The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Japan - Paperback

by Karl C. Dod (Author)

Contributions of the Corps of Engineers to victory in war, and to our country's peacetime history, are well known and appreciated. The skill and versatility of this talented body of soldiers met a supreme test in operations against the Japanese, many of which were conducted in the most primitive and undeveloped regions of the world. Engineers built the Alaska Highway, Canol, and the Ledo Road in Burma. They cleared the jungles to build airfields for heavy bombers and supervised the work of Filipinos, Chinese, and Melanesians as they built runways by hand. They built ports, roads, and docks where none had existed. Indeed, one of the most familiar recollections of the U.S. veteran of the war against Japan is the ubiquitous engineer operating a bulldozer.

Author Biography

Karl C. Dod received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Illinois and has taught history at Morningside College and at Montana State College. During World War II he worked with the U.S. Civil Service Commission and as historian with the Historical Division in the Office of the Chief of Engineers, and subsequently served in the U.S. Army with the Field Artillery. After the war he joined the Office of the Chief Engineer, Army Forces, Pacific, as a civilian historian. In 1950 he rejoined the Engineer Historical Division and has been a staff member ever since. He is coauthor of Volume I, Engineers in Theater Operations, and author of Volume II, Organizations, Troops, and Training, in the series "Engineers of the Southwest Pacific, 1941-1945."