Senate Resolution Supports Restoring Military Retirement Service Credit for Territorial Guard Elders

Therriault, Olson co-sponsor SJR to Congress, President

JUNEAU – Senators Gene Therriault, R-North Pole, and Donny Olson, D-Nome, have introduced a Senate joint resolution (SJR 4) to support efforts by Alaska’s congressional delegation to restore retirement benefits to 25 Native elders who served during World War II in the Alaska Territorial Guard. A recent decision by the Department of Defense would reduce the elders’ monthly retirement checks by an average of $386.

“It is just unbelievable to me that someone at the US Army would deny these benefits to veterans who put their lives on the line to defend Alaska during the Second World War,” Therriault said. “It is wholly appropriate that this Legislature support the efforts of our congressional delegation to correct this injustice and restore these pensions.”

“It is a travesty that the military hierarchy would suddenly withdraw this small pension from those who earned it,” said Olson. “They deserve this federal benefit and they have earned it. These Eskimo Scouts were our first line of defense.”

The resolution also asks President Barack Obama to direct his Secretary of Defense to issue an apology to the ATG veterans who were adversely affected by the decision to stop the retirement benefit.

The ATG was formed by Governor Ernest Gruening in 1942, as Alaska National Guardsmen were called off to war, and was made up predominately of Alaska Natives. The ATG, at the direction of the US Army, undertook missions throughout the most remote areas of the state, including rescuing downed pilots, protecting Lend-Lease routes between Alaska and Siberia, and engaging in combat with Japanese invaders.

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