American Experience · SEASON 17

Building the Alaska Highway

Episode 4 · 2005-02-07

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Season 17Episode 4★ N/A/10
  • Documentary

Episode overview

Recalls the construction of the 1500-mile "shortcut to Tokyo" through Canada in 1942 by 11,000 U.S. troops (4,000 of them black). It wasn't the Army's greatest World War II triumph, but it was one of the first, and it gave Americans, who feared a Japanese buildup in the Aleutians, a needed morale boost. This hour is light on military and engineering detail, and packed with proud GIs recalling mud, cold and toil.

55 minutes

Season 17 episodes

1. RFK (Part 1 & 2)2004-10-04 2. The Fight2005-01-24 3. Fidel Castro2005-01-31 4. Building the Alaska Highway2005-02-07 5. Kinsey2005-02-14 6. Mary Pickford2005-04-04 7. The Great Transatlantic Cable2005-04-11 8. The Massie Affair2005-04-18 9. Victory in the Pacific2005-05-02 10. The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken?2005-05-09 11. Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst2005-05-23