Morgado with just a headache from the impact.

A detail view of Alvy Morgado’s helmet shows the entry and exit points of the Japanese bullet. Gift in Memory of Alvy Morgado, 2021.039.001

After this rapid defense, runners from 2nd Platoon brought fresh ammunition forward and American fire increased. Within an hour the Japanese assault was repulsed, and with the dawn the men of Company I could count the losses. Three Americans had fallen in the defense of Vanderlaan Peak, 32-year-old Sergeant Jonathan Harold Albright, 23-year-old Private First Class Clarence John Steinbach, and 22-year-old Private First Class Louis Joseph Marcinek. Company I counted 19 Japanese dead on the field, four of whom could be attributed to the actions of Morgado.

Casualties of Company I: Sergeant Jonathan Harold Albright and Private First Class Louis Joseph Marcinek. No photograph is currently available for Private First Class Clarence John Steinbach. Period Newspaper Images

Elsewhere along the front line, the rest of the Japanese garrison under Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki had launched a ferocious banzai charge, resigned to their fate after learning that no rescue force was coming. By the end of the 29th, at least 2,351 Japanese soldiers had fallen, with just 28 taken prisoner by the 7th Infantry Division. The Americans had suffered 549 killed and 2,962 other casualties, over half of which were caused by the unforgiving environment of Attu.

Japanese casualties from the final banzai charge seen in the area of the Sarana-Chichagof Pass. Company I was fighting in the mountains visible in the background, as were the men of the 7th who held off a determined attack at Engineer Hill. US Army Signal Corps Photograph

Morgado was promoted to Corporal and then Sergeant in the aftermath of the Battle of Attu. He went onto serve with the 7th Infantry Division in their fight across the Pacific, including the 1944 battle of Kwajalein. His unit was then sent to Hawaii for training, where Morgado was awarded the Bronze Star by 7th Infantry Division Assistant Commanding General Brigadier General Joseph Louis Ready on June 24, 1944, for his actions on Attu. Later, he fought through the liberation of the Philippines and was wounded during the Battle of Leyte on January 3, 1945. Morgado returned to the United States on August 28, 1945, as a Staff Sergeant, leaving the Army three days later. He lived a full life in California as a truck driver and farmer, passing away on January 21, 2013, at age 94. Throughout his life he held onto his battle-scarred helmet from Vanderlaan Peak, with his daughter donating this reminder of a forgotten battlefront to The National WWII Museum in 2021.