By JILL FANKHAUSER
Alaska Star

The Alaska National Guard gave a photo titled “Aleut Pete” and another of the military men storming a beach in the 1940s to the Alaska Star to print in the Oct. 16 paper. The Guard didn't know who the men were.

We now know, thanks to Suellyn Novak, president of the Alaska Veterans Museum, that “Aleut Pete” is actually Alaska Scout Simeon P. Pletnikoff — reportedly the most decorated Army soldier in the Aleutian Campaign.

The Alaska Scouts were an Army intelligence unit that helped defend the Aleutian Chain in World War II from Japanese enemy planes and invasion. The unit, comprised of more than 60 men, disbanded in 1946. Only three members are alive today. They were recently reunited at the opening of the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center and Alaska Veteran Museum's exhibit on the Alaska Scouts. The exhibit is open until September 2009.

If you know the names of the soldiers in the beach photo, please e-mail jill.fankauser@alaskastar.com or call 694-2727, ext. 215.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, October 23, 2008.