Fiction. THE WAR JOURNAL OF LILA ANN SMITH is based on a true story of the invasion and subsequent occupation of the Island of Attu by the Japanese during World War II. This action was followed by the removal of the occupants of Attu to another island near Japan. Irving Warner, after 25 years of research, after interviewing as many survivors as possible, developed this novel focusing on the single Caucasian woman who lived through this, a woman whose husband was killed during the invasion ...