Alaska Highway Day honors African Americans who built the road
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Friday marks Alaska Highway Day — commemorating the day in 1942 when the Alaska Highway was completed.
The day also honors the contributions of “African American Soldiers” who helped to build the road that connects Alaska to the contiguous United States across Canada.
“We are recognizing some soldiers — African American soldiers — that, in a critical time in American history, when our national security was at stake, the Japanese had invaded Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, and so in ... March of [1942], they assembled all these engineer soldiers to build 1,500 miles of highway so they could get supplies in here,” Ed Wesley, former post commander at General “Chappie” James American Legion Post 34, said.
“Later on, the Japanese invaded Alaska, and so it was very critical to get this mission accomplished.”
According to the book Black History in the Last Frontier by Ian C. Hartman, 10,000 troops — including 4,000 who were black — made their way to Skagway in the spring of 1942.
The soldiers labored for months, carving out a road through 1,500 miles of heavy forest.
“The reason we honor [African American soldiers] is because they had a certain time to do it, but they did it in eight months. Half of the time that was given to do it, they did it in eight months,” Wesley expressed. “Many of them died. 30 of them were court-martialed.
“They would not allow them to go into the villages. And so for this heroic accomplishment, which President Truman said was one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century, comparable to the building of the Panama Canal.”
African American soldier history in Alaska goes further back than World War II.
“Many Alaskans are unaware of the contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers to Alaska — from 1899 to 1903 they were stationed in Skagway there to keep the peace during the Klondike era,” Wesley said.
The Black soldiers who built the Alaska Highway and Buffalo Soldiers will be honored Friday night at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel. The reception and program will take place at the Howard Rock Ballroom beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $100 and proceeds benefit scholarships through the American Legion.
“If you cannot attend, just make a contribution to our Post,” Wesley asked. “We’re here to preserve that history. And so it’s so important that we have funds to do that.”
Wesley says the money raised will send young people to Boys and Girls State, a youth program developed by the American Legion.
“[We] send them to learn about community civics and community leadership,” he explained. “And so we’re excited about that, so that’s where we honor [African American soldiers], by getting young people involved.”
Wesley says the event will highlight participants who’ve benefited from the Boys and Girls State program, as well as honoring those who gave so much to build the Alaska Highway.
“There will be proclamations and acknowledgements,” he said. “We will have the Alaska Human Rights Commission — they would be there to highlight the 30 soldiers that was court-martialed.
“What the soldiers did in building the highway is the reason that President Truman integrated the military. He thought they did such a great job. There was no reason that they needed to be separated.”
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