{"product_id":"castners-cutthroats-saga-of-the-alaska-scouts-9781575100845","title":"Castner's Cutthroats: Saga of the Alaska Scouts","description":"Innokenty McBratney, the half-Aleut son of a Scot trader from the Aleutian island of Attu' Talky LLoyd, a renegade Colorado Cowboy turned Alaska guide\/trapper; Jonny Blackwolf, and Athapaskan from the arctic Koyukuk valley; Short the Bear, a trapper from deep in the Wrangell Mountains; Silver Fox Will Rooney, a trapper\/commercial fisherman from Bristol Bay. These are the heroes of this exciting tale of the Alaska Scouts who played a key role in the Aleutian Campaign of WWII. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWorld War II was imminent in 1941, when, searching the ranks for woodsmen for his new Alaska Scout Platoon (later nicknamed Castner's Cutthroats), Col. Lawrence V. Castnet handpicked these men and others of their ilk. The usual draftees couldn't cope with Alaska's harsh wilderness--these Alaskans could. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWe accompany these adventurous Alaskans as they gain their wilderness skills. We learn how they were selected for Castner's elite platoon, and how their wilderness backgrounds prepared them for scouting and the terrible battle of Attu. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlthough it portrays the Aleutian Campaign with historical accuracy, this is more than a war story. It is a story of early 20th-century Alaska and how a handful of extraordinary Alaskans participated in the war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRearden, Jim:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Jim Rearden is a World War II veteran who served aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer escort in the Pacific theater of war. He holds wildlife degrees from Oregon State University, and the University of Main, as well as an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHe resided in Alaska from 1950 until he died in 2017. He organized the department of wildlife management at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and taught as head of that department for four years. He served on the Alaska Board of Game for twelve years, and was Outdoors Editor for Alaska Magazine for twenty years, simultaneously serving as a Field Editor for Outdoor Life magazine. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHe lived on the Kenai Peninsula in a log home he built.","brand":"Pictorial Histories Publishing Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52197142069522,"sku":"9781575100845","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fb5165b4-4feb-41f5-9aef-3d8528949798.jpg?v=1776163581","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/castners-cutthroats-saga-of-the-alaska-scouts-9781575100845","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}