Editing Cold Bay, Alaska (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2010}}
There is evidence of prehistoric occupation by Aleuts and later Russian encampments. Cold Bay's significance to American history began with the Japanese [[invasion of the Aleutians]] in World War II. General [[Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.]] ordered the creation of [[Fort Randall (Alaska)|Fort Randall]], an airbase on the shores of Cold Bay, in 1942 as a part of a general expansion of American assets in the Aleutians. It (along with Otter Point) served as a base for the [[11th Air Force]] to provide protection to the only deep water port in the Aleutians at the time, Dutch Harbor.

This protection was necessary when during [[Isoroku Yamamoto|Yamamoto]]'s [[Battle of Midway|Midway Campaign]], a diversionary attack was launched against [[Dutch Harbor]]. The initial attack was repulsed by the surprise presence of [[P-40]]s stationed here. A second larger attack with its own fighter escort the next day caused minor damage. Later, with the victory in the Pacific, the forces grew to 20,000 troops. The [[quonset hut]]s used to house this massive encampment still stand around the community. It also was a base of operations for the US Navy with the [[seaplane tender]] {{USS|Casco|AVP-12}} among the ships based in Cold Bay.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c4/casco-iii.htm |publisher=U.S. Department of the Navy |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20130502082707/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c4/casco-iii.htm |archive-date=May 2, 2013 }}</ref>

In the spring and summer of 1945, Cold Bay was the site of the largest and most ambitious transfer program of World War II, [[Project Hula]], in which the United States transferred dozens of ships and craft to the [[Soviet Union]] and trained Soviet personnel in their operation in anticipation of the Soviet Union entering the [[Pacific War|war against Japan]].

In later decades, control of the airfield passed to civil authorities, who maintained it as a useful refueling and emergency landing location for [[great circle]] flights from the [[west coast of the United States]] to [[East Asia]]. A [[Distant Early Warning Line]] station established nearby was eventually decommissioned.

During the 1980s, deregulation of the airline industry under President [[Ronald Reagan]] caused many of the compelling interests{{who|date=December 2014}} supporting the need for the community to evaporate. Today, Cold Bay is still occasionally used for emergency or precautionary landings of commercial flights, and is also a hub for traffic from [[Anchorage]] and [[Seattle]] to the small communities around it.