97th Engineer General Service Regiment / 97th Engineers (Colored)
United States Army (USA)

Background
The United States Army (USA) 97th Engineer General Service Regiment / 97th Engineers (Colored) was comprised of African American enlisted soldiers commanded by white officers. During June 1941 formed at Camp Blanding near Starke, Florida with 6,000 soldiers and after basic training moved to Eglin Field to build runways.

Wartime History
During January 1942, the United States Army Corps of Engineers was ordered to built the Alaska Canada Highway (Alcan Highway) to create a road link between Alaska to Canada. About one third of the engineers involved were African Americans organized in three segregated Negro Regiments: 93rd Engineer General Service Regiment, 95th Engineer General Service Regiment and 97th Engineer General Service Regiment.

On April 30, 1942 the 97th Engineers arrived at Valdez and commenced road construction northward following the Tanana River then south into Canada. The 97th Engineers faced difficult terrain and harsh weather and labored for eight months. On October 25, 1942 the northern segment linked up with the southern segment at Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory. The winter of 1942-1943 was one of the coldest on record and the 97th remained in Alaska for nine months of 1943.

During September 1943 departs for Sutton, North Carolina. In March 1944 moves to Camp Stone man, California then deployed overseas to Australia to perform construction duties, In May 1944 to Milne Bay in New Guinea where they worked on roads and airfields until the end of the Pacific War.

Memorials
In 1993, the steel truss-style bridge between mileposts 1392 and 1393 built in 1944 was named the Black Veterans Memorial Bridge in honor of the African American engineers who worked on the Alcan Highway.

In 2017, October 25 was declared "Alaska Highway Day" an Alaska State Holiday signed into law by Governor Bill Walker.

References
Black Past - The 97th Engineering Regiment (1941-1948)
The World War II Black Regiment That Built the Alaska Military Highway A Photographic History (2002)
The Black Soldiers Who Built the Alaska Highway: A History of Four U.S. Army Regiments in the North, 1942-194 (2012)
Associated Press (AP) "Alaska salutes black soldiers’ work on highway during WWII" by Rachel D'Oro June 27, 2017
We Fought The Road (2017) by Christine and Dennis McClure
A Different Race: World War II, The Alaska Highway, Racism, and a Court-Martial (2021) by Christine and Dennis McClure

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