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: segregated Army
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 …
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 …
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 …
Pack Mule
Pack mule out front, soldiers of the 97th Engineering Regiment started their road out of Slana, Alaska in 1942. Technically the mule didn’t lead them because a Lieutenant named Razo led him—but close enough. A few days into the woods, the Lieutenant made the mule extremely unhappy. Link to another story “Blazing the Path of …
Two Books
Two books, We Fought the Road and A Different Race, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your local bookstore will appeal to people who enjoy my stories. Christine and I wrote them. An Epic project comparable to the construction of the Panama Canal, the construction of the Alaska Highway left behind a treasure trove …
Tiny Teslin Post
Tiny Teslin Post never saw it coming. In July 1942, the soldiers of the 93rd Engineers, with their bulldozers and trucks and graders suddenly roared out of the woods beside Teslin Lake. The soldiers bulldozed at and around the tiny village and its 130 citizens, dropping trees in every direction. Link to another post …
After the War
After the war, black men like Thad Bryson came home changed. Black men had more choices than Thad had dreamed. But back in Old Fort the War and the Army had changed nothing except Thad. Jim Crow still dominated his life and the life of his family. Link to Another story “Young Black Officers” …
Young Black Officers
Video About Tuskegee Airmen Thad grew up knowing little beyond his black community in Old Fort, North Carolina. He lived in a two-room house on a small farm. Nobody in North Carolina expected much from a young black man, and it did not occur to young Thad to expect much from himself. He vaguely knew …
A Crow, Flying a Straight Path
A crow flying a straight path would have flown 4,415 miles to get from Eglin Field in South Florida to Valdez, Alaska—assuming a crow would have wanted to do such a thing. Thad Bryson’s 97th Engineering Regiment took a significantly more round about path from trucks to trains to a troopship and finally to just …