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

by Mary Breu, Ray Hudson (Afterword)

Etta Jones was not a World War II soldier or a war time spy. She was a school teacher whose life changed forever on that Sunday morning in June 1942 when the Japanese military invaded Attu Island and Etta became a prisoner of war. 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. They married and for nearly twenty years they lived, worked and taught in remote Athabascan, Alutiiq, Yup’ik and Aleut villages where they were the only outsiders. Their last assignment was Attu. After the invasion, Etta became a prisoner of war and spent 39 months in Japanese POW sites located in Yokohama and Totsuka. She was the first female Caucasian taken prisoner by a foreign enemy on the North American Continent since the War of 1812, and she was the first American female released by the Japanese at the end of World War II. Using descriptive letters that she penned herself, her unpublished manuscript, historical documents and personal interviews with key people who were involved with events as they happened, her extraordinary story is told for the first time in this book.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Book Club, Biography, War, World War II, Biography Memoir

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at a courageous women, her experiences in early twentieth century bush Alaska, and her role as the first American woman taken prisoner by the Japanese. The book details what happened at the beginning of World War II on Attu to Etta Jones and her husband, and the harsh reality of Japanese internment. But it also is a very interesting examination of public school teachers in bush Alaska, sometimes introducing children to western education for the first time ever. The isolation, harsh weather, and necessary individual resourcefulness is nothing short of amazing. If you are interested in fairly recent Alaskan history or the war in the Aleutian Islands, this book is definitely worth your time.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting look at a woman who braved the hardships of Alaskan life, always enjoying the beauty of the land. She truly appreciated the lives and cultures of the Native people she taught and served and didn't see them as inferior even though they had fewer material possessions and a different value structure. For me, it was a chance to learn about Alaska and a part of WWII that I was unfamiliar with.

It was a little strange when the book switched from the point of view of Etta to that of the Australians, but after finishing the book, it seems that Etta chose not to publicly recall much of her POW experience and so most of those details had to come from the Australians.

The only other books about Alaska I've read are memoirs by Heather Lende, which I really enjoyed. From both this book and Lende's memoirs, it seems that the people who live in Alaska have a different mindset than those who live in the Lower 48. They seem to be more appreciative of natural beauty, less bothered by severe weather, and able to spend more time enjoying the quality of their lives and doing what they think is important rather than chasing after money, status, or fame.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2022 bk 264. Oh my Goodness! I started this book around 8 last night and finished about 2a.m. I could not put it down. Etta Jones was both a teacher and a nurse and had a joy in living. You can tell these things through the letters she wrote to her family. An ordinary woman, but one who stepped into history because she and her husband took a teaching/meteorology/handyman position on the island of Attu. This was to have been their last assignment before retiring, but the Japanese Army/Navy had a different idea. They invaded the island, and Etta Jones was the first woman captured on U.S. soil to be held as a Prisoner of War since the War of 1812. While she couldn't write letters while held captive, the interviews and letters afterwards describe the shock and horror of what happened on Attu. Warning - the majority of the book is about the years before WWII and are wonderful letters of an ordinary school teacher in what was still Alaska, serving in small, isolated communities - but still letters filled with adventure and joy.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book was interesting but very slow as Etta Jones relayed life to her family in letters as she moved about Alaska. It was interesting reading about the different places she lived, but it was a very slow read. About halfway through the book was when the invasion occurred, and the book definitely picked up there. It switched over to the perspective of some Australian women who were also POWs at the same time as Etta because Etta chose not to talk about her experience after her release. I couldn't put the book down during the second half and definitely enjoyed reading that part quite a bit. Solid 3.5 stars.

[Roses2u · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book surprisingly interesting. I was particularly fascinated by the descriptions of the lifestyle of the Alaska natives in the villages. Etta's courage and stamina are an example to all women. I think the title should have been more appealing or appropriate. There was so much more to Etta's story than a few letters from Attu. Someone gave me this book almost a year before I picked it up to read. An enjoyable read.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrated by Janet Polata, and borrowed from the National Library for the Blind and Print Disabled

[Delores Topliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully researched, written, and important book!

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This remarkable story is about Etta Jones, a pioneer who moved from Yonkers, NY to Alaska in the early 30’s. She had planned to stay one year, but she fell in love, married and stayed for twenty. Etta and her husband were employed by the Alaskan Indian Service and taught native peoples in remote villages. Etta was a prolific letter writer and took great pleasure in receiving mail from her family. Her grand niece, author of this book, relied on Ettas’s correspondence and her own research to show how Etta gracefully adapted to intolerable weather conditions, unfamiliar foods and long separations from her husband and then, when she was in her mid sixties, survived war, death and nearly four years as a Japanese POW.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazing story. Initially I struggled with the letter/manuscript format and flow, but got over it because they were incredible resources. I had first heard about Etta and her story from a display in the Anchorage museum.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't recommend this book enoughThe true story of Etta Jones is amazingand inspiring

[Tamhack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Etta Jones, single, 42 years old and an accomplished teacher and nurse, arrived in Alaska in August, 1922. One year later, she married gold prospector Foster Jones. For the next 19 years, they lived, worked and taught in remote Athabascan, Alutiiq, Yup’ik and Aleut villages where they were the only white people. Their last assignment was Attu.

After the invasion, Etta spent 39 months in Japanese POW sites located in Yokohama and Totsuka. She was the first female Caucasian taken prisoner by a foreign enemy on the North American Continent since the War of 1812, and she was the first American female released by the Japanese at the end of World War II.

Using descriptive letters she penned, her unpublished manuscript, historical documents and personal interviews with key people who were involved with events as they happened, her extraordinary story is told for the first time in Last Letters from Attu: The True Story of Etta Jones, Alaska Pioneer and Japanese POW. http://www.lastlettersfromattu.com

A courageous woman, moved to Alaska and met her husband. They worked together to help and teach the children. Living their lives, when it was disrupted by the Japanese invasion.

The book made me think about we need to be living everyday as if it was our last and try to make the most of each day. Even if it seems insignificant, we need to try to do our best, try to make the world a little bit better and try to do good for those around us.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping for more information about the indigenous cultures, but it was an interesting biography of a woman who went to Alaska with her sister in midlife with no intention to stay, but then married a former gold prospector and taught at various places in Alaska for two decades, mostly at local schools for natives, some very remote. At the beginning of WW II she and her husband were stationed on Attu, the most westerly US Aleutian Island. When the Japanese invaded Attu her husband was executed and she was sent to Japan where she spent the war under difficult conditions with other women internees, mostly Australian and New Zealand nurses captured in the South Pacific. The book held my interest.

[Novel Destination · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Last Letters From Attu" by Mary Breu taught me much about early 20th century events in Alaska. Ms. Breu is actually telling the story of her adventuresome Aunt Etta Jones...her experiences as a nurse and a teacher pioneer were fascinating but her first-hand accounts of becoming a Japanese P.O.W. during WW2 was heart-wrenching. Mrs. Jones' husband was one of the first killed. The author utilized letters Etta sent to family along with details Ms. Breu obtained from other family members, historical documents, and her own memories of chats she had with her Aunt Etta. The discussion of life for the female P.O.W.s was one I have never read. I also was ignorant of the remote Alaskan villages wiped out by events during WW2. Tragic.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal memoirs are often not well written, a little boring and pompous, but this one was pretty good. Descriptions of life in Alaska for the native populations, for an American teacher and nurse working with the native population were interesting.
The Battle of Attu / WW II on the Aleutians was new to me, Etta's husband was killed and she was a POW in Japan from June 1942 through the end of the war. She returned home to the lower 48. The Wikipedia story tells the story of the removal and eventual resettlement elsewhere of the Aleut natives, of the battle and the repatriation of Japanese soldiers' remains, but doesn't mention Etta Schureman or C Foster Jones. Mr Jones' remains were reinterred at the military cemetery at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book about the experiences of Etta Jones and her husband. This book presents a different perspective on the death of Etta's husband than "The Thousand Mile War" by Brian Garfield. I asked Debra Corbett, an archealogist who taught an 8 week class on the Aleutians for Ole, about this and she said that we don't know for sure which is accurate. I found this book interesting as Bart and I took a trip on the Tustumena (where my dad worked for 10 years) to Dutch Harbor?Unalaska in 2016. I read several books about the Aleutians and WWII as my dad served in Aleutians during WWII.

[MaryD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taken from letters & other documents, this is the story of Etta Jones

It was a little heavy going in parts since it was written from letters, but I didn't know about this until we went to the Museum of the North in Fairbanks. "Last Letters from Attu" is an excellent book told from the letters that Etta Jones wrote. "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." She- and most of the island's indigenous population- was kidnapped and imprisoned by the Japanese after they killed her husband when they invaded in 1942.

[Kristine L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Etta Jones wasn’t a World War II soldier or a war time spy. She was a school teacher whose life changed forever on that Sunday morning in June 1942 when the Japanese military invaded Attu Island and Etta became a prisoner of war.

Etta spent 39 months in Japanese POW sites located in Yokohama and Totsuka. She was the first female Caucasian taken prisoner by a foreign enemy on the North American Continent since the War of 1812. She was also the first American female released by the Japanese at the end of World War II.

Well-written and compelling.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an incredible collection of letters and journal entries from Etta Jones, the first female American to be liberated from Japan. It’s crazy to read about one’s life as an Alaska pioneer; only certain people are built for that life, that’s for sure!

4.5/5: As informational as the letters are, I’ve never been a big fan of books that are complied of letters. The transitions end up feeling choppy rather than smooth and seamless. Otherwise, Mary Breu did a fantastic job summarizing the life of her beloved great-aunt, Etta Jones. Would recommend!

[Jami Severson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much.
I don’t know where my head was in history class but I did not know or guess remember that Alaska was invaded by Japan in WW 2.
Etta was far more than a schoolteacher sent to teach the Aleuts in Alaska.
She was a wilderness pioneer along with her husband in remote Alaska.
Her counts of being a POW were heart wrenching and unbelievable. How she and the other prisoners ever survived is beyond me.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important and interesting story of a woman who was an Alaskan teacher in the early twentieth century and taught in some of the most remote villages in Alaska.

While at the school in Attu, on June 7th, the Japanese invaded the island and killed her husband and took her captive.

It was a horrible experience and Etta’s own story and her strength of character helped her survive and served as a beacon of strength for others she was held with and her ability to live afterwards.

[Sherry Monger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Breu has written a fascinating story from a treasure trove of letters and pictures left by her Great Aunt Etta Foster. Out of an abiding pioneer spirit, Etta and her husband lived in the far North, ending up on the island of Attu, when it was invaded by the Japanese in WWII and she was taken prisoner. I read of events and places I had never heard of before.

[Charles Bookman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable record of life on the Alaska frontier followed by three years in a Japanese prison camp. We know about Etta Jones’ heroic life because in the days before easy telephone communication (and of course the Internet), people wrote letters. The author, her great niece has done a remarkable job of research and storytelling. Read more at bookmanreader.blogspot.com .

[AJ Stoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this because I noticed Attu, which is a part of "War in Pacific" in the national park system. I was curious what happened there. If you like true WW2 stories about people whose stories rarely get told, this is worth checking out. Probably a good way to describe it: like the familiar horrible POW death marches, but for women.

[Sabrina Eads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. When I travelled in Alaska many people recommended this book. I was most interested in her relating what it was like to live in remote Alaskan outposts but also found the war section interesting though of course upsetting. She was a tough woman and a remarkable person.

[mary m miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing True Story

This book gives wonderful insight into living in rural Alaska before WWII. Also shares the horrific trials of internment as a POW. Truly intriguing - one of the best books I have ever read.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just wow. I was tearing up by the end, and I couldn't put the book down.

I think the descriptive language that Etta used in her letters were my favorite part. People don't talk that way anymore.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile read about an almost forgotten American lady in peril in World War II.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story not taught

[Darlena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book while on an Alaskan cruise. I learned a lot I did not know and came to a great appreciation for the pioneers of the Last Frontier.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well written. I had no idea her history - and I've lived in Alaska for 47 years!