Salvaging Coastline
Assemblage, 2018
US Navy WWII bandages and bandage boxes, sand from Massacre Beach, Marine Algae of the Aleutian Islands (membrandimorphalg) from Massacre Bay, aluminum containers, burlap, raw cut fabric, thread, on wood
15.5" x 13.5" x 2.5"
Massacre Valley and Massacre Bay, on the southeast coast, were key locations in the Battle of Attu. Much of the amphibious force of 15,000 US troops that retook the island landed on its black-sanded beach. The sinister name “Massacre Bay” originates much earlier when 15 Unangax (Aleut) were murdered by promyshlenniki (Russian fur traders). This happened in 1745, during the first European landing on the island.
The Battle of Attu killed 592 US soldiers and wounded 1148. An additional 1200 suffered severe cold injuries, 614 disease (including exposure), and 318 psychiatric breakdowns, self-inflicted wounds and accidents. Total US casualties: 3829. The Americans buried 2351 Japanese bodies on the island, many of them mutilated by their own grenades.
