For Veterans, Alaska's an Attraction

"Fairbanks veterans are the people that had 20 to 30 years in military service. They're very loyal, but now that they're done, they want to do things on their own," Landacre said.

Veterans make up nearly 17 percent of the state's adult population, the Census Bureau reported in 2005. Nationally, the proportion is 11 percent.

Beale said most veterans in Alaska are originally from the lower 48 states and get their first glimpse of the state while on duty.

John Kelley, who served in the Air Force and Army, stopped in Alaska in 1968 on his way to Vietnam. He remembers the plane had to circle to scare a moose off the runway before landing.

"I said, 'All righty, I'm coming back,' " he said. "I made it back in 1986 and haven't lived anywhere else since."

Many of Alaska's veterans work for state or federal agencies, with a high percentage in law enforcement as police officers, state troopers or prison guards.

But it takes a hardy sort to live independently in Alaska, and as many veterans grow old, they leave for retirement communities in Arizona, Florida or California. "The cold, snow and ice gets to a lot of people," Beale said.

But Landacre said he and his fellow veterans made an educated choice, having sampled cities around the world while in the service. Landacre, for example, was stationed in balmy places such as Hawaii, California, Cuba and Guam before settling on Fairbanks, where temperatures can sink to 60 below.

"The Fairbanks crew is not going anywhere. They're up here, and they're staying," Landacre said. "I guarantee not one of us is planning to move to Florida."