A red-white-&-blue ribbon, severed in the middle, fluttered in the Arctic wind. The first U.S.-to-Alaska land route (TIME, Aug. 31) was formally open. Trucks began rolling supplies along the 1,500 miles of double-lane, partly graveled highway from Fort St. John, B.C. to Fairbanks in the heart of Alaska.
Before the Yukon formality, two bulldozer drivers had an opening of their own. Negro Corporal Refines Sims Jr., pushing his bulldozer down from the north, saw trees falling toward him. Over the fallen trees from the south Private Alfred Jalufka of Texas clawed and jerked his own bulldozer. The highway crews at...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
