Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.05.1992, Page 8

8 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 1. maí 1992
Anniversary rekindles ‘bit of the dream’
for highway trailblazer
by Carolyn Casey
In 1942, Fred Goodman wasa 21-year-oldprínterin Blaine when the U.S.
govemment draftedhim into World Warll. Although he envisioned fighting
theenemyin EuropeorthePacific, his firstassignmentwas tohelpbuild the
road that would open the door to Alaska.
Until World Warll, no directland route linked thelower United States to
the Yukon orAlaska. But the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harborand later
Dutch Harbor turned Alaska into an essential military outpost.
This summer the 71-year-old Bellingham man will dríve back to Dawson
Creek, B.C., Mile 0 ofthe Alaska Highway, to join the celebration of the
road’s 50th anniversaiy.
Fred Goodman’s response is as mat-
ter-of-fact as any you might expect from
the rugged individualists who helped pio-
neer Alaska’s last frontier:
“It was just another adventure and I
was just a young punk having fun.”
Never mind the temperatures that
plunged to 60 below while the Whatcom
County man and others on his Army
crew helped blaze the path of the Alaska
Highway. Nevermindthemuddyground
that nearly swallowed the road-building
equipment. Or the never-ending stands
of scrubby trees that blocked the way.
Forget that the 21 -year-old printer had
to leave his future bride behind when he
was drafted into World War II and as-
signed to work on the highway for the
war effort. For Goodman, forging life-
long friendships with his Army buddies
in the exhilarating heart of the wilderness
outweighed any of the hardships.
The Alaska Highway began as a mili-
tary supply road, but opened the way for
the territory’s development. This year,
months of cclebration will mark its 50th
anniversary. And Goodman plans to be
there.
Back in 1943, hé had no idea how
crucial the road would be for both set-
tlingAlaskaandshippingprovisionsdur-
ing World War II to Russian troops de-
fending the Siberian Front. Goodman
hadbeentrainingin Massachusetts, when
his Army division was sent west to
Dawson Creek, B.C. The men spent more
than a week crossing the country.
When the train arrived that February,
Goodman was greeted by snow on the
ground and a bone-chilling temperature
of 10 degrees below zero. Later, that
seemed balmy as the ice-box conditions
turned even more frigid.
“We spent a lot of time cutting wood
just to keep ourselves warm,” he said.
Although the brutal climate was daunt-
ing, Goodman said the men preferred
working on the road in the winter be-
cause it became an impassable mire dur-
ing thaws. Their axes, picks and shovels
cleared the way forbulldozers and trucks.
Before the massive effort, the idea of
pushing through an overland route to
Alasa was an impossible dream for more
than four decades. Proposals included
building a railroad (with a bridge or tun-
nel crossing the Bering Strait) to link
Canada, Alaska and Russia. But there
wasn’t enough support.
Although Congress authorized Presi-
dent Franklin Roosevelt to form a com-
mission with Canada to study a road to
Alaska in 1933, it wasn’t until the bomb-
ing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 that the goal
became a priority.
Plans then were made to build a road
from the end of the railroad at Dawson
Creek to Fairbanks.
By February 1942, only two months
after Pearl Harbor, Rooseveltauthorized
construction of the highway. That year
alone, 11,000 troops worked on the road
that eventually spanned 1,200 miles in
Canada and 200 miles in Alaska.
The first trainload of troops arrived
that March. The soldiers were put on
troop cars and didn’t know where they
were headed until they reached Edmon-
ton. Their mission was kept secret for
military purposes.
Goodman’s division arrived about a
yearintothe projectand stayed forayear.
Then they were given packing orders
again.
Goodman had a chance to stay in
Whitehorse in the Yukon to work as a
linotype operator at the local weekly pa-
per, but headed instead with his division
to Europe.
“I wanted to stay with the fellows,” he
said. “After living together for 1 -1 /2 years,
you kind of want to stay together.”
Before he went to the front overseas,
Goodman stopped and married his sweet-
heart, Jean.
He returned to Whatcom County 3-
1/2 years after he was drafted and began
a 38-year career in The Bellingham Her-
H. P Tergesen & Sons\
‘ci great browsing store'
Tergesen
T-Shirts and
Sweatshirts!
Available in a Large
Assortment of sizes and
colours!
Telephone: 642-5958
Gimli T Manitoba ▼ Canada ▼ ROC 1B0^
ald’s composing room.
But his memories of Alaska lingered.
“I always thought I might get back up
there and homestead,” he said. “But I just
never left Bellingham. Some of the fel-
lows got back up there.
Most of us wanted to.”
Twenty years ago,
Goodman went to Alaska
for a nephew’s wedding,
his first retum trip since
the war. He was surprised
by the amount of develop-
ment he saw in what was
once the wild.
But the extent of the
metamorphosis didn’t hit
him until he and his wife
took a bus trip four years
ago spanning the length of
the Alaska Highway.
Goodman said he
didn’t recognize White-
Fred Goodman
horse, which had changed from rows of “Every little jerk-water place will have
1943
Goodman said. “It just
brought back all of my
memories. It was beautiful,
absolutely beautiful.”
In May, the Goodmans
will pack their trailer and
form a caravan with several
other retirees to drive up to
be part of the highway’s an-
niversary festivities. They
plan to spend about two
monthsexploringthe north-
ern regions.
tents to a city that reminded him of
Bellingham.
Even so, the bus drive took the couple
past stretches of untamed land.
“That rekindled everything for me,”
somethinggoing on up there and we plan
to seeas much of it as possible,” Goodman
said. “It’s not quite like homesteading,
but it’s a bit of the dream.”
Courtesy of The Bellingham Herald
awtc/ Sfewzcce
Home Cooked Meals ★ Home of Canada's Largest Burger
V^BRENT
or PATTY PETROWSKI
642-8371
GIMLI,
MANjf
(ölfijeíd^
REAL ESTATE
Gimli..................642-8501
Winnipeg Direct.....284-1490
Selkirk................482-5806
Winnipeg Direct.....477-4205
Stonewall..............467-8930

Úo Úo úbe, //(ÚerMe "
N
ta /Wa+tttoÁci,
1992
lceland Charter
NON-STOP WINNIPEG ■ KEFLAVÍK
Chlldren 2-11:
deduct $50.
$770.00
■ m &taxes
Wpg. Departure July 14 ★ return August 4
Call now for more information and your reservation.
TOURS - ACCOMMODATIONS - CAR RENTALS AVAILABLE
(®) (®) (®) (®
Uiking Travel Agency
Box1080 Gimli, Manitoba R0C1Ð0
Telephone: (204) 642-5114