The soldiers of the 93rd met mosquitoes as well as muskeg in the Yukon spring of 1942. The spring thaw got started in May, just as soldiers moved into the field. It turned the muskeg into thick brown soup. And it brought mosquitoes out of the ground in endless swarms. For more on muskeg The …
Category Archives: Alaska Highway
The Yukon Wilderness Fought Back with Muskeg
In May 1942 the men of the 93rd crammed into Yukon in enormous confusion. And the Yukon wilderness immediately fought back–with muskeg. Arriving at Crag Lake, a few miles out of Carcross, Captain Boyd, commander of Company C, ordered SSgt Dunn, his mess sergeant, to spud a hole through the ice to access water. An …
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Confusion and Chaos
In early May 1942 the black soldiers of the 93rd Engineers moved out of Carcross–most in total confusion. The first company out of town, Company A, worked well. Their two borrowed bulldozers cleared a right of way; laid down trees, pushed dirt and brush to the side. Soldiers with hand tools scrambled over it, shoveling …
93rd Engineers Making Road
Recall that in April 1942 General Hoge had dispatched the black soldiers of the 93rd to Carcross to build a road to the Teslin River for the 340th. He had done so to get the black men out of Skagway and he didn’t propose to leave them long in Carcross either. Making road, getting the …
A Useful Corrective–Leonard’s Memory
Researcher Chris found Leonard Larkins and his family in 2016. We’ve travelled to New Orleans to visit and interview Leonard, to apply Leonard’s memory to our research. Leonard Larkins on our Research Site Leonard Larkins and the 93rd Leonard Larkins Memories Leonard talks about pup tents and stoves in cold weather—“had trouble with the stoves …
Leonard Larkins’ Memories
For the last two days I’ve posted about Leonard Larkins who served with the 93rd Engineering Regiment in Yukon in 1942. Leonard Larkins and the 93rd Meeting Leonard Larkins Leonard Larkins on our Research Site We have gathered in a large and comfortable room. On a big screen TV in front of us, Researcher Chris …
Green Bag of Memories
Last night I posted about Tech 5 Samuel Hargroves. And there’s more to the story. To tell it I must step through the fourth wall again; talk about Researcher Chris and me. I hope you find the story of the green bag worth it. (For more about Samuel follow this link to our research site) …
Carcross Knew There Was a War On
People in Carcross knew, vaguely, that there was a war on. Townspeople even installed black out curtains on their windows—just in case. But the sudden influx of soldiers came as a shock. At first, they simply moved through to Whitehorse, but then, in May, they began to pour off the train and set up camp. …
Hoge had Cast the Die
So Hoge had cast the die. The 93rd would build the 70-mile supply road from Carcross to the Teslin River. And, ironically, Hoge’s racism handed the men of the 93rd an opportunity. The Army expected little of its black soldiers; typically gave them the least demanding jobs around. But Hoge had given the 93rd a …
Hoge’s Problems Didn’t end in Seattle
So with help from Elliott, General Hoge pried his equipment out of Seattle and got it headed up the Inside Passage. But his problems moved with the equipment. Arriving in Skagway, it quickly overwhelmed the tiny harbor. Besides being small, Skagway Harbor offered twenty-foot tides which made the process of unloading vessels complicated. Incoming vessels …