No irony accompanied the fact that in early 1942, the Aleutians offered the marauding Japanese a back door to America. America’s leaders decided she needed a road to Alaska to defend it, and some of them realized the road wouldn’t do a lot of good if convoys had to dedicate the bulk of their …
Tag Archives: Alaska Highway in WWII
Spiritual Guidance on the Alaska Highway
Spiritual guidance, Chaplain Brown’s specialty; difficult to deliver on the Alcan. Thousands of the Chaplain’s “parishioners” scattered along the length of the Highway, scattered over a lot of the most difficult miles on the planet. And they brought every kind of spiritual need to the Chaplain. His routine included marriage requests/investigations, problems, complaints, morale, hardship …
Millie’s First White Men Were Black
Millie Jones, born in Whitehorse, grew up in Carcross, Yukon Territory—about as remote a place as the world had to offer. People in Carcross ordered their groceries in bulk–had staples shipped to Skagway and then up to them by the White Pass and Yukon Territory railroad. Clothes came from the Sears catalogue. Millie shared the Carcross …
Problems loomed in October
Problems loomed in October What Extreme Cold Does to Equipment—and Beer Serious problems loomed for the Alaska Highway Builders as they moved out of September into October 1942. Their leaders, General Sturdevant and General Hoge knew that at best they had put 1600 miles of mess in place—some of it nearly up to pioneer standards, …
General Hoge Fired
General William Hoge’s boots first crossed the platform at the Dawson Creek Railroad station early in 1942. He came to lead thousands of Army Engineers into and through the far north wilderness. He led them to accomplish the near impossible, to construct 1600 miles of road through some of the most unforgiving terrain on …
Twichell, Father and Son, and the Alaska Highway
Colonel Twichell commanded a regiment on the Alaska Highway Project. His son, Heath, immortalized the Alaska Highway Project. Racism and the 95th Engineers Colonel Twichell came to the Highway with the 35th Engineers in early 1942 then commanded the segregated 95th. When he retired from the Army, many years later, he started work on …
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Climax at Contact Creek
Publicity–the impact of Contact Creek In late August and early September 1942, the soldiers of the 340th and those of the 35th plunged toward each other, and toward the first great climax of the Alaska Highway Project, through the rugged mountains of the Mackenzie-Yukon Drainage area. Their imminent meeting would open the road all the …
Whitehorse, Headquarters City
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory headquartered most of the Alaska Highway Project throughout 1942. Decisions coming out of the little city shaped the lives of the men on the highway. More important, the organization that controlled everything their lives depended on—from food and supplies to equipment and medical care—centered there. Whitehorse Yukon 1942 In a contemporary newspaper …
Opening Ceremony, the Publicity Machine Launched
Two bulldozers met in the woods and the publicity machine launched. Colonels and generals had got bulldozers from the 97th and the 18th in the same place, therefore they had completed the Alaska Highway. End of story. On to a dramatic opening ceremony. Two Bulldozers in the Same Place Secretary of War Henry Stimson …
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Two Bulldozers in the Same Place
Getting two bulldozers in the same place, in front of a reporter’s camera, became the overriding goal for commanders on the Alaska Highway project in October 1942. The 97th Engineers working south from Alaska and the 18th Engineers working north through Yukon Territory had to cross 55 miles of permafrost to meet and complete the …