LAST LETTERS from ATTU
The True Story of Etta Jones,
Alaska Pioneer and Japanese P.O.W.
Mary Breu
Text and photos © 2009 by Mary Breu
All photos are by Etta Jones and in the author’s collection, except where noted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request
ISBN 978-0-88240-810-1 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-88240-851-4, 978-08-88240-852-1 (e-book)
ISBN 978-0-88240-981-8 (hardbound)
Alaska Northwest Books®
An imprint of
P.O. Box 56118
Portland, OR 97238-6118
(503) 254-5591
Editor: Ellen Wheat
Interior Designer: Elizabeth Watson
Cover Design: Vicki Knapton, Elizabeth Watson
Front cover images. Top: The Montevideo Maru, 1942; Bottom: Etta Jones and Attu Natives, 1942.
Frontispiece. Etta Eugenie Schureman, high-school graduation photo, Vineland, New Jersey, 1898.
In memory of my great-aunt and great-uncle,
Etta and Foster Jones,
and all the victims of the Attu invasion
Etta and Foster on their dogsled, departing on their honeymoon, April 1, 1923.
Contents
4. Tanana, Tatitlek, and Old Harbor: 1928–1932
5. From Kodiak to Kipnuk: 1932
7. Letters from Kipnuk: 1932–1933
9. Letters from Kipnuk: 1934–1937
13. The Australians: January–July 1942
14. Bund Hotel, Yokohama: July 1942
15. Yokohama Yacht Club: 1942–1943
16. Yokohama Yacht Club: 1943–1944
19. Return to the United States: September 1945
Etta Jones and her great-niece, author Mary Breu, Bradenton, Florida, December 1952.
Preface
Etta Jones was my favorite great-aunt. For my first twenty years and her last twenty, I knew her as a compassionate, generous, genteel woman. She was short in stature, and had pure white hair and jet-black eyebrows. I always knew she had an interesting past because bits and pieces were mentioned over the years. Relatives had kept all of Etta’s letters, photos, documents, and artifacts, and this private treasure was eventually handed down to me. In 2002, thirty-seven years after her death and at the end of my teaching career, I decided to put her story together to share with family members. While going through Etta’s extraordinary collection, I realized that