Ketchikan Waterfront: Ferry Columbia
Front Page Photo By MIKE SMITH

Ketchikan: Sincerely, Igloo…” Letter, yearbooks, former shipmate recall the life of Ketchikan man who died 70 years ago at Pearl Harbor By DAVE KIFFER - For Ketchikan residents, the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 came very close to home even though it happened more than 2700 miles away.

Senior yearbook photograph showing Irvin Andrew Rubin Thompson of Ketchikan sailing on a Naval Academy's “knockabout sloop”
Photo courtesy 1940 Naval Academy's Lucky Bag

A Ketchikan man, Irvin Andrew Rubin Thompson, 24, was serving on the battleship USS Oklahoma and died when the ship capsized and flooded.  He was the first Alaskan to be killed in World War II.

Initially, Thompson’s body was not identified when it was removed from the partially submerged ship several months after the attack and was buried with other “unknowns” in mass graves in Hawaii, but eventually, thanks to dogged work by 87-year old researcher Ray Emory – himself a Pearl Harbor veteran – Thompson’s remains were identified in 2008 and reinterred at the Sacramento National Cemetery in Dixon, California. The Department of Defense chose that site because it was near the home of Thompson’s only known living relative, a distant cousin who requested anonymity.

Thompson had been born in Weehawken, New Jersey in 1917, but his family moved to Ketchikan in 1922, when he was five years old, according to a Ketchikan Chronicle story on December 16, 1941.

The Chronicle also reported that Thompson had graduated from Kayhi in 1935 and then spent a year at the University of Washington in Seattle before being appointed to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Merta (Smith) Kiffer , my mother, lived across First Avenue from the Thompson family. She remembers Irvin who was tall, handsome and dark haired and three years ahead of her at Kayhi.

Irvin’s father, Andrew Thompson, worked for the city highway department. Kiffer also said that Mrs. Thompson was related the Schlais family which also lived on First Avenue. - More...
Wednesday AM - December 07, 2011

Alaska: Governor Orders Flags Lowered for Pearl Harbor Day - Alaska Governor Sean Parnell has ordered state flags to be lowered to half-staff on Wednesday in remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day, and to honor Americans who fought in World War II.

“The attack on Pearl Harbor serves as a reminder of our nation’s need for vigilance and preparedness which our nation must maintain in the face of adversity,” Governor Parnell said. “Our liberty is sustained by the courage of the American people, and every generation of Americans has answered the call to protect our democracy, freedoms, and way of life. - More...
Wednesday AM - December 07, 2011

Alaska: Additional Norwegian Cruise Ship Welcomed; Additional ship estimated to bring 40,000 more visitors for the 2013 season - Governor Sean Parnell welcomed the news that Norwegian Cruise Line will add a ship to Alaska for the 2013 season. The Norwegian Sun will sail between Vancouver, British Columbia and Whittier, Alaska in the summer of 2013. The Sun will be a third Norwegian Cruise Line ship to ply Alaska’s waterways.

The Sun will embark on weekly southbound and northbound trips beginning May 20, 2013. The northbound trip leaves Vancouver and travels along the Inside Passage past Glacier Bay and Hubbard Bay, also making stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. The southbound trip leaves Whittier and travels along the Inside Passage, Sawyer Glacier and Hubbard Glacier, stopping in Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Ketchikan. - More...
Wednesday AM - December 07, 2011

Alaska: State Certifies Alaska Sea Party Initiative; Group Launches Statewide Effort To Restore Coastal Management - Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell on Tuesday certified the grassroots Alaska Sea Party’s application to begin collecting signatures for a statewide ballot initiative to restore Alaska’s coastal management program.  The group seeks to ensure Alaskans have a meaningful voice in coastal development decisions.  The Alaska Sea Party intends to gather 26,000 signatures by the start of the legislative session on January 17, 2012 in order to place the initiative on the 2012 election ballot.

“Alaskans now have the opportunity to make their voices heard to bring back an important program that gives the state and local communities a meaningful say in decisions that affect coastal development and resources,” Bruce Botelho, a lead sponsor of the initiative, said.  “Our goal is to gather the necessary signatures before the start of next year’s legislative session to encourage legislators to pass a substantially similar law.”  If the legislature fails to act, the initiative would appear on next year’s statewide election ballot. - More...
Wednesday AM - December 07, 2011

Alaska: HDR Awarded Contract to Complete Supplemental EIS for Juneau Access - The professional services contract to complete the court-ordered supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Juneau Access project has been awarded to HDR, Inc., a firm with experience in preparing Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) EISs in Alaska. The FHWA is the lead agency on the project, with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) working as a partner.

Federal District Court Judge John Sedgwick, in his February 13, 2009 decision, directed the FHWA to evaluate in more detail an alternative of providing additional ferry service in Lynn Canal using existing ferries and terminals. “The court outlined what we need to perform additional work on” said Alaska Department of Transportation Commissioner Marc Luiken, “which will help keep the discussion fairly concentrated. In addition to the environmental review, DOT will be analyzing the five other legal claims made by SEACC to stop the project so that when the SEIS work is complete, we can move the project forward.” - More...
Wednesday AM - December 07, 2011

Alaska: Governor’s Budget Proposal to Focus on Resource Development; Provides access to resources and jobs for Alaskans - Governor Sean Parnell announced Tuesday that his Fiscal Year 2013 budget proposal will contain funding for increased access to Alaska’s resources to grow economic opportunities for all Alaskans.

“Better transportation corridors will open up petroleum and mining opportunities,” Governor Parnell said. “Mineral exploration expenditures are up, and with our efforts to streamline the permitting process, we are working to secure Alaska’s resources for Alaskans’ benefit.” - More...
Wednesday AM - December 07, 2011

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