Tracing family history, and how it intertwines with Alaska’s burgeoning role in the U.S.

Recently, I was sipping a beer in the North Terminal at the Seattle airport. Looking at my Alaska Airlines boarding pass to come home, I could see the answers to several key questions in my life:

Q: Where did I come from? A: Kansas City

Q: Where will I go from here? A: Anchorage

Q: Where am I now? A: Seattle

The boarding pass designers did not include the answer to the age-old question: “Why am I here?”

The best answer to that was one word at a sign above the boarding gate: “Delayed.”

These days, I’m looking for more long-form answers. That includes stories and documents from my parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents.

There’s huge interest in genealogy, documenting family history. In a broader sense, the effort can deepen a sense of connection within a family, a community and even to other countries.

It’s that quest that led me beyond Kansas City to Abilene, Kansas. It’s just a small town literally in the middle of the state, right on Interstate 70. It’s the boyhood home of Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th president of the U.S.

Abilene also is the site of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. The complex is built around the modest family home where the Eisenhowers raised their children and also includes a place of meditation, where “Ike” and his wife, Mamie Eisenhower, are buried.

Ike wore many hats in his life. Before he was elected president, he was a five-star general, the Supreme Allied Commander of the conquering Allied Expeditionary Force during D-Day in World War II. He was an advocate of Alaska statehood, of desegregation in the military and of schools. And he was a champion of infrastructure, including the interstate highway system.

After the war, Eisenhower accepted the job with the new NATO alliance as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.

Americans owe Ike an incredible debt of gratitude for his leadership. Those who want to know more can visit the museum, which details Ike’s early life in Abilene, as well as his life as an Army officer and commander.

The world also owes much to those veterans who led the charge across the English Channel 80 years ago. There are few survivors of those epic battles. For the past several years, the Best Defense Foundation has hosted veterans on charter flights to Normandy, where they still are celebrated as heroes.

My interest in the museum and library stems from my grandfather Thor Smith’s position on Ike’s staff between 1943 and 1945.

Smith served as a press officer, carefully crafting and timing the release of crucial wartime communications to U.S. and Allied news organizations leading up to D-Day and ending with Germany’s surrender. Because of the element of surprise regarding the D-Day invasion’s timing and location, much of Smith’s work was top-secret.

Prior to his position on Ike’s personal staff, Smith was assistant to the publisher of the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, a Hearst newspaper.

After the war, Smith returned to his newspaper post in San Francisco. The owner of the paper, media mogul William Randolph Hearst, was convinced that Alaska was destined to be the “Pearl Harbor of World War III” because of Russian pilots’ knowledge of the air routes between Siberia, Alaska, Canada and the Lower 48.

To serve Hearst’s interest in shoring up Alaska’s defense, he asked Smith to do a fact-finding journey. Smith interviewed military and industry leaders in the territory, driving up the Alaska Highway in August 1948. The highway had just been opened to civilian traffic in May.

Accompanying Smith was his wife, my grandmother, Mary Benton Smith. Mary Smith was an accomplished journalist in her own right. During the war, she taught journalism classes at the University of Nevada. Additionally, she was the first female Associated Press bureau chief in Reno. She also wrote for United Press International and for several magazines.

Because of the nature of the road trip up the new highway, she got an assignment from Sunset Magazine to do a travelogue of the trip.

Starting in San Francisco, the first stop was at the family cabin in Lake Tahoe, where Thor’s sister Jean agreed to watch the couple’s three girls (including my mother) while they made the trip.

From Lake Tahoe, the couple drove north to Spokane, across the Canadian border and up to Dawson Creek, the official start of the Alaska Highway.

Of course, driving the Alcan in 1948 was different from how it is today. With camping gear, two spare tires, chains, an extra gas can and other gear, the Smiths noted that in order to make the trip, Canadian authorities mandated that each person have $300 in cash before being allowed to proceed (about $1,272 in 2024 dollars). Their new 1947 Chevy “woody” station wagon was fully loaded.

After making it to Fairbanks, the couple went on several air excursions, to Anchorage, to Kodiak, to Nome and to Juneau.

Following the monthlong, 3,900-mile journey, Thor Smith authored a six-part front page series on how Alaska was ill-prepared for a prospective Russian invasion. Hearst promoted the series in his other newspapers along with editorials urging swift action by Congress. Copies of the series were sent to every member of Congress.

Meanwhile, Mary Smith wrote a comprehensive travelogue for the March 1949 issue of Sunset, with actionable tips on what to see and do along the way.

This was not the Smiths’ only trip to Alaska. Mary returned several times, as part of her assignments with Pacific Travel News magazine. In 1971, they cruised the Inside Passage on Matson’s ship, the “Mariposa.”

Thirty years after their journey up the highway, I arrived in Alaska after graduating from college with a journalism degree.

Interestingly, my grandparents never talked about their Alaska experiences with me. Only after their deaths did I learn of these assignments, when my aunt sent some of their letters and papers.

In retrospect, I think my writing lines up more with my grandmother’s: telling people where to go and what to do on vacation.

Because of the nature of Thor Smith’s work with Ike, my aunts donated a vast number of documents, photographs and articles to the Eisenhower Library.

The archivists at the library were very attentive to my interest in the historical documents, some more than 80 years old. There are special protocols for researching the documents, including how to handle the fragile letters and newsprint.

Aside from the important family history revealed by these documents, it’s eye-opening to me that Alaska still is reconciling with the same issues today as in 1948. The state still sits on the border with an adversarial nation, albeit with a much more robust military presence. Also, Alaska still hosts some of the nation’s most beautiful and sought-after natural beauty. It’s an easier drive today, in addition to frequent air service and a booming cruise ship industry.

I would not presume to fill the shoes of my grandparents, who definitely were part of the “Greatest Generation.” But perhaps I can share their stories.