An Outpost in the Fog
In May 1942, the U.S. Navy placed ten men and a dog named Explosion on Kiska, a desolate island in Alaska’s Aleutians, to operate a remote weather station. Their job was to report conditions to Dutch Harbor, nearly 700 miles away, unaware of what was coming.
“Attack! Attack!”
On June 7, Japanese troops stormed the island. Charles House fled into the tundra with two blankets. For 48 days, he survived alone—eating worms, drinking from a stream, and hiding from patrols. Weak from hunger, he finally surrendered and was taken prisoner.
Katsu-go the Watchdog
Explosion, left behind, was adopted by Japanese Captain Hiramatsu and renamed Katsu-go. The dog warned soldiers of incoming air raids and mourned the dead. When the Japanese evacuated in 1943, they couldn’t take him. Katsu-go watched from shore as their ship disappeared into the fog.
Reunion on Kiska
Allied troops landed on Kiska on August 15, 1943, expecting battle. Among them was Ensign William C. Jones, who had built the weather station the year before. As he stepped ashore, a dog emerged from the mist and ran toward him. It was Explosion.
In 1942, ten U.S. Navy men and a dog named Explosion were sent to remote Kiska Island to operate a weather station.
Alone in the foggy Aleutians, they radioed weather reports to Dutch Harbor—until one morning, gunfire shattered the silence and changed everything…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/Umd4dZS7tK
— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) May 2, 2025