PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Aroostook Medical Center and the Presque Isle Historical Society will team up to bring alive a piece of Aroostook County history through the society’s quarterly presentations. On Wednesday, Sept. 6, participants will learn about another first in local — and national — history.
The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the McCain Conference Rooms on the second floor of TAMC’s East Annex at 140 Academy St. in Presque Isle.
Prior to World War II, military pilots did not worry about radio transmissions in their aircraft, primarily because most planes did not have radios. With German U-boats patrolling the waters around Greenland and Japan already monitoring transmissions, the U.S. was playing a game of catch-up in order to keep military information from falling into enemy hands and to gain an upper hand in the war.
“These facts all led to the creation of a military unit which could monitor weather for the military, listen in on foreign transmissions to ferret out secrets, and serve as watchdogs over our own troops,” said the historical society’s Kim Smith, who will give the presentation.
“Presque Isle served as the first such listening station in the continental United States,” she said. “It is fascinating to read the now-declassified military documents and exciting to share this information with local history buffs.”
For more information, visit www.pihistory.org, call 762-1151, or e-mail pihistoricalsociety@hotmail.com.
