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On the ground, sirens screamed. Men raced to anti-aircraft guns. Ships rushed to clear out of the harbor.

Army Fort Mears, with neat rows of closely-packed wooden barracks, presented a choice target. The bomber aimed for it and the communications facility on what became known as Suicide Hill. Zeros strafed the defenders in the trenches, then zipped back to their carriers.

"By 7:45 a.m. all the pilots and their crews had arrived safely home," says historian John Cloe in his book "The Aleutian Warriors."

Numbers reported by Cloe indicate more than 40 American dead at the end of the first day of the battle.

Dutch Harbor's defenders were handicapped by radio and radar problems. The closest air support, on Umnak Island, remained unaware of the attack until it was over. Planes based at Cold Bay heard the news, but were too far away to get there on time.

Nine newly arrived destroyers sat anchored in Makushin Bay, awaiting orders. But Rear Adm. Robert Theobald, in charge of Alaska Navy operations, was in the Gulf of Alaska with his flagship and observing radio silence. Six "vintage" submarines patrolled the North Pacific without encountering the invasion fleet.

The Navy force left to defend the Aleutians consisted of the gunship Charleston, five Coast Guard cutters and what Cloe calls "a motley collection" of patrol boat and requisitioned fishing craft. Only the Charleston had sonar or large guns. There were no guarantees that any of the weapons would work. Gov. Ernest Gruening heard from one officer that his ship had plenty of anti-aircraft ammunition but no anti-aircraft guns, and lots of depth charges but no way to safely deploy them.

Air power was similarly iffy. Planes deemed obsolete elsewhere were sent north, including B-18s, essentially a DC-3 prototype fitted to drop bombs. (Cloe notes the military didn't want the clunkers but Congress bought them anyway.) There were a number of seaplanes, good for scouting oceans but flying coffins in combat. The famed PBYs could carry bombs and guns, but with a cruising speed of 125 miles an hour, they seemed to be sitting still when challenged by a Zero coming in at 300 miles an hour. Three PBYs were shot down on the first day and another destroyed as it tried to take off.

But it could have been much worse.

The Japanese thought they would catch the Dutch Harbor defenders by surprise. In fact the Americans were on high alert. Their anti-aircraft fire surprised the attackers. Most of the PBYs had been dispersed to scattered bays and coves as a precaution. It was no accident that authorities ordered Anchorage's first blackout the night before.

America had broken the enemy's code. Top commanders knew the Dutch Harbor attack was coming. They also knew that the main Japanese force would not target Alaska, but west of Hawaii.

On the same day the Ryujo's bombers hit Dutch Harbor, B-17s made the first contact with the Japanese fleet approaching Midway Atoll. There, over the next four days, a monumental battle took place that has gone down as the most important naval engagement since Trafalgar -- maybe ever. By June 7, America had won a decisive victory and Japan's slow, hard-fought retreat had begun.

Day Two

All of that lay in the uncertain future as the Aleutian defenders braced themselves for the next attack. It came on the afternoon of June 4 and began with Americans getting their first kill. A P-40 fighter surprised and downed a Dave reconnaissance plane in sight of the landing strip on Umnak Island.