Alaska Scouts Sgt. Ed Walker (left) shakes hands with William "Billy" Buck. Brig. Gen. Earl Acuff stand between the two men. The last three Alaksa Scouts were reunited for first time since World War II. The men fought together in defense of the Alaska during the war as part of a combat intelligence unit famously known as Castner's Cutthroats. Star Photo by Jill Fankhauser

The reunion was spurred by an Alaska Veterans Museum project. For the last two years, the museum worked with the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center to create an exhibit dedicated to the Alaska Scouts and their role in World War II.

The last three remaining scouts shared their unique Alaska war experience with an audience at the exhibit's opening.

The scouts fought in the Aleutian Campaign from 1941 to 1943, defending the islands from Japanese occupation during World War II. Japanese forces occupied Attu and Kiska in an attempt to control the north Pacific. The scouts gathered intelligence to help the United States eject enemy forces out of Alaska.

At the exhibit opening, retired Brig. Gen. Earl Acuff, 91, Sgt. Ed Walker, 90, and T-5 William “Billy” Buck, 89 received long-overdue honorable service medals that thanked them and welcomed them home.

Fellow scout Buck Delkette was awarded posthumously. He shared his stories with the veterans museum and helped inspire the veterans' exhibit, said Suellyn Novak, president of the Alaska Veterans Museum.

“We want to thank you — and a hearty welcome home,” Novak said.

The Alaska Scouts were officially known as the 1st Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional). The unit was put together in 1941 by Col. Lawrence Castner, an intelligence officer for Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner's Alaskan Defense Command. Their job was to keep an eye out for a Japanese invasion of Alaska.

“(Castner) knew he needed intelligence about what the Japanese were doing on the Aleutian Islands,” Novak said. “He took prospectors, hunters, trappers, fisherman; he taught them intelligence-gathering techniques and commando roles.”

The unit had to be self-sufficient and had three missions: gather intelligence, train other soldiers to live off the land and map and survey Alaska.

“It's a story that few people know. They are truly are forgotten warriors.” Novak said. “That's true of many of them in the Aleutian Campaign, but especially true for these guys. It was combat intelligence, therefore all of that was secret.”

Lt. Acuff and Sgt. Walker came to Alaska from different wartime posts in the Lower 48. Neither of them fit in nor liked to follow the rules, they said, but both were good outdoorsmen and survivalists.

Buck, one of 10 Alaska Natives in the 60-man unit, was brought into the group as a Post Scout in Cold Bay. He appealed directly to Buckner to join the combat intelligence group — something he was looked down on for doing because he went directly to the top of the Alaska command. But Buck shortly afterwards led a rescue of a B-18 bomber crew and the oversight was forgotten.

Walker first met Acuff on a remote Aleutian island. Acuff was dispatched to the island to watch for Japanese planes. He was told to keep radio silence unless he saw the enemy. The Army never heard from Acuff and thought he was dead. Walker and a few men were sent to recover Acuff's body. Walker first spotted Acuff on a mountain as Walker's boat approached the beach.

“He came down that mountain, and I swear he was taking 10-foot steps,” Walker said. “He came down that mountain and up the beach and he wasn't even breathing hard. He was one super man.”

It turned out that Acuff hadn't seen any enemy planes and was enjoying living off of king crab, ptarmigan and halibut.

The men had many adventures together during the war; they slept in spruce-bough beds in tents on Fort Richardson; they caught and cooked their own food on post, built smokehouses to smoke two tons of salmon, managed dog teams and trained other soldiers to live off the land.

They also had several run-ins with Japanese while on assignment in the Aleutians. They couldn't take many prisoners of war because the Japanese soldiers were suicidal and often tried to kill American soldiers by blowing themselves up, Acuff said.

The scouts disbanded in 1946. The men went their separate ways.

Acuff left the Army and went into teaching. He was later called up to lead infantrymen in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He is one of few servicemen to hold three combat infantry badges, Novak said. He lives in Blacksburg, Va.

Walker lives in Palmer. He became an entrepreneur and reportedly built Valdez's largest hotel after he left the military life. He recently wrote his autobiography and hopes to publish it soon.

Buck lives in Glennallen. He stayed in touch with Buck Delkette.

In 1943, after the Aleutian Campaign, the scouts returned to Fort Richardson and set out on surveying assignments along the northern edge of Alaska. Men like Buck taught soldiers how to build dog sleds and mush dog teams — the only way to navigate the Arctic at the time.

Many photographs and artifacts used in the surveying and the war are on display at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. The exhibit will be on display until September 2009.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, October 9, 2008.