LINKING TO THE PBS PAGE FOR BUILDING THE ALASKA HIGHWAY
Did you know that during World War II our largest state, Alaska, was considered terribly undefended from the Japanese? Did you know that our service men built a 1520 mile road, facing temperatures so low that men cried, and when the thaw came, mud called muskeg so deep that logs had to be used to float a road across the muck?
If you're ancestor served in World War II and you've looked at his World War II Draft Registration or service records on one of the databases such as Fold3 and it says ALASKA then he may have served to build the road which helped make Alaska defensible.
The road building began in May of 1942 and eventually went across sub Artic Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory involving thousands of U.S. soldiers at a time when troops were segregated. In this video we learn also about the respect that African American men earned though their hard labor.
While watching the archival footage you'll be tempted to want to stop the film to see if you recognize anyone. Could that be Grandpa?
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