Military personnel aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Alaska perform a ceremonial greeting for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who flew to the aircraft carrier in August to observe large-scale exercises called Northern Edge. Members of the greeting crew are referred to as “sideboys,” a reference to the age of sail, when guests were hoisted over the side of a ship. (Shepard Fosdyke-Jackson/U.S. Navy)
Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance grew up outside the city during the Cold War. And the specter of nuclear conflict and an attack on the area’s military infrastructure loomed over her childhood.
“The Soviet Union felt pretty close,” she said. “I remember feeling a sense of fear, like: ‘We’re going to be the first ones in the line of fire. We’re this target.’”…