Hi
My name is Bruce Williams I need to talk to someone about what I figure is a huge issue.
In the 40s the States built a road in the Yukon for the war. An Elder of ours who is over 100 was the guide for that road. He says that it was the first time that he ever seen a black person. A lot of the workers were black. When they froze to death or died they were just thrown by the road side with no ceremony at all, or buried.
He would like to have a ceremony for them so that he can rest in peace.
My question is can you put me in touch with someone that might be able to talk to me about this closure. Has anyone even talked about the black people that came up here? Have they been honoured for what they done for the USA?
Anyone just would like to talk to someone if you know who please let me know.
All My Relations
Bruce Williams
604.826.2016
Email: brucewilliams@yahoo.ca
[[Historical background: During WWII Alaska for the first time acquired military significance when the Japanese invaded the Aleutian islands. But there was no road or railrod from the U.S. & Canadian heartland to Alaska, all military cargo had to go by ships which were needed elsewhere for the war. So in 1942 a crash program to build the Alaska-Canadian (Alcan) hiway across the frozen Yukon to Fairbanks was undertaken as a military necessity. Using forced labor methods, the highway was completed in just 8 months by the U.S. Corps of Engineers and civilian contract workers including many Black, Latino, & Indian draftees, recruits, & coerced laborers working in brutal conditions made worse by flagrant racism on the part of the Army overseers. --bh]
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