In 1942, Japanese forces launched the only foreign occupation of American soil
While the world's focus was on the Pacific and Europe, Japanese forces seized two remote Alaskan islands in 1942, marking the only time a foreign power occupied American soil during World War II.
In June 1942, Japanese troops landed on the rugged islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian chain. This maneuver was partly a diversion for the Battle of Midway and partly a strategy to prevent the United States from using the islands as a launchpad for an invasion of Japan.
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