Carcross had seen trainloads of soldiers pass through and on to Whitehorse. Now, to little Millie Jones’ delight, the black soldiers of the 93rd Engineering Regiment stopped and climbed down in Carcross. Lt. Price’s platoon came first, brought up the Regimental Chaplain, Lt. Finis Hugo Austin, and set up a post office. Millie Jones and Carcross …
Tag Archives: Alaska Highway in WWII
Racism
Racism, not simply wrong but also incredibly inefficient, visited the commander of the Alaska Highway Project, General William Hoge on a regular basis, but never as dramatically as when he put together his plan to get two of his regiments out of Skagway and onto the Highway. Link to another story about Hoge After much …
McGee, Sam McGee, and the 18th Engineers
McGee, Sam McGee, probably a name familiar to you, couldn’t know he crossed paths, albeit a half century ahead of them in time, with the soldiers of the 18th Engineering Regiment. The soldiers, building Alaska Highway through Yukon, certainly didn’t know they’d crossed paths with him. Sam McGee, the real Sam McGee, not the one …
The Swamp Claimed a Dozer
Big Devil Swamp immortalized Captain Pollock, Company B commander, in June 1942. Read More about Getting to the Teslin River Racing to the Teslin River early in the month, the soldiers of the 93rd had passed Summit Lake and plunged through the swamp—left a barely passable trail. The soldiers of the 340th had worked through …
We Fought the Road and A Different Race
We Fought the Road and now A Different Race tell an important and fascinating story that too many people don’t know. In early 1942 the rampaging Empire of Japan advanced on America through the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. America couldn’t get enough men and material to Alaska to defend it without a land route from …
Sometimes Funny
Sometimes funny, the exploits of bush pilot Les Cook on the Alaska Highway Project make great stories. Most stories portray Les as a hero. Cook flew when no one else could or would. He and his plane saved lives. Cook’s plane brought food, mail, emergency equipment and doctors to places no other mode of transportation …
Highballing It At 60 Below
Highballing it at 60 below headlined an article in the November 27, 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Captain Richard L. Neuberger who wrote it had watched the 770th Railway Operating Battalion struggle to shove enough men and freight up and over White Pass to build Alaska Highway through Yukon. In truth they didn’t …
The Subarctic North Lay in Wait
The subarctic north lay in wait for the soldiers of the Corps of Engineers at the end of the 1940’s. A few daring men flew over it. A primitive system of primordial trails traversed it from the farming village of Dawson Creek through a string of tiny settlements to the almost city of Whitehorse and …
Paul Raso–Guest Post
Paul Raso’s father served as a company commander in the 97th Engineering Regiment—appears several times in our new book, A Different Race. And I posted a story about him and a pack mule here just a few days ago. Captain Paul Raso commanded a company of black soldiers who played a major part in constructing …
The Fairbanks Freight
The Fairbanks Freight would, if senior officers had anything to say about it, make scheduled runs north to Fairbanks from the Dawson Creek railhead through the winter of 1942/43. Convoys making their way over the brand new road that winter traversed a very rough draft of a Highway. Link to another story, “Awards, Celebrations and …