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阿拉斯加荒野與加拿大的育空省
(Yukon Territory )
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阿拉斯加州的愛爾肯公路 (Alcan
Highway) 開通了：1942年11月21日
當日本軍隊侵入到阿留申群島 (Aleutian
Islands) 的時候，儘早完成這條公路的修建便成為相當急迫的是。於是，有超過1萬名美國士兵和加拿大軍隊，以及一些獨立的承包商在8個月內共同完成這項艱鉅的偉大工程！建築公路的美國軍隊中，包括了四個美國陸軍黑人工程師團 (Army』s
Black Corps of Engineers) 。所有的士兵都是在相當惡劣的環境中工作。蚊子與蒼蠅在夏季炎熱的天氣裡成群飛來飛去，而冬天來臨時，氣溫又會降到零下40度左右，讓這些士兵冷澈入骨。為了建造西卡尼酋長河橋 (Sikanni
Chief River Bridge) ，士兵們必須在冰冷的河水中架設支架。為了要振奮士氣，於是有些士兵就高聲唱歌。其中部分主要來自南部各州的非裔美籍士兵會唱著古老的工作歌曲，例如
「Steel-Driving Song」。
When the Japanese invaded the nearby Aleutian Islands, completing the highway became even more urgent. More than 10,000 U.S. troops worked in cooperation with Canadian troops and independent contractors to accomplish this remarkable engineering feat in just over eight months! Among those soldiers building the Alcan Highway were four units of the Army's Black Corps of Engineers. All troops worked under extreme conditions. Mosquitoes and flies swarmed them in the summer heat, and temperatures near 40 degrees below zero chilled them to the bone in winter for weeks on end. To build the Sikanni Chief River Bridge, men waded chest deep into freezing waters to place the trestles. To keep themselves going, some of the men sang. Some African American soldiers, mainly from the South, sang old work chants like this "Steel-Driving Song."
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