The World War II Black Regiment that Built the Alaska Military Highway

The World War II Black Regiment that Built the Alaska Military Highway PDF Author: William E. Griggs
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781578065042
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
A photographic record of a black regiment's contribution to safeguarding Alaska from Japanese invasion

The World War II Black Regiment that Built the Alaska Military Highway

The World War II Black Regiment that Built the Alaska Military Highway PDF Author: William E. Griggs
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781578065042
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
A photographic record of a black regiment's contribution to safeguarding Alaska from Japanese invasion

The Alaska Highway in World War II

The Alaska Highway in World War II PDF Author: Kenneth S. Coates
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806153784
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a fear of invasion swept North America—particularly the West Coast. Immediate steps needed to be taken to defend the Far Northwest. With Canada’s approval, Washington drew up plans for an Alaska Highway to connect Edmonton, Alberta, with Fairbanks, Alaska, and a pipeline to connect oil fields in the Northwest Territories with the Pacific Coast. Between 1942 and 1946, about 40,000 American military and civilian personnel invaded the Canadian Northwest. Where there had been few or no roads, a highway more than 1,500 miles long was built in less than a year. Navigation facilities were improved, and pipelines were laid from Fairbanks to the Pacific. Airfields were upgraded and new ones built, and a telephone network was constructed. The Northwest was totally unprepared for this friendly invasion. The Alaska Highway ran through semi-wilderness where many inhabitants pursued a nomadic lifestyle, and towns and settlements were overwhelmed by the American “army of occupation.” This lively history of an American civil and military engineering milestone draws on interviews with veterans and local residents and research in Canadian and U.S. archives. The participants’ stories provide humor and insights on the building of this transformational highway.

The Black Soldiers Who Built the Alaska Highway

The Black Soldiers Who Built the Alaska Highway PDF Author: John Virtue
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476600392
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
This is the first detailed account of the 5,000 black troops who were reluctantly sent north by the United States Army during World War II to help build the Alaska Highway and install the companion Canol pipeline. Theirs were the first black regiments deployed outside the lower 48 states during the war. The enlisted men, most of them from the South, faced racial discrimination from white officers, were barred from entering any towns for fear they would procreate a "mongrel" race with local women, and endured winter conditions they had never experienced before. Despite this, they won praise for their dedication and their work. Congress in 2005 said that the wartime service of the four regiments covered here contributed to the eventual desegregation of the Armed Forces.

A Different Race: World War II, the Alaska Highway, Racism and a Court Martial

A Different Race: World War II, the Alaska Highway, Racism and a Court Martial PDF Author: Christine McClure
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781735841700
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
On December 7, 1941 the United States suddenly found itself at war with the Empire of Japan. Alaska's Aleutian Island chain led through the North Pacific from Japan to North America, and the army desperately needed to convoy the material of war to Alaska's undefended coastline. That required a 1600-mile road through northern Canada and Alaska. The army dispatched four white and three segregated Black engineering regiments north to build the Alaska Highway. One of the Black regiments, the 97th Engineers, arrived at snow covered Valdez, Alaska in April 1942, tasked with building the northernmost end of the Highway. The soldiers of the 97th worked and suffered and their racist, disorganized white officers offered virtually no leadership. When the army finally fired their commander, "Old Grandma", his replacement got the regiment under control. But, focused on getting the job done, he abandoned military protocol and discipline. The black soldiers adapted, became, in effect, civilians in uniform and they completed the road. To help a third commander scare his black soldiers back to normal protocol and discipline, the army court-martialed ten of them for mutiny, convicted nine and sentenced them to long prison terms at hard labor.

We Fought the Road

We Fought the Road PDF Author: Christine McClure
Publisher: Epicenter Press
ISBN: 1935347888
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
We Fought the Road is the story of the building of the Alaska-Canada Highway during World War II. More than one third of the 10,607 builders were black; thought to be incapable of performing on a war front by many of their white commanding officers. Their task--which required punching through wilderness on a route blocked by the Rocky Mountains and deadly permafrost during the worst winter on record--has been likened to the building of the Panama Canal. Unlike most accounts that focus on the road's military planners, We Fought the Road is boots-on-the-ground and often personal, based in part on letters from the "Three Cent Romance," the successful courtship via mail discovered in the authors' family papers

The Williwaw War

The Williwaw War PDF Author: Donald Goldstein
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
ISBN: 1557282420
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 455

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Book Description
"An amazing story of Arkansas soldiers and their struggle in the Aleutians. A must read book for those who want to learn about a forgotten part of that great war told from a soldier's point of view." -Major General James A. Ryan The Adjutant General Military Department of Arkansas

The Alaska Highway in World War II

The Alaska Highway in World War II PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781442616745
Category : Alaska Highway
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description


The Milepost

The Milepost PDF Author: Kris Valencia
Publisher: Morris Communications Company
ISBN: 9781892154217
Category : Alaska
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Referred to by travellers as "the bible of North Country travel" since it was first published in 1949, The Milepost is an essential travel companion for anyone planning or taking a trip to Alaska, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, northern Alberta or northern British Columbia.Travellers will find detailed mile-by-mile road logs and maps of all northern routes, including the famous Alaska Highway. The Milepost is updated annually by experienced field editors, providing accurate and up-to-date information on attractions, activities, food, gas, lodging and camping. Details are provided for every city and town along the way.Travel by air, ferry, cruise ship, bus and rail is also covered. Every edition of The Milepost includes Alaska State Ferry and B.C. Ferries schedules, important information on crossing the border, a calendar of events, a pull-out Plan-a-Trip map, litre-to-gallon conversions and dozens of other travel tips.Special features highlight side-trip destinations, gold rush and highway history, and places to eat and things to do.With its wealth of detail, The Milepost is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the North, whether it is the trans-Alaska pipeline, bird watching, Native culture, or glaciers and wildlife viewing, to name just a few attractions. This classic travel guide is a must for every Northland traveller.

The Dakota Hunter

The Dakota Hunter PDF Author: Hans Wiesman
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612002595
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
A tale of a lifelong passion for a WWII aircraft that changed the author’s life: “It is almost like an adventure novel except it is true” (Air Classics). This book tells the story of a Dutch boy who grew up during the 1950s in postwar Borneo, where he had frequent encounters with an airplane, the Douglas DC-3, a.k.a. the C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, of World War II fame. For a young boy living in a remote jungle community, the aircraft reached the proportions of a romantic icon as the essential lifeline to a bigger world for him, the beginning of a special bond. In 1957, his family left the island and all its residual wreckage of World War II, and he attended college in The Hague. After graduation, he started a career as a corporate executive—and met the aircraft again during business trips to the Americas. His childhood passion for the Dakota flared up anew, and the fascination pulled like a magnet. As if predestined, or maybe just looking for an excuse to come closer, he began a business to salvage and convert Dakota parts, which meant first of all finding them. As the demand for these war relic parts and cockpits soared, he began to travel the world to track down surplus, crashed, or derelict Dakotas. He ventured deeper and deeper into remote mountains, jungles, savannas, and the seas where the planes are found, usually as ghostly wrecks but sometimes still in full commercial operation. In hunting the mythical Dakota, he often encountered intimidating or dicey situations in countries plagued by wars or revolts, others by arms and narcotics trafficking, warlords, and conmen. The stories of these expeditions take the reader to some of the remotest spots in the world, but once there, one is often greeted by the comfort of what was once the West’s apex in transportation—however now haunted by the courageous airmen of the past.

A Year in the National Parks

A Year in the National Parks PDF Author: Stefanie Payne
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692926789
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
On January 1 of 2016, Stefanie Payne, a creative professional working at NASA Headquarters, and Jonathan Irish, a photographer with National Geographic, left their lives in Washington, D.C. and hit the open road on an expedition to explore and document all 59 of America's national parks during the centennial celebration of the U.S. National Park Service - 59 parks in 52 weeks - the Greatest American Road Trip. Captured in more than 300,000 digital photographs, written stories, and videos shared by the national and international media, their project resulted in an incredible view of America's National Park System seen in its 100th year. 'A Year in the National Parks, The Greatest American Road Trip' is a gorgeous visual journey through our cherished public lands, detailing a rich tapestry of what makes each park special, as seen along an epic journey to visit them all within one special celebratory year.