Did you Know a Native Alaskan Became a Legendary Navy SEAL?
Contributed by Col Suellyn Wright Novak, USAF, Ret Alaska Veterans Museum
Solomon Atkinson, of Metlakatla Indian Community, Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska was one of the Navy’s first 60 SEALS (Sea, Air and Land teams). He spent his early days swimming, fishing, and diving in our cold waters. Solomon joined the Army National Guard on November 1, 1951, but immediately requested a transfer to the Navy. He served as an Engineman for one rotation aboard the USS WASHBURN, AKA-108 (a Tolland-class attack cargo ship) on a Korean deployment then immediately volunteered for the rigorous Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) training course at Naval Base Coronado, CA in 1953. The UDTs were also known as Frogmen. UDT 12, which included Sol and Dale McCleskey deployed to Vietnam for beach reconnaissance in preparation for increasing US involvement but rotated back early for a special assignment.
Sol and his buddy Dale would be among the 60 sailors to create the first SEAL Teams 1 and 2 in 1962. As members of Team 1, they deployed to Vietnam training Vietnamese special operations forces. Sol had an excellent reputation as an instructor. Due to his upbringing, Sol easily connected with and trained local soldiers. After his second deployment, Atkinson moved his wife, JoAnn, and their two daughters to Key West FL, where Sol was a dive instructor at the famously difficult Army Special Forces dive school. There Sol earned the name “the mean machine.” He really put the candidates through the wringer to ensure they were solid as well as tough. The Key West facility also had another group of students Sol trained: the NASA astronauts. All 64 astronauts in the Gemini and Apollo programs, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Atkinson’s third and final deployment to Vietnam came in June 1968. Atkinson, Wollard and Burwell were members of SEAL Team 2 for this deployment, with a mission of keeping a shipping channel to Saigon open in the Rung Sat Special Zone. This area sits in Sac Forest, which became known to troops who fought there as the “forest of assassins.” Woolard headed up one team, while Silver Star recipient Lt John Brewton led the other team which Atkinson and Burwell were members of. Atkinson was the platoon chief for this deployment. It was on this deployment that the SEAL’s ambush accidentally used a dead tree for a claymore- an explosive device. The resultant blast momentarily knocked out both SEALs, with Sol taking the worse hit, but he came to and began firing.
After his 3rd deployment, Sol took on the secret mission of training members of the Green Light Teams. These were an equivalent of James Bond type missions, carrying portable nuclear bombs-B-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition-into Eastern Europe.
Atkinson retired from the Navy in 1973 and returned home to Metlakatla where he became a born-again Christian. He championed his fellow veterans in his local community as well as throughout Alaska. He became mayor of Metlakatla in 1978 and served until 2001. Ever the instructor, he helped vets file VA paperwork, including home loans. Sol died in 2019 and was transported from Ketchikan’s morgue back to Metlakatla via a fleet of 22 fishing vessels. The lead ship transporting his casket was his grandson’s boat. SEALs from SEAL Team 1 carried his casket for 2 miles to his final resting place, refusing anyone else’s help because it was Sol’s last request. The Navy recently announced plans to name a Navajo-class towing and salvage ship for our legendary hero.