Ordinary Men Build A Legendary Road
Black Engineers & The ALCAN Highway
African American, Alaska Highway, Company C. Born: 12 November 1907, Morganton, NC. Enlisted: 28 February 1941. Excerpts from Letter 1 August 1990 for 50th reunion of Alaska Higway. “I am one of the missing vets. We recieved very little credit. We did service but most of us will not be found.”
African American, Company F, Alaska Highway. Born: 1 December 1920, Memphis, TN. Died: 13 April 1989, Detroit, Wayne, MI. Enlisted: 16 April 1941, Camp Shelby, MS. Discharged: 22 November 1945. Education: one year high school. Civilian occupation: waiter. His father was William Byrd and his mother was Maggie Houston. Serial #34046532 If you have information about…
Alaska Highway, Civil Engineer, First Battalion, S-4 Assistant with H&S Company, also assigned to Company C and D. Born: 20 March 1916, Wilson County, North Carolina. Died: 25 October 2001, Alabama. His father was William J. Burleigh, Sr. born in Canada. His mother was Lightfoot Burleigh born in Virginia. Lt. Squires when interviewed stated that…
Alaska Highway, Civil Engineer, 1st BN, Company B. Born: 2 May 1919, PA Died: 27 December 2008, Wisconsin. Buried in Mequon, Wisconsin. He was commissioned from ROTC at Penn State College after graduation in 1942. Enlisted on 18 May 1942 at Ft. Belvoir, VA and was released 15 January 1946. He served as a Captain from 1950…
African American, Company E, Alaska Highway. Born: 15 (12) January (October) 1919 (1918), Rayne, Acadia, LA. His WW2 draft card has his birth date “unknown”. Died: 29 March 1991. Enlisted: 12 Apr 1941 at Jacksonville Army Air Field, FL and discharged 22 November 1945. Education: grammar school. Civil occupation: grain mill. He was employed at…
Alaska Highway, Company A, D and F, Civil Engineer. Born: 24 October 1914, Delaware Died: 4 January, 2009, Mass. Enlisted 26 April 1941, Philadelphia, PA. Education: 4 years of college. Civilian occupation: civil engineer. His father Robert Franklin II (1892-1919). He was a soldier in WW1 and while in France died in an auto accident. His mother…
Alaska Highway, Company C Commander, Civil Engineer. Born: 21 August 1911, Alabama Died: 22 November 2000, Alabama. Buried at Auburn Memorial Park. He graduated from Alabama Polytechnic Institute [Auburn University] and after retirement from the Army, he taught industrial engineering at Auburn for fifteen years. He was one of the original officers in the cadre assigned to the…
Alaska Highway, Civil Engineer, First Battalion HQ, Company C. Born: 1 December 1915, New Jersey. Died: 15 August 1975, Fairfax, VA. Buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. Enlisted into Army 15 October 1940. He had two years of college prior to active duty. His wife was Donna V. Bonaparte. His father was Alfred Bonaparte and his mother was…
African American, Company F, Alaska Highway. Born: 14 March 1920, Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia Died: 1 May 2010, Baltimore, Maryland. Enlisted: 15 August 1941, Richmond, VA. Discharged: 5 December 1945. Education: four years high school. Civilian Occupation: Miles Cleaning Company [laundry/cleaners]. John stated that he joined the army to escape segregationist life in Virginia and wanted to…
Alaska Highway, Company E. Born: 15 August 1920, Wyoming. Died: unknown. Education: University of Wyoming, Civil Engineer. Occupation: Wyoming State Engineer 1 May 1963 to 1 Dec 1974. June K. Bishop left college in May of 1942 and married Floyd on 9 May 1942. She was a avid golfer. His father, Loren C. Bishop (1885-1961), was a civil…