From the Morgue: Cape military family drives to Alaska

My family will tell you I’m a bit obsessed with Alaska. I try to watch every television program I can that deals with living in that frigid state.

It was probably that obsession that made me notice a short article printed on the front page of the Southeast Missourian on Jan. 6, 1950. It told of a family — father, mother and 17-month-old daughter — departing Cape Girardeau by automobile, bound for Fairbanks, Alaska.

The father, Don A. Pirano, was a technical sergeant and had been assigned to Ladd Air Force Base in Fairbanks, and he was taking his wife, the former Celeste Pruitt of Cape Girardeau, and their daughter, Donna, to the base. Their trip by car took two weeks.

Published, Friday, Jan. 6, 1950, in the Southeast Missourian:

Couple and baby drive to Alaska

Leaving this morning for Fairbanks, Alaska, where they will make their home, were T-Sgt. and Mrs. Don A. Pirano and daughter, Donna, 17 months old, who will make the trip in their automobile. Sgt. Pirano, who has been stationed at Ladd Air Force Base at Fairbanks the past 10 months, arrived home a week ago to visit with his family and accompany them to Alaska.

When Sgt. Pirano left Alaska Dec. 27, to come here, the temperature was 51 degrees below zero, he said. It will take the Piranos from 14 to 16 days to drive to Fairbanks, Mrs. Pirano said. The former Miss Celeste Pruitt, Mrs. Pirano and daughter have made their home here with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Pruitt, 513 Washington Ave.

Although the child is young, her parents think she can make the trip nicely. The distance is some 4,500 miles.

The car is a 1948 model Nash. It is equipped with a heater, and Sgt. Pirano expects to install a second one, for the rear seat, when they reach the Canadian border.

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Published Saturday, Jan. 7, 1950, in the Southeast Missourian:

Southeast Missourian archive

Alaska bound. T-Sgt. and Mrs. Don A. Pirano and daughter, Donna, wearing the traditional Alaskan costume, posed for the photographer before they departed from Cape Girardeau Friday on a two-week automobile trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, where they will make their home. Stationed at Ladd Air Force Base at Fairbanks, Sgt. Pirano arrived recently to drive his family to their new home which is in a section of the country where the temperature was 51 degrees below zero when he left there.

Published Friday, Jan. 27, 1950, in the Southeast Missourian:

Cape family arrives in Alaska after 14 days

Mrs. E.C. Pruitt, 513 Washington Ave., received a welcome letter yesterday. The good news, in brief, was that her son-in-law and daughter, T-Sgt. and Mrs. Don A. Pirano, and daughter, Donna, who set out Jan. 7 from Cape Girardeau for Alaska, arrived at Fairbanks Saturday, safe and sound.

Mrs. Pirano wrote that they opened the door of their six-room apartment at 6:45 Saturday afternoon, and were pleased to find the rooms warm and comfortable. They had been inside not longer than 15 minutes when a lieutenant from Ladd Air Force Base, where Pirano is stationed, arrived with a basket of food. It was a cold, but interesting trip, according to the Piranos.

Published Tuesday, Feb. 7, 1950, in the Southeast Missourian:

Writes of auto trip from Cape to Fairbanks, Alaska

On Jan. 7, T-Sgt. Don A. Pirano, who is stationed in the Army at Fairbanks, Alaska, and his wife departed by motor car to go to Alaska. His wife is the former Celeste Pruitt. In the following letter to The Missourian he describes their trip in an interesting manner:

Naturally, adequate preparation is paramount and the automobile must be roadworthy in every sense. It must be mechanically perfect and completely winterized in order that it continue to operate at very low temperatures. Temperatures of 50 and 60 degrees below zero are quite common in this part of the world though fortunately they never remain much longer than a week or two at a time. Light greases and oils are used and sometimes even the 10-W motor oil has to be diluted with about 10% kerosene to make it even thinner. The cooling system must be protected to at least 50 degrees below zero. To prevent frozen fuel lines it is wise to keep the gas tank as full of gas as possible to prevent atmospheric moisture from condensing and passing into the lines. As a safeguard, it is necessary to add a pint of commercial methanol preparation to your gasoline about every 750 miles of travel. I probably used about twice as much as I actually needed but I was taking no chances.

Proper clothing is a must! We were equipped with woolen underwear and socks, mittens, storm boots, fur-lined parkas and fur-lined hats. It is not necessary to wear all this clothing in the car but must be on hand if the need arises. From the foregoing it is evident that the bitter cold can be quite dangerous. Oddly enough, one doesn’t suffer from that kind of cold because after the first “bite”, one just simply begins to freeze. When a person feels warm and relaxed — that’s when he’s in danger and had better do something quick.

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In referring to “cold”, I mean temperatures of 30 degrees below zero and beyond. At that temperature strange things begin to happen. For example while driving along, you’ll suddenly notice that you can hardly turn the steering wheel any longer. At around 50 below zero, it is dangerous to continue driving because you may find yourself unable to negotiate a turn. There’s nothing to do but stop and let the engine idle so that its warmth will make the gear case grease fluid again. This will take about 10 minutes and then you can continue driving for another half hour before being forced to stop again. This process is followed until you reach your stopping point for the day or until you can find accommodations.

When stopped for the night where no automobile storage is available, the engine mustn’t be turned off. To do so would be to invite the biggest headache a motorist can have. It is next to impossible to start the next morning with a push. It requires a heavy truck to pull you several miles before the congealed oils and greases loosen up sufficiently and you dare to put the car in gear in an effort to start the engine. (Provided the bearings, transmission, rear end and wheel bearings have held up under the beating.) Needless to say, even a fully charged battery is worthless because at very low temperatures its efficiency is reduced by about 75% or more.

Keeping the engine running all night keeps the transmission and steering gear flexible. All that remains to do is to loosen the rear end and wheel bearings. Moving the car a few feet forward and backward for several minutes and gradually increasing the distance suffices. At this time you’ll notice that your tires will be out of round with flat spots where the weight of the car rested on them. You’ll go bumpety-bumping along until the friction warms them and they return to their normal shape.

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The Alcan Highway is open for traffic all year round. At this time of the year it is covered with packed snow giving one a very smooth ride. It starts at Dawson Creek in British Columbia and ends at Fairbanks, Alaska, 1,523 miles later. Oddly enough, 1,221 miles of the highway are in Canada while only 302 miles are in Alaska. Civilian employees of the Canadian army operating from maintenance camps at about 75-mile intervals keep the highway clear and make repairs. The Alaskan portion is maintained by the Alaska Road Commission. Considering the small amount of traffic utilizing the roads, it is surprising at the fine job done by these crews.

The normal driving day is from about 9 o’clock to about 4 o’clock due to the shorter period of sunlight in the northern latitudes. The few vehicles that use the road do so only during daylight hours. Even the veteran truck drivers stop at sundown because a breakdown could spell disaster. It is 25 to 45 miles between stopping places without a sign of life in between. A breakdown during the day though inconvenient is not dangerous because someone will come along within an hour or two. At night your chances are practically non-existent. All you can do is get out and build the biggest fire you can — and keep it going. It’s not comfort you're after; it’s life or death.

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It’s an unwritten law in these parts to stop and offer assistance to anyone on the roads. One doesn’t wait to be flagged either, one just stops because the occupant may not be in a position to be able to ask for help. On two occasions while we stopped for a shot of coffee from our thermos bottle, we were approached by other motorists and asked if we were in trouble. We ourselves helped one party whose car failed them by backtracking to the previous stopping place. Notice that the use of the word “town” is avoided. There aren’t more than about eight towns in the whole length of the Alcan Highway.

Fuel points are never more than 50 miles apart, but prices run as high as 65 cents per British Imperial Gallon. Lodging ranges from the primitive to rather good, and all of them have innerspring mattresses!

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We took advantage of one of the features to be found on the highway. The Canadian National Telegraph maintains telephone repeater stations about every 85 to 100 miles apart. I would go into a repeater station and ask the operator to contact the operator of the next station advising him that I was on the road and that I was expected to pass that point in so many hours. A complete description of the car and occupants was given with a request that if I failed to arrive within a reasonable length of time, that the Canadian or American Army authorities be notified. Fortunately, we never needed that kind of assistance but it was a comfortable feeling to know that someone was aware of your whereabouts and that something would be done if you were stranded. On reaching that station we would always have someone greet us with, “Well, I see you’re on time.” This was done the whole length of the highway in Canada.

The joint American-Canadian Army maneuvers (operation Sweetbriar) were also utilized by us. Between Edmunton, Canada, and Dawson Creek is 500 miles of poorly maintained highway. This is the Peace River Valley where we expected the worst cold. It never got warmer than 35 degrees below zero and at one place (Smith), we drove into town with the thermometer at minus 64 degrees. Due to lack of accommodations at the local inn, we were afforded shelter by the Canadian Army where my wife and baby were introduced to the novelty of sleeping in a Sleeping Bag. Since a convoy was scheduled to pass that point on the following day, we arranged to keep about an hour or two ahead of them all the way to Dawson Creek. By doing that we were assured of both mechanical assistance and medical help since all military convoys usually have a doctor with them.

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Our itinerary was Cape Girardeau, St. Louis, St. Joseph, North Platt, Nebraska; Buffalo and Casper, Wyoming; Great Falls, Shelby and Sweetgrass, Montana, where we crossed the border into Coutts, Canada. At Lethbridge we exchanged part of our money into Canadian currency, receiving a 10% increase because of the present rate of exchange. Our next point was Calgary followed by Edmunton, Smith, Grand Prairie and Dawson Creek. Total miles traveled from Cape Girardeau to Fairbanks — 4,366; Days on Road — 15; Lowest Temperatures encountered — 64 degrees below zero; Gasoline consumed — 241 gallons; Highest price paid per gallon — 65 1/2 cents; Oil consumed — three quarts (between one change); Average mileage — 18.1 m.p.g.

The next mention of the Pirano family in the Southeast Missourian was the Jan. 7, 1951, birth of twin sons, Vincent Emil and Victor Thomas, at Fairbanks. Sadly, Victor Thomas passed away at 5 weeks old, and his father accompanied the body back to Cape Girardeau for burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery.

After being stationed in Alaska several years, M-Sgt. Don Pirano moved his family to Japan in 1954. They returned to the United States in 1957.

In all, Don Pirano served 30 years in the military and was a veteran of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He served overseas tours in Europe and Asia.

The family moved back to Cape Girardeau in about 1962.

Celeste Pruitt Pirano passed away Sunday, May 30, 1982, at the age of 68. Don died Sunday, Jan. 26, 1986. Both were buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery.

Sharon Sanders is the librarian at the Southeast Missourian.