Alaska Day Festival

USARAK Commanding General Maj. Gen. Pete Andrysiak Jr., and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka Commanding Officer Capt. Mike Frawley, lay wreaths during the Alaska Day Memorial Ceremony, Oct. 18, at the Sitka National Cemetery, Alaska. The ceremony, led by USARAK Command Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Sun Lee, paid tribute to the military veterans buried there. The past and present merged on Oct. 18 as service members participated and reenactors recreated the historical 1867 transfer of the Territory of Alaska from Russia to the United States at Castle Hill in Sitka. The Transfer Ceremony 1867 Commemoration is the main event of the annual Alaska Day Festival, which has been held in the city and Borough of Sitka for 70 years. The USARAK Soldiers continued the legacy of the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Regiment troops who participated in the 1867 ceremony. (U.S. Army photo by Derrick Crawford)