Unalaska, Alaska, an iconic city.

From Anchorage, in our small single engine turboprop Cessna 208 Caravan we flew onto the Dutch Harbor Airport, a one strip runway on the Bearing Sea coast of Unalaska Island.  Shoved around by a strong crosswind made for an exciting landing, stopping just short of dropping into the sea.

Unalaska is the Aluet name, derived from the Russian word Ounalashka meaning near the mainland. Aluets have lived on the islands for at least 1,000 years. The Aleutian Islands stretch like a broken bridge from the continent Asia to the continent North America.  Anthropologists theorize they were the route of the first human occupants of the Americas.

Our mission was to engineer a seawater cooled heat exchanger system for a seafood processing plant.  While walking around the town of 2,300 people (in 1996), the locals I met were friendly and accommodating. The Russian architectural influence was evident by the Church of the Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Cathedral built in 1825. I was told it housed historic religious icons of Catherine the Great, the last Empress of Russia (reigned July 1762-November 1796; died 2 months later).

But what really piqued my interest was learning that Unalaska was the only part of the US, besides Pearl Harbor that was bombed in 1942 by Japanese Zeros during World War II. It happened at the Battle of Dutch Harbor, six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Dutch Harbor US Naval Operating Base and adjacent Fort Mears were abandoned after the end of the war. Remnants of bunkers, Quonset huts, and barracks were still standing.

Yes, even more historic icons.