Black Military History

Alaska’s transportation department plans to replace the 1,885‑foot Black Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Gerstle River near Delta Junction, the terminus of the Alaska Highway, while preserving two of its nine trestles as a static memorial to the roughly 4,000 segregated Black soldiers who helped build the wartime road. The new Gerstle River Bridge, to be built just east of the existing span, is scheduled to open in 2031, after which seven of the old bridge’s trestles will be given away free to governments or private entities willing to maintain their historic features. The two end spans of the current structure will remain in place, retain the Black Veterans Memorial Bridge name and be visible from the new bridge, but will be blocked off from public access. Local historian and former Delta Junction mayor Mary Leith welcomes preservation but criticizes the lack of planned signage and a highway pullout that would let visitors safely stop and learn about the Black regiments whose work on the Alaska Highway helped spur changes in U.S. military segregation policies. The project underscores how states are balancing structural and safety needs of aging infrastructure with long‑overdue recognition of Black military contributions that were largely written out of official histories for decades.