The Black Soldiers Who Built the Alaska Highway : A History of Four U.S. Army Regiments in the North, 1942-1943

Virtue, John

McFarland & Co Inc（2012/12発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 228 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780786471171
• DDC分類 979.804

Full 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.

Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by Monte Irvin

Preface

Introduction

 1—Pondering a Pathway to Alaska

 2—Highway and Pipeline Approved

 3—The Second Emancipation Order

 4—Blacks Rush to Enlist

 5—Black Soldiers Voice Their Complaints

 6—Army Reluctantly Assigns Black Regiments

 7—Heading North

 8—Japanese Attack Justifies the Alcan Highway

 9—The 93rd and the 95th Start Off with Picks and Shovels

10—The 97th Completes the Highway

11—The 388th Does the Heavy Lifting

12—An Unexpectedly Severe Winter

13—Surviving Isolation

14—The Highway Is Praised, the Pipeline Criticized

15—Identifying Problems

16—News Coverage of Black Troops Suppressed

Epilogue

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index