In May of 1942, across the rugged sub-Arctic wilderness of Alaska, British Columbia, and Yukon Territory, thousands of American soldiers <../peopleevents/p_men.html> began one of the biggest and most difficult construction projects ever undertaken -- the building of the Alaska Highway. The United States had toyed for 80 years with the idea of building a road link from the lower 48 states to Alaska; but it was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that spurred Washington into action. Worried that the Japanese might invade Alaska. President Franklin Roosevelt directed that a supply line be built to U.S military bases in the region.