10471 Capt Frank M. Mutolo Building
Building 10471In 1947, construction was started on this building, a 500 man barracks, along with two others. At the time, Elmendorf Air Force Base was the principal airfield of the fledgling Alaskan Air Command and 13,500 troops were stationed here. Part of the new base master plan, the barracks construction was planned to house the troops near the flight line where many of them worked. Little work was done in 1948, however, as the monies appropriated for construction had run out. High costs of labor and materials had taken their toll. Through the majority of the year, the girders of the building stood rusting as funds were not available to continue construction. In 1949, work resumed and in 1950, the building was completed for a total cost of $3,220,598.00 (in 1950 dollars).The building has a concrete foundation, and an area of more than 136,304 square feet. It housed 500 men and included an adjoining messhall. It was used until the late-1950s when it was converted for use as administrative office space. In 1977, at the time of its dedication as the Captain Frank M. Mutolo Building it housed the Headquarters of the 1931st Communications Group and various Alaskan Air Command agencies: The Deputy Chief of Staff (DCS) for Engineering and Services, and the DCS for Personnel, for example.At the time of its dedication, the building was valued at $3,683,000. It was estimated by command officials that it would cost in excess of $25 million to replace the structure in 1977.The dedication ceremony took place on 17 December 1977.Today the building serves as the Headquarters of the 673rd Air Base Wing.Captain Frank M. MutoloCaptain Frank M. Mutolo was born in Port Washington, New York on 10 January 1949. He was a member of the 560th AFROTC Cadet Corps at Manhattan College and was commissioned on 24 May 1970. He entered on active-duty on 1 June 1970 and was awarded his navigator wings on 23 September 1971 at Mather Air Force Base, California. He attended F-4 upgrading at George Air Force Base, California and his first operational assignment was with the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base from August 1972 through June 1973.While assigned to the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron, the then Lieutenant Mutolo distinguished himself while participating in aerial flight as an F-4D Weapons System Officer in the vicinity of Hanoi, North Vietnam on the night of 20 December 1972. On that date, he was flying escort for a flight of fighter-bombers that were attacked by hostile jet aircraft. Despite marginal weather conditions, darkness, and a highly sophisticated anti-aircraft network, Lieutenant Mutolo and his flight effectively negated three separate attacks by enemy aircraft and insured the successful completion of a high priority mission. For this mission he earned the Air Medal with first Oak Leaf Cluster. While in Southeast Asia, he flew over 180 combat missions throughout the theater. Captain Mutolo’s supervisor later wrote: “He is consistently calm under all combat conditions. Among his strengths are his mature, businesslike, professional attitude …”On 4 August 1973, Captain Mutolo was assigned to the 43rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 21st Composite Wing, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. At the 43rd TFS he flew the F-4E aircraft in air defense as well as training missions. On 17 December 1973 his aircraft (Serial #68-0425) disappeared approximately 90 miles northwest of Elmendorf while on an aerial combat maneuvers training mission. Although hampered by haze, snow, and poor visibility an intensive search was begun by helicopters and fixed wing aircraft from Elmendorf. For the next two weeks the search continued. On 3 January 1974 the search was ended. More than 560 square miles of area were searched for the F-4 involving over 650 flying hours. The aircraft was never recovered.Captain Mutolo was survived by his wife, Madeleine Mutolo, his daughter Holly, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Mutolo.
Anderson Circle
Airman First-Class Carle L. Anderson, Jr.Airman First Class Carl Lovetta Anderson, Jr. was born on 25 August 1983. He grew up in Georgetown, SC and graduated from Georgetown High School in 2001 were he served as a member of the Naval Junior ROTC program for three years. On 6 Dec 2001, A1C Anderson enlisted in the United States Air Force as a Vehicle Operator Apprentice (2T151). He attended Basic Military Training School (BMTS) at Lackland AFB, Texas graduating in January 2002. From BMTS he attended technical training school at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri graduating in March 2002. After graduation, he reported to his first operational assignment at the 3rd Logistics Readiness Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. On 29 August 2004, A1C Anderson was performing convoy duty near Mosul, Iraq when his 5 ton vehicle hit an improvised explosive device killing him, injuring SSgt Michael Helmick and A1C Jacob Sutton who where also assigned to the 3D Logistics Readiness Squadron.For his actions he received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with V device.The street was dedicated one year after his passing on 29 August 2005.
World War II Japanese Internment Camp
Japanese Internment CampA series of Presidential proclamations and Executive Order 9066 led to the detention of many foreign nationals residing in the United States during World War II. From February to June 1942, the U.S. Government constructed the Fort Richardson Internment Camp.
Fort Richardson National Cemetery
Fort Richardson National Cemetery (https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftrichardson.asp)Fort Richardson National Cemetery is located on the Fort Richardson Military Reservation in Anchorage, Alaska. During World War II, 39 acres of Fort Richardson were set aside for use as a temporary burial site where deceased soldiers—regardless of nationality—could be laid to rest. Under the international program for the return of war dead, most of the soldiers interred at Fort Richardson were returned to their families. There were, however, some soldiers who remained buried at Fort Richardson either because the next of kin could not be found or their families requested that they remain interred in Alaska.In December 1946, the temporary cemetery at Fort Richardson was made a permanent site. Initially there were two sections in the cemetery. The remains of Allied soldiers were buried within a fenced area referred to as the "Allied Plot." Japanese soldiers who died in battles for the Aleutian Islands were buried outside the fence in an area designated as the "Enemy Plot." In July 1953, the 235 Japanese war dead buried at Fort Richardson were disinterred for proper cremation with appropriate Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies, under the supervision of the Japanese Embassy. In May 1981, a group of Japanese citizens in Anchorage had a new marker made to remember the soldiers who, in death, remain far from home.Notable BurialsMajor Kermit Roosevelt, Died 4 June 1943. He was the son of President Theodore Roosevelt and born October 10, 1889, at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, New York. Major Roosevelt served during two wars and under two flags. He first fought with the British in the Middle East, and subsequently served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. His memoirs of this war are titled War in the Garden of Eden. During World War II, he was again commissioned in the British Army before the United States entered the war, after which he was commissioned as a major in the Army and assigned to Fort Richardson. While in Alaska he flew with Army pilots as an observer when they made bomb runs over Japanese positions in the Aleutians. He also established a territorial militia of Eskimos and Aleuts to form the backbone of an insurgent underground should the Japanese overrun the region. Upon his death, his widow requested his remains be interred at Fort Richardson. He was interred in Section A, Plot 22, on June 8, 1943. Mr. Charles Foster Jones, Died c. 8 Jun 1942. He the only civilian killed by the Japanese Army in North America during World War II. Born 1 May 1879, he was the son of a doctor; his mother died when he was just four months old. He always wanted to travel. He attended Puget Sound University but when the Klondike Gold Strike hit, he took off for Chilkoot Pass where he wrote articles for his hometown newspaper and described his adventures, but never his fortune. Passing through Tanana, Charles went to the post office where he met Etta, a trained nurse and teacher and they were married 1 April 1923. With sled dogs they mushed to a cabin for a honeymoon. Over the years, they went from one remote community to the next where Etta taught and provided medical services while Charles was always a handyman. Later, frontiersman skills he also built a ham radio and obtained a license. Charles and Etta moved to the Island of Attu in 1941. Again, Etta was teacher and nurse, and Charles was the school repairman and band music teacher, but he also provided daily weather reports to the region, including the military. Just days after the failed campaigns at Midway and Dutch Harbor, the Japanese decided to take the Islands of Attu and Kiska as an island hopping campaign that would lead them to the mainland eventually. On 7 June 1942, as the Japanese approached the island Charles sent one final report, that the “Japanese are here” and then he destroyed the radio. The Japanese took all 42 members of the village captive. The Japanese tried to force him to repair the radio but he refused and they executed him with a shot to the head. His wife Etta was brought to his body, where the Japanese tried to make her believe he committed suicide and then cut his head off in front of her. He was buried without a coffin by the islanders –a small bottle was placed at the head of the grave in accordance with local custom, and all remaining inhabitants were removed to Japan as POWs; Etta was kept with Australian nurses and the others at a different location. During the battle to retake Attu, the Army Air Forces, destroyed the village structures to deny their use by the Japanese. Charles’ remains were located after the Army liberated the island on 29 May 1943. Charles’ remains were removed from Attu and interred at Fort Richardson National Cemetery with full military honors. He is in Plot A, Row 1, Grave 2, with many other veterans who died while in service to our nation. His marker does not bear a rank. Master Sergeant James Leroy Bondsteel (Vietnam). He received the Medal of Honor while serving in the U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 2d Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, for actions in Loc Province, Republic of Vietnam, May 24, 1969. Bondsteel died in 1987 and is buried in Section H, Site 19.
Savoia Homestead
Emil SavoiaEmil Savoia was born in Finland April 6,1886 (Death Certificate 1941 ). He came to the United States in 1917 from Canada where he had resided for an unknown period of time. Savoia was recorded as being a section laborer for the railroad. While he could speak English, he could not read or write it. His first wife died in childbirth around 1915, leaving him with one daughter, Anna.Emil remarried on May I, 1920, to Eriika Pekkala. At the time, she was living in town in a house originally located at 726 E Street (Carberry and Lane). It is notable that one of the witnesses on their marriage certificate was John V anaja, a fellow homesteader and neighbor. Their interaction with others around the area and their presence at Green Lake was recorded several years before Emil actually applied for the patent to his land in 1924. A few months after his second marriage, Emil killed a fellow homesteader, John Partti, in August 1920. Partti had been a partner with Savoia in a clearing contract with the Alaska Road Commission. According to the local paper and Savoia's wife's testimony, Savoia was drunk and shot Partti in bed accidentally. The gun had misfrred while Savoia was removing it from the wall. Other rumored circumstances about the shooting never did come to light. A jury trial ruled the incident an accident, but Savoia was held for further sentencing, since there were no manslaughter laws in Anchorage at the time. No additional information on the outcome of Savoia's sentencing was found.Emil Savoia went on with his life. Two years later, his wife gave birth to a daughter, his second child, Helen, on November 12, 1922. Frances, the third child, followed in November 1924. During that period, Savoia worked for the U.S. Railroad as a carpenter and was wellknown for his carpentry skills. He built one of the finest cabins in the area, consisting of two stories with bedrooms upstairs and a kitchen and living room downstairs.Though known as a heavy drinker, he continued to support his wife and children, relying on the railroad job as his primary source of income. Along with their homestead residence, the Savoia family also owned the house in town occupied by Anna before her marriage.In 1931, the day after the funeral of fellow-homesteader, Onni Tuomi, the Savoia family met with another tragedy. Apparently, Eriika (Mrs. Savoia) had put gasoline in the kitchen stove, mistaking it for kerosene. When she lighted it, the stove exploded, enveloping her and daughter Anna in fire. Emil, who had been resting upstairs, rushed downstairs and outside, where he found the victims. The other two girls had been outside at the time of the explosion and remained unharmed. Emil rushed both women to the hospital, but neither survived their burns. The twostory cabin was also damaged beyond repair.Following the fire, Emil's drinking became heavier. He and his daughters moved into town, and he continued to work with the railroad to support them. Eventually, about 1938, Frances moved to Wasilla to finish her education and Helen to Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula. These events coincided with the first time Emil subdivided and sold pieces of his property around Green Lake. He also worked to rebuild a cabin similar to the original cabin he had built at Green Lake. At the time of sale to the United States government, that cabin remained unfinished, with only the outside structure of the first story being completed. The military received permission to finish the building (whose style looks very similar to the first Savoia cabin), and it serves today as the Green Lake Chalet on the Air Force Base.Savoia died in 1941 from alcohol poisoning. His daughters took over the property and sold it to the government in 1942. At the time, they were both married; Frances married Arnie Lahti and moved to Palmer, while Helen married a Mr. Cooper (first name unknown) and Lived at Cooper's Landing. By then, the property around Green Lake had been subdivided several times, though only about I0 acres total had been sold. Emil was buried between his wife and first daughter at the Anchorage cemetery. No headstone marks his grave.
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F-22 Demo Video
Moose Walk
F-22 Raptors assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, perform an Elephant on the flight line to show readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Moose Walk,” more commonly referred to as an “Elephant Walk,” was so named to pay homage to both Alaska’s unique wildlife and to the C-17 Globemaster III, often nicknamed “The Moose.” This event showcased the 3rd Wing, 176th Wing, and 477th Fighter Groups’ readiness and ability to generate combat airpower at a moment's notice to ensure regional stability. (Video by Airman First Class Mario Calabro)
