Today (and yesterday) is the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Dutch Harbor. Last week, I had the opportunity to head up to Anchorage for a speaking event with Stan Cohen, author of The Forgotten War: Volumes 1-4. Stan is a wealth of knowledge about many subjects, not just WWII and has written nearly 100 books throughout his life. He is ready to start working on Volume 5, about the war in Alaska and Northern Canada, so stay tuned for that. Vol 1 is out of print, but should be reissued shortly.
After the event hosted by the Army Corps of Engineers, I had a chance to visit with Stan one-on-one. Then, we drove out to take a private tour of the Alaska Aviation Museum’s “new” Zero. It was recovered by the Russians after the war and is one of three Zeros they restored. It is flying, mostly original, but does have an American engine. Not that is a bad thing – the first few Zeros had American engines that the Japanese ended up copying…
Anyway… Here are some photos:
Just the very tip of the wings fold up. Couldn’t have saved very much room on the carrier.
They had the tail feathers torn down to fix some squaws, after it flew in a week ago.
My walk-around continues…
Author Stan Cohen next to the emblem.
And unrelated to the Zero, or the Anchorage museum… here is a pretty video clip. Way too much emphasis on the landscape and way too little of the planes – especially the B-25:
Bob's Blog - Situk River Fly Shop 
Great addition to the museum. I know the the Air force Museum in Ohio also has a Zero on display, and the Pima Air Museum has the Japanese Army’s version of the Zero which is referred toas the Oscar. I love the Pima Air Museum because a lot of the volunteers are WWII veterans with great stories to tell.
Great photos! I’ve read that this aircraft is owned by a New Zealander: could you clarify this if possible?