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INTERVIEW WITH BETTY FILGER
Date of Interview: June 21, 2003 in Nashville Tennessee
Interviewer Ryan MacIvor
Transcriber: Case Mond
Betty Filger:
...highway, even regardless of how cold,
or how rainy, or whatever it may be that they did up there, or any longing for
home that they had. They were the good times along with the bad. And I would
say some of the good times were for my husband, as a kid at that time, he
learned to run a bulldozer. He learned to run the construction equipment. And
through that experience at that, he brought it back into his life as he came
back into the United States and became just an ordinary guy. He built his own
construction business which was known as Filger Enterprises. And until he
couldn’t work anymore, he was always on the heavy equipment side of the
life.
Ryan MacIvor:
So would you say that his experiences in
northern Canada and on the Alaska Highway gave him his skills to come back and
make a living?
Betty Filger:
Yes I do, and I believe that he had a
love for the machinery. I mean, that was just his love.
Ryan MacIvor:
Were you married to him when he went
over?
Betty Filger:
No, after he came home.
Ryan MacIvor:
So, did he tell you any of the stories
about the weather, at all?
Betty Filger:
Outside of the long rainy days that he
had. I don’t know much about Canadian weather but it must rain a lot up
there, I don’t know, but... and the cold, and the...
Ryan MacIvor:
Now he specifically worked on the cats up
there. Was he part of the... So he actually built the road?
Betty Filger:
I’m trying to... As far as actually
building the road, I would say no. He laid the process over the rivers to get
the bridges in. Not that he built the bridges, but whatever it takes to get
them cats down in there and built that bridge and get it up... pilings and
stuff like that.
Ryan MacIvor:
Did he talk about the food, or the camp
life that he was up there... when he was up there?
Betty Filger:
Well the camp life, I think, was pretty
good. Like I say, he lived for pay day, I know that, where he could gamble a
little bit. But, I think, the food was probably army food, you know. I
don’t think any of them was hungry or starved to death, or anything like
that up there.
Ryan MacIvor:
What about the clothing? Did your husband
mention anything about the clothing, or... and that sort of stuff?
Betty Filger:
He had one warm parka that he would not
part for. And, I still have that parka that he had. And eh, made good. I think
they were warm, but eh, you know, it’s the same as everywhere. Somebody
gets a worse deal than somebody else, you know. Maybe theirs wore off quicker,
you know, and all this and that. But eh, it had to be a good experience or he
would never have wanted to go back.
Ryan MacIvor:
Did your husband tell you anything about
the bugs?
Betty Filger:
Mosquitos. How they had the... The
mosquitos, he said, were just great big and black, you know, like nothing that
we have ever seen. And when we were up there on the highway, and we’re
stopped in a construction thing, I noticed that so many of the people wore
beards that worked out on the... So I asked him: How come all you guys have got
beards? And the mosquitos from the... oh... what do I wanna say? from your foam
or whatever you put on your face and your aftershave and stuff, the mosquitos
shy away from that. But I suppose today you’ve got all the equipment that
it takes to...
Ryan MacIvor:
Did your husband have any pets? I know
some of the gentlemen had acquired animals or whatever. Did he mention anything
to you about having a pet bear or anything like that?
Betty Filger:
No sir, he did not.
Ryan MacIvor:
What about uh... Did he tell you any
stories about any men getting hurt along the highway, or anything like
that?
Betty Filger:
I know that he was there when the three
men drowned, but I do not know where.
Ryan MacIvor:
And the three men, the men that you are
referring to that being drowned, was that... what can you tell me about that?
The story that you told you about that, if anything? Was that at Charlie
Lake?
Betty Filger:
It was at Charlie Lake, and we went back
to Charlie Lake, and I suppose for one reason, but uh...
Ryan MacIvor:
Was your husband friends with them, those
man?
Betty Filger:
I think they were just from the regiment,
as far as he knew.
Ryan MacIvor:
Did your husband ever tell you any
stories about the arrival into Dawson Creek, or into Canada and that?
Betty Filger:
The only thing that I think he ever
really told me was that when the war was over in Europe, they didn’t
really know where they was going. And one day it was just, oh, you’re
going to Alaska and they were taken up there and dumped out. And to a kid, 18
years old, you know, I imagine this is a strange feeling, you know. But they
were just taken up there and dumped out.
Ryan MacIvor:
Is there any other information that I
haven’t touched on, or stories that you might have that you’d like to
share with us.
Betty Filger:
Well, you know... Really, there was
probably a lot of them, but at this time I really can’t tell you, you
know. I know that he was happy there, that much I know.
Ryan MacIvor:
Now, you went back up there, did you
not?
Betty Filger:
In 1984.
Ryan MacIvor:
1984. Okay.
Betty Filger:
Right, we drove, of course, all the way
to Dawson Creek and then up to Fairbanks and down into Anchorage.
Ryan MacIvor:
And when you drove that, did re-driving
that bring back memories to your past husband.
Betty Filger: Yeah. Cause I know when we went up there, the
highway was not complete in ‘84. And, if I’m not mistaken, we were
out of Whitehorse when we had to be pulled across by a bulldozer, because the
highway was not complete yet. And we just waited in line. The bulldozer would
pull one across, come back and get another one, pull across, and I thought: how
funny! (laughs).
Ryan MacIvor:
Betty, do you have... I know that you
have given some photographs, but do you have any other photographs, journals,
poetry, letters, that your husband may have that you’d be willing to share
with us? You mentioned the parka, is there other such things like that, that
you have?
Betty Filger:
Not at this time, I mean, it would be
going through a dresser drawer, or it would be going through some box or
something, if I came across something.
Ryan MacIvor:
For the record again, could you just tell
me your name and your relationship to this company?Betty Filger:
Betty Lou Filger, Kansas City, Missouri, and I was married to Sergeant
Frederick F. Filger, 341st, Company D.
Ryan MacIvor:
Perfect. I don’t know what else to
ask you, unless there’s anything else that you have. Are you okay?
Betty Filger:
I’m okay. (laughs).
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