Alaska Highway. Company B and F.
Born: 23 July 1915, Washington. Died: 22 January 1953, Seattle, WA. He was a 2Lt in ROTC at University of Iowa and received his engineering degree at the same university.
Second Lt. Robinson was with Company B with the segregated 97th Engineer Regiment. He and the 97th landed at Valdez, Alaska on 29 April 1942. Three feet of snow covered the ground. The 97th built the northern section of the Alaska Highway.
Robinson was a 2Lt in Company B from April 1942 to June 1942. He was promoted to 1Lt in July 1942 and assigned to Company F. He was with this company from July 1942 to July of 1943. He became commander of Company F in June of 1943.
His father was Leigh Robinson, Sr (1883-1960) and his mother was Christine Bjornson (1883-1965). Her parents were from Iceland.
In the 1920 census, his father was the Superintendent of public schools for the Bureau of Education in Bellingham, WA. In 1930 census the family moved to Cape Nome, Alaska. His father became a superintendent with the Bureau of Education at Cape Nome. Leigh, Jr, was 14 at that time. In 1940 census, Leigh, Jr, was enrolled at the University of Iowa and his parents were teachers at government schools in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 31 May, 1955. Ashes of Engineer Are Scattered on Alaskan Plot. “The ashes of Leigh E. Robinson, Jr, were scattered over a plot of ground in the lower Chena River [Fairbanks] area yesterday by Frank Gray, local airport manager and a friend of the late Alaskan. Robinson died in Seattle of a heart attack in January of 1953, at the age of 37. He was cremated and his ashes were shipped here recently for dispersal over an area representing Interior Alaska. The deceased was in charge of a company of engineers building the Alcan Highway between Whitehorse and Northway in 1942. Following this he worked as a traveling resident engineer with the CAA in Alaska.”
Serial #O-351237
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