ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Officials on Friday posthumously honored more than a dozen members of a largely Alaska Native citizen militia who protected the US territory from the threat of Japanese invasion during World War II, bringing closure to their families for a service that went unrecognized for decades.
Gov. Bill Walker and state veterans affairs officials presented Army discharge papers to the relatives of 16 deceased members of the Alaska Territorial Guard during a ceremony ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
The event was an emotional time for Rebecca Czyz, the niece of militia member and Inupiat Eskimo sharpshooter Laura Beltz Wright, who was among just 23 women in the 6,400-member unit.
Czyz grew up with her aunt, who died in 1996. She said Wright was an adventurous woman who could outshoot most. She once ran mail by dog sled between villages and later owned a parka shop in Anchorage. She once told her niece that she would be fine with just a tent and a frying pan.
Czyz knew her aunt had served in the Territorial Guard but never paid much attention to that part of her life. She became more interested as she got older, and seeing the discharge papers gave her closure, Czyz said.
“I just felt very proud,” she said. “It would have been an honor for her to be here, but at least her family can accept this award for her.”
Also recognized was Jay B. Mallott, father of Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who could not make the event after his flight was canceled. The lieutenant governor’s son, Ben Mallott, received his grandfather’s papers.
“It feels pretty good to have his service honored and recognized,” he said.
Alaska was still 17 years away from statehood when the militia formed in 1942 after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and points along Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
Nicknamed Uncle Sam’s Men and Eskimo Scouts, the volunteer members stepped in to watch over the 586,000-square-mile territory, which was vulnerable to further attack with the National Guard pressed into federal service. And they did it without pay.
The militia disbanded with little fanfare in 1947, almost two years after the war ended. But members were not formally recognized by the Army as military veterans until 2004.
Nearly 2,600 discharge papers have been issued since then by the Army, which has worked with the state Department of Veterans and Military Affairs to obtain the documents. Officials at Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage plan to make the ceremony a yearly event as more papers are issued.
Mercedes Angerman, deputy director of the state military agency, said obtaining the discharge papers is a lengthy and sometimes challenging process.
Surviving relatives can have different last names than the Territorial Guard members. Sometimes families don’t realize their relative served in the unit or they don’t know the member’s date of birth, which is required.
“Sometimes it’s like catching the wind,” Angerman said.
She said the goal is to ultimately obtain a discharge for every member. Once families receive the documents, they qualify for a free headstone for the militia members from the National Cemetery Administration.
Alaska Natives honored for protecting territory during WWII
Alaska Natives honored for protecting territory during WWII
Uganda’s presidential election experiences hours of delays at some polling stations
- Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges“
- The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters
KAMPALA, Uganda: Uganda’s presidential election was plagued by widespread delays Thursday in addition to a days-long Internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.
Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges,” according to the nation’s electoral commission, which asked polling officers to use paper registration records to ensure the difficulties did not “disenfranchise any voter.”
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.
The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls are expected to close at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the electoral commission. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.
Impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays Thursday morning. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.
“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do,” he said.
Wine alleged there was electoral fraud occurring, noting that biometric voter identification machines were not working at polling places and claiming there was “ballot stuffing.”
“Our leaders, including Deputy President for Western Region, arrested. Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations,” Wine wrote in a post on social media platform X.
Museveni told journalists he was notfied biometric machines were inoperable at some stations and he supported the electoral body’s decision to revert to paper registration records. He did not comment on the allegation of fraud.
Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.
Nganda also noted biometric machines were malfunctioning, in addition to the late arrival of balloting materials, and predicted the delays likely would lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support.
“It’s going to be chaos,” he said Thursday morning.
Nicholas Sengoba, an independent analyst and newspaper columnist, said delays to the start of voting in urban, opposition areas favored the ruling party.
Museveni serving Africa’s third-longest presidential term
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. Some critics say removing him through elections remains difficult, but the aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59 percent, Wine secured 35 percent of the ballots against Museveni’s 58 percent, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.
The lead-up to Thursday’s election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and opposition strategies to prevent vote tampering at polling stations.
Uganda’s Internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.
Heavy security deployed
There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.
Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.
Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.
“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.
The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.
“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right.”
Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”
Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.
