Somehow, through history, many have forgotten that there indeed was a bloody campaign on American soil in World War II. For the half-million American servicemen who served in the Aleutians during the war it was very real. For the Japanese, too, it was more than a minor skirmish. Reprinted here are the first-hand accounts of "The Capture of Attu," first published in 1944 by the Infantry Journal. U.S. Intelligence failed to note the withdrawal of Japanese troops prior to this country's main offensive to recapture Kiska. There was comedy as we bombarded the em pty island with propaganda, then tragedy as dozens of Americans were killed by friendly fire when troops invaded the fog-shrouded island, already abandoned by the Japanese. On Attu the fighting was fierce and bloody. This is a unique piece of military literature and World War II history, written in part by then corporal Dashiell Hammett, "The Capture of Attu" -- a vivid account from World War II every American should read.