Washington City Paper: Contents for Oct. 8

Great Black North
In the early days of World War II, thousands of black U.S. Army soldiers built the Alaska-Canada Highway, defeated mosquitoes, mud, and miles of wilderness in just six months. Breaking the silence of history took another 50 years.

Cover Story

Eugene Long and his wife Josephine were flipping through the TV channels one December evening five years ago when they came across a documentary on PBS. Titled Alaska at War, the film covered the role of America’s northernmost territory in World War II. Because Long had spent the first year of the war in Alaska, building the 1,400-mile road from British Columbia to Fairbanks now known as the Alaska Highway, he watched with interest.

The film spun through the major events of the war in Alaska: the opening of the oil fields, the Japanese bombing raid on the Dutch Harbor settlement, the struggle to recapture the Aleutian Islands, and the construction of the highway. Originally called the Alaska-Canada Military Highway, or Alcan, it was intended to provide an overland supply route from Canada to Fairbanks and the Bering Strait at a time when Japanese subs threatened coastal shipping.

The highway project had been a formative experience for the 18-year-old Long, who’d been drafted out of his freshman year at Howard University. But as he watched the TV movie, it gradually dawned on him that something—someone—was missing.

“Not one black soldier was shown,” says Long, 69. “Everybody on there was white.”... Continued

Issue of Oct. 8 - 14, 1993

News and Features

Great Black North
In the early days of World War II, thousands of black U.S. Army soldiers built the Alaska-Canada Highway, defeated mosquitoes, mud, and miles of wilderness in just six months. Breaking the silence of history took another 50 years.
Cover Story By Bill Gifford
Hounds of Love
Those Dreamy Eyes, That Flaxen Hair—Lassie Meets Fabio
The City By Dave Nuttycomb
Sir Mix-a-Lot
Shawn Vitale's Gussound Gives Local Bands Sonic EQlity
The City By Stephen Kuhn
More Static in the 'HFS Attic
Radio Waves By Randall Bloomquist
LOOSE LIPS REPLIES
The Mail By Loose Lips
Name Game
The Mail By Terrance Lynch
Triangulation
The Mail By Jack Evans
Come Back, Jack
The Mail By Jill W. Tallman
Unsolved Mysteries
The Mail By Harlan Messinger
Lip Disservice
The Mail By Ellen O'Connor
Autos Über Alles?
The Mail By Brian D. Kraft
Solution: More Tickets
The Mail By Robert D. Westgate
MARK JENKINS AND BILL RICE REPLY
The Mail By Mark Jenkins and Bill Rice
Correction
Correction By Editorial