Fort Richardson National Cemetery (https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftrichardson.asp)
Fort Richardson National Cemetery is located on the Fort Richardson Military Reservation in Anchorage, Alaska. During World War II, 39 acres of Fort Richardson were set aside for use as a temporary burial site where deceased soldiers—regardless of nationality—could be laid to rest. Under the international program for the return of war dead, most of the soldiers interred at Fort Richardson were returned to their families. There were, however, some soldiers who remained buried at Fort Richardson either because the next of kin could not be found or their families requested that they remain interred in Alaska.
In December 1946, the temporary cemetery at Fort Richardson was made a permanent site. Initially there were two sections in the cemetery. The remains of Allied soldiers were buried within a fenced area referred to as the "Allied Plot." Japanese soldiers who died in battles for the Aleutian Islands were buried outside the fence in an area designated as the "Enemy Plot." In July 1953, the 235 Japanese war dead buried at Fort Richardson were disinterred for proper cremation with appropriate Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies, under the supervision of the Japanese Embassy. In May 1981, a group of Japanese citizens in Anchorage had a new marker made to remember the soldiers who, in death, remain far from home.
Notable Burials
- Major Kermit Roosevelt, Died 4 June 1943. He was the son of President Theodore Roosevelt and born October 10, 1889, at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, New York. Major Roosevelt served during two wars and under two flags. He first fought with the British in the Middle East, and subsequently served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. His memoirs of this war are titled War in the Garden of Eden. During World War II, he was again commissioned in the British Army before the United States entered the war, after which he was commissioned as a major in the Army and assigned to Fort Richardson. While in Alaska he flew with Army pilots as an observer when they made bomb runs over Japanese positions in the Aleutians. He also established a territorial militia of Eskimos and Aleuts to form the backbone of an insurgent underground should the Japanese overrun the region. Upon his death, his widow requested his remains be interred at Fort Richardson. He was interred in Section A, Plot 22, on June 8, 1943.
- Mr. Charles Foster Jones, Died c. 8 Jun 1942. He the only civilian killed by the Japanese Army in North America during World War II. Born 1 May 1879, he was the son of a doctor; his mother died when he was just four months old. He always wanted to travel. He attended Puget Sound University but when the Klondike Gold Strike hit, he took off for Chilkoot Pass where he wrote articles for his hometown newspaper and described his adventures, but never his fortune. Passing through Tanana, Charles went to the post office where he met Etta, a trained nurse and teacher and they were married 1 April 1923. With sled dogs they mushed to a cabin for a honeymoon. Over the years, they went from one remote community to the next where Etta taught and provided medical services while Charles was always a handyman. Later, frontiersman skills he also built a ham radio and obtained a license. Charles and Etta moved to the Island of Attu in 1941. Again, Etta was teacher and nurse, and Charles was the school repairman and band music teacher, but he also provided daily weather reports to the region, including the military. Just days after the failed campaigns at Midway and Dutch Harbor, the Japanese decided to take the Islands of Attu and Kiska as an island hopping campaign that would lead them to the mainland eventually. On 7 June 1942, as the Japanese approached the island Charles sent one final report, that the “Japanese are here” and then he destroyed the radio. The Japanese took all 42 members of the village captive. The Japanese tried to force him to repair the radio but he refused and they executed him with a shot to the head. His wife Etta was brought to his body, where the Japanese tried to make her believe he committed suicide and then cut his head off in front of her. He was buried without a coffin by the islanders –a small bottle was placed at the head of the grave in accordance with local custom, and all remaining inhabitants were removed to Japan as POWs; Etta was kept with Australian nurses and the others at a different location. During the battle to retake Attu, the Army Air Forces, destroyed the village structures to deny their use by the Japanese. Charles’ remains were located after the Army liberated the island on 29 May 1943. Charles’ remains were removed from Attu and interred at Fort Richardson National Cemetery with full military honors. He is in Plot A, Row 1, Grave 2, with many other veterans who died while in service to our nation. His marker does not bear a rank.
- Master Sergeant James Leroy Bondsteel (Vietnam). He received the Medal of Honor while serving in the U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 2d Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, for actions in Loc Province, Republic of Vietnam, May 24, 1969. Bondsteel died in 1987 and is buried in Section H, Site 19.
