We’re always here for celebrating black history, especially honoring heroes that are lesser-known.

We routinely take things that are integral to our everyday lives for granted, and one of those things are highways. Think about it, how would your daily commute be different if you didn’t have your local highway/interstate?

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Alaska Highway, which built in part by 3,000 African American soldiers, per Alaska Public Media.

Fort Greely and Delta Junction celebrated the Alaska Highway anniversary this past Saturday, and honored one of the 3,000 soldiers that worked on the road: 96-year-old Leonard Larkins. Governor Bill Walker and other state and local leaders were among those offering tributes.

“I can’t remember way back when, because I actually tried to put all this behind me at one time, after I left the service,” Larkins, who previously vowed never to return to Alaska after serving two extremely rough tours of duty, said. "It was pretty rough here.”

It was indeed.

Working grueling tours, Larkins and 11,000 other soldiers were ordered to carve a 1,500-mile road out of wilderness in just over eight months. The highway was established to open an overland supply route in order to repel a Japanese invasion.

Due to the time period, Larkins and the other thousands of African American soldiers were of course serving in segregated units, and build their road sections with little support and under extreme winter weather conditions.

“The cold – y’know, that was the biggest thing, the cold weather,” Larkins noted.

However, the honoring and acknowledgement of the black soldiers' sacrifice has softened up Larkins’ previous stance of never returning. “The people here in Alaska – I mean, it’s so nice," Larkins’ son, Bert Larkins said. “They have been so wonderful here.”

Walker noted that, due to his parents having shared related wartime experiences, this was an extra-special tribute for him to conduct. “Meeting Mr. Larkins is like meeting a member of my family,” Governor Walker said. "My mother came to Alaska to work with the [Army] Corps of Engineers on building the Alcan Highway.”

"Building the Alcan Highway was not enough for Mr. Larkins. He stayed in Alaska, went on to the Aleutians, in Attu and Kiska. And my father was in the Aleutian Islands at Attu and Kiska, as part of the Alaskan Scouts, part of Castner’s Cutthroats,” the Governor added, referring to the covert intelligence unit that helped force the Japanese to retreat from the Aleutians in 1943 during World War II.

Larkins and his fellow black soldier’s hard work building the highway not only helped win the war, but also aided in ending segregation in the U.S. military.

“We don’t have African American regiments, or Mexican American units, or all-white battalions,” said Greely garrison commander Lieutenant Colonel Michael Foote. “We don’t have those anymore because men like Mr. Larkins served their country and demonstrated the value of every American fighting man.”

To round out the ceremony, Larkins was presented with a key to the city and a framed proclamation to thank him for his service.

We salute Mr. Larkins on being such an integral part of civil rights and overall American history!

Alaska Highway

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