Last Letters from Attu: The True Story of Etta Jones, Alaska Pioneer and Japanese POW - Hardcover

Breu, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0882409816 ISBN 13: 9780882409818

Publisher: Alaska Northwest Books, 2013

Synopsis

Etta Jones was not a World War II soldier or a  war time spy. She was an American school teacher who in 1941 who along with her husband, Foster agreed to teach the Natives on the remote Aleutian island of Attu.  They were both sixty-two years old when they left Alaska's mainland for Attu against the advice of friends and family.   Etta, and her sister moved to the Territory of Alaska in 1922.  She planned to stay only one year as a vacation, but this 40 something year old nurse from back east met Foster Jones and fell in love. She married and for nearly twenty years they taught in remote Alaskan villages including their last posting on  Attu Island at the far end of the Aleutian island chain. Etta's life changed forever on that Sunday morning in June 1942  when almost 2,000 Japanese military men invaded Attu Island and Etta became a prisoner of war. She was taken from American soil to Japan and given up for dead. This is the story of a brave American, a woman of courage and resolve with inextinguishable spirit. 

About this title

About the Author:

At the conclusion of her own thirty-four year teaching career, Mary Breu set out to write the story of her great-aunt, Etta Jones. After doing extensive research, Mary used Etta's letters, old photographs, Etta's unpublished manuscript written after her captivity, and her research to write this book. She holds a bachelor's and master's degrees. She lives with her husband Jerry in South Carolina.

Review:

Etta Jones was a nurse and teacher in the Alaska Bush. She was living on Attu when Japanese took the island in World War II and, with the rest of the civilian population, incarcerated in Japan for the rest of the war. Her letters and photographs have been used by her grand-niece, Mary Breu for this book.

                                                         ---Mike Dunham, Anchorage Daily News

About this edition

• Publisher: Alaska Northwest Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0882409816
• ISBN 13: 9780882409818
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 319