Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-05-20
Radio Is Vital Part of Marines
i Equipment in Foreign Seruice
Contact With Sea, Air and Land Forces
Maintained Under Hard Conditions
by Portable Sets.

through which they exchange COM
munications with ships in West In
dian waters and with corresponding
government stations at, San Juan, in
Porto Rico; at Guantanamo, in Cuba /
at Santo Domingo City. in the Do
minican Republic. and sometimes. UNI
der favorable conditions, even with
the naval station at Charleston, s. c.
The Port au Prince station. which
Is situated four miles beyond the city
limits, has been subjected to night
attacks by numerically strong forces
of natives from nearby hills, the
station force of abcu dozen marine
radio operators being obliged to de-
fend themselves and their station
while keeping, it in service opera
ton.
Numerous portable low power
stations are also utilized by the
marines in Haiti to afford means OF
rapid communication between out
posts in the hills and their base at
Port au Prince. Marine aircraft
cent republic of Santo Domingo also
employ radio for communicating with
one another when in flight and with
their bases.
Must Make Own Repairs.
In their operations abroad, the ma
rines must usually be as resource
full and self-reliant in radio as in
ing in regions virtually devoid OF
modern or even primitive industrial
facilities Whatever difficulties they
encounter with their complicated
radio transmitting and receiving out
fits must be overcome. and any repair
work that becomes necessary must be
performed by themselves and with
their own facilities.
The marine who takes up radio
must, therefore, become as resource
full in this line of work IS he is re-
uuired to become in other lines of
work He must become a practical
radio mechanic and a practical radio
operator as well as a practical mill
tary man. He must be equally at
home with radio on land, at sea. or
in the air, along with his other lines
of military duty.
The marines training for aircraft
radio duty is obtained at their air
craft base at Quantico. Va. Their
training for general radio duties.
however. is obtained at a radio
school maintained at their base al
Paris Island. $ Z.
DENLY Recruit There.
Paris Island. an isolated point on
unknown outside of South Carolina
and the Marine Corps. yet it is an
extremely interesting, historical spot,
aside from its military status.
1t was to Paris lSland that the
present Secretary of the Navy was
sent for training as a recruit or
boot" upon his enlistment in the
Marine Corps as a private upon our
entrance into the world war.
During excavation work recently
conducted by the marines at Paris
Island there was discovered the piling
Of an old stockade built in 1862 by
the French Settlers in what was the
earliest of the European colonies in
the limits of the present United
states: THE wood piling is well pre-
served to this day and the marines
have converted the site into small
park. irclosing it with small anchor
chain.
Three hundred and fifty-fve years
after the landing of the French set
tiers on Paris Island, United States
marines were leaving the same spot
as the vanguard of the American
Army which went to the aid of
France, and the nation which these
early settlers helped to create was
engaged in constructing in France
the highest-power radio station in the
world. the Lafayette radio station.
near Bordeaux. for the exchange of
instantaneous communications through
space between France and America
for war purposes.
: Copyright, 1923. 2lst Century PressD