Date of Interview: June 21, 2003 in Nashville Tennessee

Interviewer Ryan MacIvor
Transcriber: Case Mond

Ryan MacIvor:
Bicket, can you please tell me your full name?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Walter Bicket Hawkins.

Ryan MacIvor:
And uh... Everyone calls you Bicket?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Bicket, right.

Ryan MacIvor:
And could you spell your last name?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
H.A.W.K.I.N.S.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what was your rank?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Technician 5th grade.

Ryan MacIvor:
Technician 5th grade. And what did you do, when you were on the highway?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I was a company clerk.

Ryan MacIvor:
Company clerk.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Company clerk, yeah. And I picked up mail and distribution in town, and take it up to the line, from headquarters. And then, one time, I had one of the horsed from a pack train to go up there... just ride up on the horse and take the mail and distribution.

Ryan MacIvor:
So you rode a horse to distribute the mail?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
At one time, yeah. It was fun. I enjoyed it.

Ryan MacIvor:
You were with the 341st Engineers?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Right.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what regiment?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
That is a regiment, 341st is a regiment.

Ryan MacIvor:
Sorry, what company?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Company F.

Ryan MacIvor:
So you were in F Company?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Right.

Ryan MacIvor:
You’re here because your company never had a reunion.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Right.

Ryan MacIvor:
But you have decided to come to Company D’s reunion?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Well, it is a 341st Engineers. And it is a 2nd Battalion, which is... makes up... comprises the engineers, 341st, 2nd Battalion. So we’re all in the same battalion, although we’re not in the same company, I do feel like I’m part of the same people. The same group, you know.

Ryan MacIvor:
Do you remember how much money you made, a month?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
(laughs) How could I forget such a thing? $21 a month, originally.

Ryan MacIvor:
$21 a month. Okay.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
After that I don’t have much a corporals pay was. I don’t recall.

Ryan MacIvor:
So you moved from your rank at technician to a corporal?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, I moved from a Private to PFC, Private First Class, and then I made Technician 5th Grade, that was the rank for this position I held. And I held that throughout the whole war because I didn’t want any other thing else. I was happy the way I was. I enjoyed it. I got along square with my officers and they were all friends of mine. All the guys were friends of mine. We just had a happy crew.

Ryan MacIvor:
Do you remember the names of you officers?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah, the captain was... originally, was Captain Robert Price, and he went on to be a battalion commander. And then my company’s commander after that was George, George Myres, M.Y.R.E.S., George Myres. And then we had Lieutenant Rogers. We had a number of different lieutenants, had a lieutenant for each platoon. So, I can remember Rogers, and Les Pullen, which is with us in this group today, yeah. He was with us one time. (Les Pullen attended the reunion and interviewed)

Ryan MacIvor:
So you remember him, then?

Ryan MacIvor:
So do you remember your trip to Dawson Creek?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Very well.

Ryan MacIvor:
So what can you tell me about that?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
On our way up there, our captain, [Byre Prius] he played an accordion, we called it a squeeze box, a small one, round. We got in his compartment and we’d sing and carried on and going up then. We had a heck of a good time.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what did you sing?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Gosh, I can’t remember that. I’d sing with the rest of them, see (laughs). It might not be a good tune, but I’d carry on with them. It was quite a long trip. We went from Fort Ord, California. I remember we went up through Oregon and the State of Washington and into Vancouver and that area. No, I take that back. I don’t think we went into Vancouver. We went... which way we went...? I can’t recall, really, but we went across the Cascade Mountains up in Washington and stopped up there. It was quite a nice trip, really. And all that time I was thinking about Wilden, North Carolina. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
Now, when were you born? What year were you born?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
November 10th, 1917.

Ryan MacIvor:
1917. And when did you join the Corps of Army Engineers?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Let’s put it this way: I really didn’t join it, they invited me. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
They invited... you were drafted?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah, I was drafted.

Ryan MacIvor:
Good. And so...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
(interrupts) I had my basic training al Belvoir, Virginia, and then I went from Belvoir to Fort Ord, California, and that’s where the organization was organized.

Ryan MacIvor:
So why the Army Corps of Engineers?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Cause that’s what they chose for me. I didn’t choose that, they chose it. I had no choice.

Ryan MacIvor:
So do you remember... You were in trains being transported up. And did you stop along the way? Do you remember stopping?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Oh, yes, we crisscrossed all across the country, cause they really didn’t want anyone to know where the troop trains were. It took us five days to go cross, in a troop train.

Ryan MacIvor:
So what section of the highway did you work on, do you remember?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
From Dawson Creek up to Fort Nelson. Then from Fort Nelson, we went on up further... I can’t remember just where... past Nelson. And then from Fort Nelson they brought us back to Dawson Creek to build the rail head. I don’t know how much we spent there, but anyway, after we built the rail head we went back up towards the Watson Lake area, yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what did you do? Can you just tell me again what you did as a clerk? You delivered the mail?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah, just pick up the mail and distribution and take it up the headquarters... up to the line companies and meet the people up there. Spend a couple of days up there and then I go back and get more. Just... At times, it would be so bad, we’d rather [?] wagon up there. So much mud and stuff.

Ryan MacIvor:
Now, do you have a... What is your... Do you have a most memorable moment or experience while you worked on the highway? Do you remember?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Not really, just cold weather. At times it was extremely cold, and then when it did get hot, we had the mosquitos, the no-see-ums, and such like that, and they were very miserable, to be frank with you. And they had to fly us... or bring us mosquito netting up for our heads, and we had the old World War I campaign hats so we wore the mosquito [bars] and we had the mosquito [bars] for our bunks. Oh, and by the way, a bunch of mosquitos came in one time, one of us said: shall we eat them here, or shall we take them back home. He said: Oh, we take them back home. When the big guys get here, we just eat them here. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
What did you do when you didn’t work on the highway? Did you play games, sing songs, play chess, poker?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
We didn’t have any games to play. Well, we played solitaire, poker, shoot craps. We didn’t have much money, but we didn’t have anything to do with it anyway, and just throw it away. We didn’t have a... At one time, they had made up a ball game, we didn’t have any bats or balls.. but they made out like they were playing ball.

Ryan MacIvor:
Oh, yes. Did you keep on touch with family or friends?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, because two weeks after I got up there, or maybe a month after I got up there, I had word that my dad had died, but they sent... they wired me to Seattle or somewhere and then it came back cable call the rest of way (interrupted by cell phone] I’ll turn that off.

Ryan MacIvor:
That’s okay. You can answer that if you want.
So, what did you... What do you remember most about the land?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Well, we saw a lot of land, I’ll tell you. It was muskegs, and we put corduroy roads across those, and built culverts. And in one spot, I think it was about July, they had dug down deep enough and hit some ice. (laughs) It was pretty country, I can’t deny that, but it would get rough at times, you know, but as far as the country, as far as I was concerned, it was beautiful up there. In fact, I still enjoy going back up there. I’ve been back up twice.

Ryan MacIvor:
Oh, you have been?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
What do you remember most about the people

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
What people?

Ryan MacIvor:
Did you meet lots of people up there.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
What people? (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
What people... Did you meet any of the First Nations or the Indians up there?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
One time we did run into one family. And they had had a death. And we used the bulldozer to dig a hole, and bury that little child. I do remember that, but that’s one thing I remember about... I was looking forward to get into Fort Nelson, So I could get a beer and have a good time. I got there, I was really disappointed, anything I saw was a Hudson’s Bay trading post, and some dogs. And it was up across the river, on top of a hill, you know. High bank and [put that way], yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
What do you remember most about the weather?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I can explain that in one word: COLD.

Ryan MacIvor:
Even in the summer?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I was there in summer and winter, yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
Cold for both.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, summer time was nice. We had gone and swim in some of the creeks up there. It was... The weather wasn’t that bad in the summertime, other than the mosquitos and things. The rainy... the rainy period, that was bad. Miserable, really. But otherwise, it wasn’t that bad. Then the winters were cold. I know at one time, we went to Dawson Creek, building the rail head. We first got there, we had tents, before we built the quonset huts, and it take the bulldozers, bank up snow, around the edges of the tents, so keep the cold air out. And then have detailing men that would keep come by and keep the fires going. We had the little potbellied stoves in the tents. We had somebody come by and throw wood in during the night so we could sleep. We had details for that.

Ryan MacIvor:
Do you remember arriving in Dawson Creek?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yes I do.

Ryan MacIvor:
What can you remember about that?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I can remember... The only thing I can remember, when we detrained, it was right by... oh... what do you call them... where you bring grain in...

Ryan MacIvor:
A grain elevator?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
A grain elevator, yeah. There was a grain elevator right there. I weren’t familiar with those to start with,
we didn’t have those type at home. I was... I really wasn’t in the mood to look around too much, because I didn’t want to go up there to start with.

Ryan MacIvor:
Now was it summer, spring, or fall...?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
It was in the spring, yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
It was in the spring you got there, okay. Did you meet any of the people, in Dawson...?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Oh, when I came back to build the rail head, I met a young lady over in Pouce Coupe, Helen Spangler.

Ryan MacIvor:
What’s her name, Helen Spangler?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Helen Spangler, yes. And her family, they were very nice to me. I’ll never forget them, wonderful people. Her mother played the piano, and we had a little dance there on a Saturday night, you know. We just had a heck of a good time. But... They were very nice.

Ryan MacIvor:
And have you had contact with Helen since?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I did for several years, yes, but, not in years, I haven’t heard from her.

Ryan MacIvor:
So, if we could find Helen Spangler, would you like to say...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I would say: Hello. You were very nice to me. I appreciate everything you and the family did for me. You kinda made me feel at home. I enjoyed talking to your dad. He’d been up there since World War I, I think. They were very nice people They were really the only people I came into contact with, other than going into the bar and have a beer, you know, at Dawson Creek.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what do you remember about going in the bar in Dawson Creek and having a beer?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I think they had larger bottles than we have at home, is the only thing I can remember. It was a stronger beer, as far as I can remember. We had 3.2, or something like that. That beer was stronger. But I will tell you how late we went to bed. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
So was it... Were the people surprised to see you when you arrived in Dawson Creek?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I really can’t remember. I mean, I don’t remember seeing any people around when we detrained.

Ryan MacIvor:
So you talked about the tents that you lived in. Do you remember who your bunkmates were?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, I have no idea.

Ryan MacIvor:
So can you describe to me what your camp life was like?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
What it looked like?

Ryan MacIvor:
What it looked like or what it was like for you to live in those tents, in those facilities.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
They were in lines, and they... I really can’t explain it. There were in a row, there was rows of em. And our mess tent was down on this end of it, and it... we’d have to go down and top up our mess kit and go back to our tent to eat because we didn’t have any mess hall or anything, and it was pretty... sometimes the food was pretty cold by the time you got back to the tent.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what type of food did you eat? Was it good?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Dehydrated. No, it was not good. I can answer that. It was not good. We had dehydrated apple, err... potatoes, onions and just about everything dehydrated. And it wasn’t too good for our teeth, I’ll put it that way.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what about your clothing. How was your clothing? Was your clothing good?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I think they used us for big guinea pigs for getting warmer clothes. (laughs) But they did provide pretty good, I mean, we ended up with parkas and double sleeping bag. One of them was a downy bag and inside was kind of like a, like a army blanket, but zipped up, you know. I’ve been... I’ve to say what we called them... (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
No go ahead, tell us. It’s okay.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Fart Sacks.

Ryan MacIvor:
Fart Sacks. That’s good.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
(laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
So, did you have any accidents while you were on the highway, like when you worked on the highway?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, I didn’t, no, no.

Ryan MacIvor:
Did you know of any accidents that happened?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Well, I can... I’ve seen them along the road and all when I’d go by. There was quite a few of them. They’d just leave them there and keep going, you know, if they couldn’t repair them there. But, I think they got a lot of them fixed and continued going.

Ryan MacIvor:
What about the fire in Dawson Creek? What do you remember about the fire in Dawson Creek?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I can’t remember other than there was a blast. And that’s all I can remember, really. I remember when it happened. I remember going down there and seeing the fire and everything else, but... And I saw it afterwards with was horrible, terrible looking, but, I really can’t remember... I don’t even remember how many people were killed in that thing, or whether there were any... I’m sure there were, but I’m not sure...

Ryan MacIvor:
You mentioned to me something the other day about... You said that you had something on your clothing. Do you remember what that was?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I mentioned something on my clothing? Like what?

Ryan MacIvor:
That’s why I’m asking you. I don’t know. I thought you...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I don’t recall the conversation.

Ryan MacIvor:
Maybe it was one of the other gentlemen, then...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
What about, eh... What do you know about the accident on Charlie Lake?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Oh, I just remember when it happened, very well, but... I remember there was a trapper that helped the guys out quite a bit. I think they saved about five of them, really. I remember when somebody came back into town... into camp and told us it had happened. Of course we all went down to see what had happened. The best thing I can remember is not being on them pontoons (laughs.)

Ryan MacIvor:
So it was a pontoon boat, then?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
It was several of them strapped together, and it tilted over. It had a heavy piece of equipment on it and it tilted over. That’s the only thing I can remember, really.

Ryan MacIvor:
You don’t remember the names, or anything like that?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, no. They really weren’t from... I don’t think many of them were from 341st. I think they was from some pontoon outfit.

Ryan MacIvor:
So after you... being a clerk. You rode the horses, pack horses, to deliver stuff. After the horses, what kind of machinery did you use? Did you use a jeep, or a truck, or...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
We used a truck, most of the time. A truck would be going up that way and we’d take stuff up and ride the truck up. One time, like I said we did... caught a D8 pulling a [?] wagon. The wagons had tracks on them, you know, they roll around. They carried... One of them was carrying food up, and I went up with them on that truck.

Ryan MacIvor:
So did your truck every get stuck.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No.

Ryan MacIvor:
Never got stuck?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I wouldn’t go with them when they got stuck. (laughs) I’d make sure he knew where he was going and what he was doing.

Ryan MacIvor:
Did your equipment ever break down? Did you truck ever break down at all?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
We had trucks that broke down, but of course, I wasn’t in the motor pool so I wasn’t familiar with that particular part of it.

Ryan MacIvor:
Now you were traveling within the different regiments or the different companies. Do you remember talking, and hearing any of the other stories from the other companies?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I do remember going up one time, and there was a black outfit that... (interrupted, someone at the door.)

Ryan MacIvor:
Oops, it fell down. There we go.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Are we ready?

Ryan MacIvor:
Yup.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I do recall, one time we went up, and I passed a black engineering outfit. It was time to eat so I went in to get something to eat with those guys. I get talking to the mess sergeant. By golly, he was from my home town, in the eastern part of North Carolina.

Ryan MacIvor:
Really?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
So I ate well. (laughs) I knew his dad, very good.

Ryan MacIvor:
Do you remember the name?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, not right of... (thinks) I really don’t. I can see his dad, but I can’t remember his name... the guy’s name. But I did eat well that day.

Ryan MacIvor:
So do you remember hearing any stories that day.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
(interrupts) Oh, the guy’s name, his dad was named June Long. Now I think he was Junior, if I recall, now.

Ryan MacIvor:
June Long?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah, June Long. He worked for the telephone company there, in my home town.

Ryan MacIvor:
So do you remember hearing other stories of how the black regiments, your friend, the gentleman that you ran into, and their stories about building the highway?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, I didn’t... That was the only one I’ve visited the whole time.

Ryan MacIvor:
What were some of the dangers you faced on the highway, as a clerk? You were taking the pack horses...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I was always the cautious type. I stay away from dangers (laughs). I can’t recall any real dangers, really. Just hardships, that’s all. If you wanna call that danger.

Ryan MacIvor:
So what did you do to have fun up while you were there. Did you read any books, write letters, play baseball.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Nothing but shoot craps and play poker.

Ryan MacIvor:
Shoot craps and play poker.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
We didn’t have anything to do, really. Most of the guys were working hard all day and when they came in at night, they didn’t feel like messing, playing around, horsing around, anything. They did work hard, I think. I was fortunate. I didn’t have to work that hard.

Ryan MacIvor:
So, do you remember the stories that they came back with. The gentlemen that built the highway, come back to camp, and the stories. Do you remember any of those?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
They all came back with the same story: Let’s get this thing over and go home. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
Good. Do you remember coming to where the regiment was building, or the company was building any bridges?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Oh yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
What can you tell me about that?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I can’t tell you much about that, other than the fact... I remember the bridges: Beatton River, Lower Ranchero... Ranchereo... Upper... Was it Ranchereo? It was two rivers up back in there, I remember... Oh, the Lower and Upper Liard, and the Ranchereo, and the Beatton River, the Nelson River. Those I can remember right of, but other than that I can’t.

Ryan MacIvor:
What um, when you were up there...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
(interrupts) We went up, went up near Watson Lake, that we cut ice out... We built an ice house, because we thought we were gonna be up there for the whole summer. And we built this ice house, then we came back to the States that particular summer.

Ryan MacIvor:
Do you remember the hot springs at...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
No, that was another outfit, another company that hit that hot springs. I wasn’t that fortunate, in spring, and it was cold (laughs). I can remember washing my clothes in a creek. That was the only way I had to wash my clothes, was in a creek.

Ryan MacIvor:
And did they get... How often did you wash your clothes?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Whenever they did stand up and needed washing. (laughs) But I didn’t have any dates that night so didn’t have to worry about getting cleaned up or anything. We didn’t worry about... I don’t guess we worried a whole lot about sanitation, I’ll put it that way.

Ryan MacIvor:
What about bathing, and hygiene?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
That’s what I was just saying, we just bathed in a creek or something. Oh, at one time, when we went out to Watson Lake, we built a permanent camp, a wooden camp. And we built a steam bath. And we took a 50-gallon drum and cut it in half, and put rocks over top of it. And we poured water on top of the rocks, and it would steam up. We had a couple of seats on the side and we just sat in the steam bath. It worked out pretty good.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what do you remember about Watson Lake? Do you remember anything about Watson Lake?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I couldn’t even remember going to Watson Lake when I was up there, no. It was a nice place when I went back the second time, for the 50th reunion.

Ryan MacIvor:
Did you take pride in the work you did?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Not till I got home. (laughs) Then I heard about what a wonderful job we had done. But at the time I wasn’t real proud. As a matter of fact, I was ready to give it back to the Indians. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
Now, did you have any pets?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Any what?

Ryan MacIvor:
Any animals, any pets?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Oh, I had a black cat, that someone had given me from Dawson Creek, or Pouce Coupe, and I named it Eight Ball. A solid black beautiful cat, long fir. And I took that up... That was the first cat to ride the Alaska Highway on a Greyhound Bus. And then I made a... I had the company carpenter make me a box when I came back to the States and I shipped the cat back to my home town in Weldon, North Carolina,. And then my brother sent it down to Camp Sutton, North Carolina where we were located. And the cat stayed with us the whole time that we were there, stayed in the orderly room. And then we started pulling out boxes to get ready to go over to Europe, packing up, and the cat left. I’m not traveling any more, I’ve been far enough. And today, what happened to that cat, I couldn’t tell you. The cat just left. I think that cat had been thinking about them nine lives. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
Do you remember the northern lights?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Oh yeah, they were beautiful. Aurora Borealis.

Ryan MacIvor:
Now, have you ever been back on the Alaska Highway?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I’ve been back twice. I went back in ‘92 for the 50th anniversary in the Yukon, I mean, Watson Lake. And while there I met Bill Forseth... (thinks) I know his name is... (thinks) Forseth, and Lou, his wife. She was one of the coordinators. And I met them. We got to be very good friends. He was the town manager. And they came back to see me, spent a week with me in North Carolina. And then my wife and I flew out... They live in Whitehorse now, and the wife and I've been up to Whitehorse to see them, spend a week with them.

Ryan MacIvor:
And when was that, in Whitehorse.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
This was... within the last five years, I’ll say.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what were your thoughts when you went back for the 50th anniversary?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
One night, they had a show there, a pageant. And it was about the Alaskan Highway. And they wanted me to stand up. I was kind of embarrassed and I didn’t want to do it, but they finally made me stand up, and everybody clapped for me.

Ryan MacIvor:
Now did you drive the highway?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I drove part of it while I was up with Lou and Bill.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what were your memories? What went through your mind when you drove the highway?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Oh, what a wonderful thing it is now. (laughs) It is nice now.

Ryan MacIvor:
What did you think about the North?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I must have liked it because I’ve been back up twice. (laughs) I do think it’s beautiful country up there. It’s prettier now than it was at the time. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
What would you do differently, if you went back up there? What would you do differently?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
You mean, if we were building the road again?

Ryan MacIvor:
Yeah.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I would say: Let’s go home. (laughs) Let’s don’t be foolish. Let’s don’t do this again. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
Bicket, is there any other memories that you’d like to share with me?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Not really, because it’s been so long ago, and it’s kinda hard to remember. All my war experiences, I just try to remember the good things that happened, and just not even think about the bad things and tough times.

Ryan MacIvor:
And what... After you guys left Dawson... or left the highway, you came back to Dawson Creek? And you went back home from Dawson Creek. Do you remember how you got home?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
When we came back, we... to build the rail head?

Ryan MacIvor:
Yeah.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
We came back on trucks.

Ryan MacIvor:
Okay, back on trucks to build the rail head.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah, and then we went back up there and we spent one night. It was kinda getting to be fall and cold. So we’ve... rather than putting up a tent, we just built a lean-to and slept in that. We got back in the truck the next morning and we went up to Whitehorse... I mean, Watson Lake.

Ryan MacIvor:
Do you remember when you left Dawson Creek, or the North, to go back down to the States?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah. It was one of the wonderful things I think about. (laughs) It was... we went down to Edmonton, Alberta... that section... now, that time, we went back to Medicine Hat and when I came back on furlough we went to Edmonton, that’s what it was, yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
And did you go to Europe after as well?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I went to England and then to Europe, yeah...

Ryan MacIvor:
With the same company?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Oh yeah, I stayed with the whole company the whole time, up to the Remagen Bridge. Yeah, we went from France, Utah Beach, to... crossed up to Cherbourg, then crossed France. Then to Tours, France, Nice, France, the Mosel River. Then we came back and went up into Belgium. We had our headquarters at [Aloun], Belgium. And we went on up further and put in bridges, railroad bridges and such as that. And then we got caught in the Battle of the Bulge, worked our way out of that. It was kind of rough at times, but we got back and they sent us over to Luxembourg City to regroup. And while we were there, the Fourth Division, infantry division, [one of our outfits] put a bridge for them up in Northern Luxembourg. So they sent the guys up to put that bridge in for them. And somehow or another they found a bunch of cognac, the champaign was still working, you know (laughs) and they brought it back. [?? bottle every night, when you go out]. And of course you know what happened then. Everybody got to be feeling pretty good. Anyway, a couple of those bottles were still working, [and in days, the G.I... sorry, the colonel said ??? and get rid of them. And of course that was a terrible feeling to break up... ?? cognac, champaign still working] (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
That’s good. Um... Is there anything else that you can think of that I haven’t really touched on, or...?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Well, from there, we went on back... after we got kicked out of Germany, we went back in, into Stolburg, Germany, and crossed to the Remagen Bridge. And three days after Remagen Bridge went down, I went back to infantry OCS, infantry officer school, and this was where I was when the war ended, in school.

Ryan MacIvor:
And so, when the war finished, you became... you took training to become an officer?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah, that’s what I was in training for, yeah. And it was the best thing that happened to me, because I came... I went to [Repple Depple] after that, in Belgium, and. Oh, I spent 12 hours layover in Paris, VE Day. And that was something, ooh. I had a camera with me, and they had the street dances. Everybody was lined up, doing the line dances, you know, holding each other. I guess you could call it a snake dance. I climbed up a telephone... up a light post to take pictures. I must have been feeling pretty good, cause I took every picture right in the same place. (laughs). And that night, we were supposed to catch the train in the North Gare... Station in Paris. We all made that train but one guy. And he didn’t meet the train. And when we got to [Verviers], Belgium, he had caught a G.I. truck and he met us there. He had gotten ahead of us. (laughs)

Ryan MacIvor:
Bicket, is there... Do you have any photographs, journals, poetry, newspaper clippings or letters that you’ve kept, from your time building the highway?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
I have some pictures of the highway, yeah.

Ryan MacIvor:
Would you be willing to share those with us?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yeah, I shared a lot of my stuff with a museum at Fort Leonard Wood. Captain [Overbeck] asked me to... I carried my briefcase out with a lot of my stuff in it, and he said they’d like to have it for the museum, cause they were moving the museum from Belvoir, Virginia to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

Ryan MacIvor:
And Fort Leonard Wood, that’s the home... that’s the engineering...?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Yes, that’s the new museum they’d done, the engineering museum. And they presented a plaque to us, to the outfit. My briefcase and everything, he said, well, they’d go through it, and what they didn’t need, they’d return with my briefcase. And today, I never received anything back. But I still have pictures of... up on the Alaskan Highway, there. And I have... In fact, I have it in a moose hide folder, in a moose hide, photographic... photograph... Yeah, I’d be happy to... anything that I can be helpful with, I’d be happy to do it.

Ryan MacIvor:
For the record, being today June 21st, 2003, could you just give your name again?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Walter Bicket Hawkins.

Ryan MacIvor:
And your date of birth?

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
November 10th, 1917.

Ryan MacIvor:
Perfect. And you were with the 341st, F Company.

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
341st Engineers, F Company, right.

Ryan MacIvor:
Well Bicket. That’s it. We’re done. Let me just...

Walter Bicket Hawkins:
Doing good...

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