Comeal Andrews of the 93rd obsessed his grandniece, Judith Baker. From her much loved Grandfather, she heard about this brother of his all of her life. She knew he served in World War II and lost his life. But that’s all she knew. Judith contacted researcher Chris through our website https://www.93regimentalcan.com and Chris …
Tag Archives: segregated Army
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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Publicity
Publicity took over the project when, in British Columbia two regiments, the 35th and the 340th, met, in September at Contact Creek; opened the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek to Whitehorse. Heath Twichell explained. “Many miles of filling and grading in both directions from Contact Creek remained to be done, but the Army knew a …
The Race to the International Border
The international border, the border between Canada and Alaska, had everybody’s attention at the end of the summer of 1942. The soldiers of the 18th and those of the 97th would meet there and complete the Alaska Highway. The 18th Combat Engineers–more on the champs Just as the race to the border heated up, permafrost …
Sergeant Honesty Fascinated Us
Obviously 1st Sergeant Honesty fascinated us. When Researcher Chris dug in and learned more about him. He fascinated us more. “Top Kick” Sergeant Honesty Ashel’s parents John and Mary Honesty lived in Zanesville, Ohio; raised 8 kids there. Ashel left to join the Army in 1918 and landed with the 813th Pioneer Infantry at Brest, …
“Top Kick” Sergeant Honesty
“Top Kick” Ashel Honesty left his mark on the far north country. In 1942 the Army dispatched him with the 93rd Engineers to Yukon Territory and the Alaska Highway Project. From the Highway he went with the 93rd to the Aleutians. “Top Kick” Honesty was the man in Company A of the 93rd. Enlisted soldiers …
Cresting the Continental Divide
Moving west from the Gulf of Alaska into the interior means cresting a rugged range of mountains that separate two great drainage systems. One system drains from their crest back to the Gulf. The other drains north through the Yukon River System to the Bering Sea. The generals who routed the Alaska Highway through Alaska …
Segregation came to Skagway in 1942.
Segregation meant that soldiers, at least the black enlisted soldiers, in Skagway in 1942 lived separate, not just from their officers, but from everyone else as well. Six year old Carl Mulvihill spotted black soldiers quartered across the alley from his house. Excited, he waved and called. They ignored him. Only later did he learn …
William Booker’s Guest Post from 1945
William Booker served with the segregated 95th Engineering Regiment on the Alaska Highway in 1942, went on with the regiment to the European Theater. In 1945 he wrote a poem about his service and tonight he is my guest storyteller. More on Booker’s Regiment This Place is Reserved for White America is a …
KV Nelson Froze to Death
KV Nelson served with the 97th Engineering Regiment on the Alaska Highway in Alaska—until February 5, 1943. On that day he died. He and a fellow soldier named Smith, driving a truck on the icy highway back to camp from the little settlement at Station Creek, slid off the road into a ditch. The truck …