Dumb going up there, the soldiers of the 35th learned. Master Sergeant King of the Motor Pool carried an old 45 to British Columbia; kept it in a holster at his side. With his 45 King could fix anything. At Dawson Creek a civilian warned King about muskeg. Chester laughed. “And old King, he… padded …
Category Archives: Alaska Highway
Work, Damned Hard Work
Work, damned hard work, and the occasional young officer who got in the way. That’s the Alcan project that dominated Chester Russell’s memory. “We was running cats. We was doing our thing, and the other fellows doing the culverts and the bridges, and… We never looked back. We just kept going.” Young Lieutenants Another Officer …
Fish Story, Courtesy Chester’s Mom
Fish stories. You might know Chester Russel specialized in those. When Chester’s mom sent him a package, he and his buddies devoured the raisins and pretty much wasted their time with the “38-6 shooter”. But she sent fishing tackle too, and Chester made very good use of that—in British Columbia and in his memories. Jaundice …
Covid Got You Stuck At Home
Covid got you stuck at home? Bored? If you liked or followed this author page, you will like our book, We Fought the Road, about defending America by Constructing the Epic Alaska Highway. Click this link to find it on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07172WHD7 or this one to find it on Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-fought-the-road-christine-mcclure/1162518241?ean=9781935347774 or …
Hunger
Hunger permeates Chester Russel’s memory of his first weeks on the Alcan Project. The stuff of legend, his regiment’s race against the spring thaw got them to Ft Nelson in the nick of time—just before the winter trail disappeared from under their rolling dozers and trucks. That meant, as Chester remembered, “no supply line.” Awards, …
Awards, Celebrations and Giving a Damn
Awards or commendations—interviewer Brown asked Chester whether he and the other soldiers received any. “You gotta be kidding. That war with them Japs over there, and with the Germans coming up.” Nobody paid any attention to roadbuilders in Canada. “We were the peons playing in the mud.” Bit and Brace Brain Surgery–More from Chester’s Memory …
Bit and Brace Brain Surgery
Bit and Brace brain surgery came to Chester Russel’s memory when interviewers Brown and Bridgeman asked him about danger on the Highway. When Pvt. Moore walked too near a working dozer, a falling limb crashed into his head. “So this Dr. Stotts”, Chester remembered, “he finally got up there where we had him on… he …
Major Problem
Major problem number one, confronting Chester Russell and his fellows in the 35th, as they tried to build road away from Ft. Nelson? Their leaders ordered them to build road but couldn’t tell them where to build it. Young Lieutenants in Chester’s Memory General Hoge had tasked the 35th to build Highway north over the …
Young Lieutenants
Young lieutenants often need, in addition to formal Army training, serious training from their enlisted subordinates. Chester Russell’s memory yielded a story for interviewers Brown and Bridgeman that describes how that training happens. Enlisted Soldiers like Chester Earl Brown asked how many miles a day they built; did they have a quota? No quota, but …
Enlisted Soldiers like Chester
Enlisted soldiers like Chester fought the mud, mountains, cold and mosquitoes; did the actual work of building the Alaska Highway in 1942. The stories that pour from Chester Russell’s memory tell us what it felt like to actually do the epic job. The Most Colorful Soldier Speaking of Chester Russel In the last episode, Chester …