[Kyt]

http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=7217004

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Thursday is Alaska Day but it's also a lesser known day to commemorate a largely Native militia created during World War Two.

Alaska was still a territory when the Alaska Territorial Guard was called up in 1942 to protect it from the threat of Japanese aggression.

The guard was activated after Japan's attack of Pearl Harbor and points along Alaska's Aleutian Islands.

Members of the Alaska National Guard had already been called up for federal service and others had been drafted overseas, leaving the vast territory vulnerable to further attack.

So boys and old men made up a large part of the 6,600-member territorial guard. Men of fighting age exempt from war duty and some sharpshooting women also joined the civilian unit.

Today there are an estimated 300 members still living.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the disbanding of the territorial guard. And it's just the third year since the Army formally recognized its members as U.S. military veterans.