This was a welcome change for the men who just spent over three months on the Alaskan islands, but it did not last long.
The Alaskan island of Kiska was evacuated by the remaining 5,183 Japanese officers, enlisted men and civilians who had occupied the American territory.
The story starts with Cole Matthews on a boat headed toward the Alaskan island where Cole is being banished to for a year.
Of the 2,500 Japanese who originally tried to hold the Alaskan island, only 28 prisoners were alive at the battle's end, while the American losses were 600 dead.
If the experience of other Alaskan islands where rats have been established is any indication, there is plenty of reason to worry about places like St. Paul.
Rats have now infested more than a dozen large Alaskan islands, scientists say, and are present on dozens of smaller ones.
Other rats besides the Norway have arrived on Alaskan islands, but only the Norway can survive the weather, scientists say.
In 2007, Stevens added $3.5 million into a Senate spending bill to help finance an airport to serve a remote Alaskan island.
The Alaskan island called New Eddystone Rock is a pillar of basalt.
The island is covered in scrub brush and sand dunes, unlike other Alaskan islands that have hardscrabble coasts.