Photographing the soldiers of the 97th on the Highway in Alaska, Sgt. William Griggs had a unique mission. A regiment with 12,000 black soldiers naturally included some with unusual backgrounds and skills. The 97th included Griggs. Griggs father made photography a hobby and growing up in Baltimore, Griggs learned to love it too. After high …
Tag Archives: Alaska Highway
Fighting Water, Building Alaska Highway in Alaska
Fighting water came next for the soldiers of the 97th coming out of Valdez to the Alaska Highway. Soldiers driving dozers and trucks negotiated the narrow dirt road and the breathtaking cliffs of Keystone Canyon. Beyond the Canyon they passed through the narrow walls of packed snow that choked Thompson Pass. Link to another story …
Continue reading “Fighting Water, Building Alaska Highway in Alaska”
The 18th, Pride of the Alcan Project
The 18th Combat Engineers, a crack outfit, came early to the Alaska Highway project. They came up the Inland Passage to Skagway, boarded the WP&YR and invaded Whitehorse in April. Their heavy equipment came up from Skagway in May. The only bright spot in General Hoge’s firmament, the 18th immediately headed north out of Whitehorse, …
Winding in and Winding Out
Winding in and winding out… Retired Sergeant Troy Hise summed up his 1942 experience in northern Canada, “The Alaska Highway winding in and winding out, fills my mind with serious doubt, as to whether the lout that planned this route, was going to hell or coming out.” Sgt. Hise, referred to a potentially deal breaking …
The Juggernaut
The Juggernaut, the Corps of Engineers proposed drive into Northern Canada would not “drive” easily. But the ‘very highest authority’ had ordered the Corps to build a highway to Alaska and do it immediately, and the Corps leaped into action. The Corps existed to build things fast under difficult circumstances. They could drive the juggernaut. …
The Land of the Midnight Sun
The Land of the Midnight Sun could offer a traveler the spectacle of a golden lavender sunset in the west and a rising moon, dusted with the same hue in the east. Oversized and spectacular, the land dwarfed every living thing in it—mosquitoes, moose, grizzlies and, very occasionally, men. Winters surrounded everything in this country …
Sad Comment—Marl Brown
A sad comment appeared on one of my posts last night. Aaron OrKaden wrote “Hey folks. Sadly, this great man just passed a few days ago. I’m honored to be one of his grandkids. He will be sadly missed.” The sad comment appeared on the following post about Aron’s grandpa, Marl Brown. Everyone who has …
Five Days to a Bridge
Five days, that’s what the Southern Sector commander gave the 95th to bridge the Sikanni Chief. The soldiers got to work. Link to last episode in the series “Morale Leads the 95th to Sikanni Chief” In the surrounding woods, Sgt. Harvey and Pvt. Hickens selected trees—monsters for trestles that would stand up out of the …
Pink Mountain and the 95th
Pink Mountain took five soldiers from the 95th the very day Lt. Colonel Twichell replaced their disgraced commander, Colonel Newman. Twichell inherited major problems—disorganization, dismal morale, lack of a real mission. But before he could turn to those issues he had to deal with the immediate crisis. Link to Another story on the 95th “Rushed …
Rushed North—for What?
Rushed north by the Army to help in the urgent effort to build over a thousand miles of Alaska Highway through subarctic wilderness, the soldiers of the 95th found themselves with little to do. They occasionally found themselves serving as stevedores and delivery drivers for the white rookies of the 341st. More often they …