Gregory Golodoff was sitting in a sod-covered house when soldiers rolled in.
“We had heard gunfire from this side this side,. I’m not sure who said they were coming from this side. They’re coming from that side,” Golodoff said in a interview in 2018 – 75 years from The Battle of Attu.
In 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the Unangax village in 1942. It was there that the toddler Golodoff resided with his family.
Golodoff was the last person born and grew up in Attu the final island within the Aleutian Chain before making it to Russia.
Its death the 17th of November. 17 is the beginning of a time when there were people still alive who lived in the now-defunct village.
The Japanese army took over Attu for three months prior to sending all the of the Attu people into Japan as prisoners of war.
The entire family of Golodoff was held in a dormitory in Otaru, the Port city Otaru which is located approximately 500 miles to the north of Tokyo. The following three years were filled with malnutrition and illness, with the family straddling the line between starvation and hunger.
“We would get an empty bowl of rice each day or an salted herring” Golodoff said.
He recalled the cooks taking the time to pamper him and treating him as “a dog.”
“I was an adorable little boy I think, as an Japanese cook would scrape the cooked rice from the pan and then brought the rice to me.” the boy recalled.
People who were acquainted with Golodoff throughout his lifetime have expressed surprise at the lack of anger he had towards his captors. The empathy he felt is evident in his earliest memories.
“Well I’m sorry to say that we were hungry and that was also true for Japanese,” he said. Japanese,” he said. “The Japanese were starving, too.”
Try to forget
Half of the Attuan POWs escaped the incident. Golodoff was there like his mother, brother Nick along with his sibling, Elizabeth. However, many family members did not get through, such as Golodoff’s father who passed away from a disease in Japan.
“We burned them all,” Golodoff said. “All those who perished from Japan.”
Some of them survived and were released after the war was over however, they were not able to go to their homes. Many homes were destroyed in addition, it was the United States government judged it impossible to move the POWs who were released home to Attu.
The village was destroyed and those who remained were moved to different communities. Golodoff as well as his loved ones landed in Atka at an Unangax village located 500 miles to the east of Attu.
People who died in Japan were also taken to Atka for burial. rest.
“They brought them back in three coffins” Golodoff said. “All the ashes were put in three coffins were burial by the church in Atka.”
Golodoff was a major part of his time in Atka. He was a hunter, subsistence-based fishing, hunted and said that he did not have time to think about the conflict.
“I did not have time to think about anything since most times we were required the task of hunting for food go out fishing and such,” he said.
He enlisted in the Army and served in Germany after which he moved into Atka. He managed the village store and was elected the chief of the tribal in the 1980s during a time when Atka experienced substantial growth, which included the building of a new school and subdivision located about a mile from the village.
After during the conflict, Golodoff claimed that the survivors were reluctant to discuss what transpired. He wouldn’t even discuss the war with his mother.
“She has never spoken to me about anything. They aren’t interested in discussing things similar to this. They’d rather forget about it,” He declared.
A younger Generation of Attuan descendants are discussing it. Crystal Dushkin grew up in Atka however her great-grandmother came from Attu.
“A number of people use the Aleutian Campaign as the ‘Forgotten War”” Dushkin said in a 2017 interview with KUCB. “But our people have never forgotten it. It has never faded from our memories.”
Dushkin is among the many who are dedicated to preserving the culture of Unangax and the legacy of Attu.
“That’s my wish for the next generation also,” she said. “To never lose sight of the lessons that our grandparents gave us. Remember them always and ensure that they pass it on in their own children as well as grandchildren to ensure that it’s not lost.”
Now and then
Many people refer to with the Aleutian Campaign to the attack on Pearl Harbor, but Pearl Harbor was a direct attack from the skies. It was the Battle of Attu, and another similar battle in Kiska, the Aleutian Island in Kiska are the sole time that the Japanese actually entered in the United States. It was the Aleutian Campaign was the first when foreign troops occupied American territory after 1812, the War of 1812.
In 2012 in 2012, The National Parks Service held a gathering for all Attuan relatives and the survivors. Golodoff was keen to meet others of his lineage however, he also wanted to get in touch with the other survivors of POWs.
“I was hoping to see my friends,” he said. “Then I got there and was disappointed. No one survived, except for us.”
There were just three of them left. Greg Nick, his brother Nick as well as his sibling Elizabeth Kudrin.
“I think we’ve had the longest life. It’s that’s all.” the man said.
Nick Golodoff passed away two years after the reunion, leaving only Gregory as well as Elizabeth.
In February, Elizabeth passed away.
Not forgotten, but not lost
Gregory Golodoff passed away in Anchorage on November. 17 at the age of 84.
The next day, dozens of people flocked to St. Innocent Cathedral in Anchorage to pay tributes to the saint.
Moses Dirks is an Unangax scholar who is also a acquaintance of Golodoff from Atka. As a child was a fan of Golodoff and was an ideal role model in the community.
“He was always kind and helpful, and he would always be willing to assist the people in Atka over the years,” Dirks said.
Golodoff’s niece Joanna Thompson, said she was impressed by the fact that her uncle was never able to express any anger or resentment over the things that was happening to his family.
“Uncle Greg just turned it into something other than what it was,” she said. “He could be one of the children that died. He was fortunate to be alive. And the joy he found every day.”
Dimitri Philemonof, the CEO of the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, spoke of Golodoff as a humble and quiet person.
“Throughout his entire life, he’s been a fantastic leader,” he said. “I did not see him as a hateful person or anything like that. I believe that is a huge affirmation about people of the Aleut folks.”
Golodoff was the only one in Earth that was born in and lived within Attu, a town that was lost to war. He was also the final American citizen living in the home of foreign forces. To Golodoff these were only details of his existence.
“It’s simply something that happened. It’s inevitable that things occur. Everyone will be affected by some thing,” he said. “We’re not here in the real sense. The dust that we came from, and to dust that our bodies return. So we don’t die, as far as I’m concerned. We don’t die. We may leave our bodies, but that’s not the point. not the point.”
Golodoff was buried in the Anchorage Memorial Park cemetery on November. 27.
