As Alaska was being armed to repel the invaders in the distant Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Highway was being pushed through in a single summer. A vital supply route, it was the first land connection between Alaska and the United States. [here we see the right of way being slashed in 1942]

Troops from a combat engineer regiment layed a corduroy section of the Alaska Highway in 1942. The road was officially opened November 20, 1942.

[Mg] Simon Bolivar Buckner, was commanding general of the Alaska Defense Command when war broke out at air base headquarters on Amchitka Island in May 1944. General Buckner first commanded the Alaska Defense Command as a colonel in July 1940. That fall he was promoted to Brigadier General. He was killed on Okinawa in 1945 after achieving the rank of lieutenant general.

American soldiers "in the thick of it" on Attu Ridge in May 1943. By the end of the month the battle of Attu ended with American victory and the invader was driven from American soil.

Only a few Japanese prisoners were captured during the fighting at Massacre Bay, Attu. For these the war was over. The rest were either evacuated before the battle or were killed in the fierce fighting.

American and Canadian troops had by-passed the island of Kiska as they pressed on to Attu Island where the decisive action of the war in the Aleutians took place. Returning to take Kiska after the Battle of Attu they found that the Japanese forces had evacuated the island under the cover of fog.

Following the war, U.S. Army forces in Alaska were primarily concerned with training. However, they rendered many services to the public in fighting forest fires, in search and rescue and medical aid. Soldiers from Fort Richardson guarded property damaged in the great Good Friday Earthquake of March 27, 1964.

The shoulder patch of the 172d Infantry Brigade. The colors represent the three basic combat branches. The bayonet alludes to the infantry and symbolizes good neighbors who are ever ready to protect the state.

Rigorous training, skill, loyalty, pride and devotion to duty make these soldiers truly the guardians of the north.

Rigorous training, skill, loyalty, pride and devotion to duty make these soldiers truly the guardians of the north.