Builders and Fighters

Book excerpt: The Corps of Engineers played an important role in winning World War II. Its work included building and repairing roads, bridges, and airfields; laying and clearing minefields; establishing and destroying obstacles; constructing training camps and other support facilities; building the Pentagon; and providing facilities for the development of the atomic bomb. In addition to their construction work, engineers engaged in combat with the enemy in the Battle of the Bulge, on the Ledo Road in Burma, in the mountains of Italy, and at numerous other locations. Certainly one of the highlights of Corps activity during World War II was the construction of the 1,685-mile Alaska Highway, cared out of the Canadian and Alaskan wilderness. "Builders and Fighters" is a series of essays on some of the hectic engineer activity during World War II. Veterans of that war should read this book and point with pride to their accomplishments. In it, today's engineers will find further reasons to be proud of their heritage.