"Life
on Attu Island Alaska Coast Guard Navigation Station."
Presentation summary:
The
rugged and beautiful Aleutian Islands have some of the worst weather in the
world and stretch for 1200 miles off the coast of Alaska. At the age of 18 Ron was stationed at the
United States Coast Guard Long Range Aids to Navigation (Loran) station Attu
Island, the last island in the Aleutian chain.
He shares this unique experience of living for a year at the Coast
Guard's most remote station with only 36 Coast Guards men inhabiting the island,
working together in harmony.
Loran
was invented and deployed during a World War II and is the predecessor of today's
Global Positioning System (GPS). Attu
has a 67 year Loran transmitting history.
Ships and airplanes crossing the Pacific, and fisherman in the Alaskan
waterways safely navigated on Loran signals transmitted by Attu and the other
stations in the Alaskan system.
Living
on a remote 368 square mile island with only 35 other people was a rare
experience. Attu has less than 10 clear
weather days a year that caused many monotonous days manning the Loran timers
and transmitters while the winds howled outside. This unique service to country Ron feels
blessed to have experienced and is willing to share with you.
On
August 1, 2010 the Coast Guard turned off the last Loran transmitters,
including the ones on Attu. There was an
overlap over 10 years of service with Loran and GPS giving users time to
upgrade planes, ships, and boats to GPS receivers. On August 27th the Coast Guard
decommissioned Station Attu and Ron was one of two Attu Veterans to attend the
decommissioning ceremony. This was a
once in a lifetime trip and it felt great for him to be back on Attu 38 years
later!!! (Ron has several once in a life
time trips! Stories for another day...)
The
only land battle on U.S. soil during World War II took place on Attu in 1943
between the U.S. and Japan. During the
war the brutal Aleutian campaign was highly censored, thus the general public
knew little about the land, air, and sea battles there. However lessons learned from the mistakes made
during the Aleutian campaign have been incorporated into improvements for today's
military. This presentation also introduces
the battle of Attu.
Ron's
presentation topic is about life on Attu Island with an underlying passionate
message of believing in yourself and to follow your heart's dreams. This presentation will lead you on a journey to
a remote location on Earth with different living conditions and touches on self
discovery.
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