European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 12, 1962, Darmstadt, Hesse T i o n a ,4 the 5,000 americans stationed in the azores not of get or steady diet of tap Tysl show Bat much Loco programming t Day june 12, 1962 seeing As How the sign says 2,400 Miles o new York or 1,300 to Madrid an since the fishermen there still go out in Long boats to heave harpoons at whales a la moby Dick and considering the Hurricane winds of 100 . And better that Batter the Island Ever so often Well. Hardly seems a Likely place to be watching love Lajes Field in the azores the stepping Stone Between Europe and America has pretty fair claim to operating the most isolated to station in the world. Other stations operated by the armed forces radio and to service Are located on the islands of Okinawa and puerto Rico but they add up to bit of real estate compared with Tercel a which is about 18 Miles by 10 Miles give or take a few Volcano even if you squeezed All nine of the azores together you d still be quite a few acres Short of Rhode Island so it would seem the 5,000 or so Ameri cans living at the isolated base would Bemi Tity Happy to keep in touch with 1. "lucy/1 Peter Gunnet at " but this would be a contradiction of what has become a Basic american right complaining about what is offered on to. Lot s of our people have come from places where there were four or five stations explained s sgt James r Ennis an undertone of sadness they just Don t want to accept the fact that we just have one station to Cui up for every body " Ennis. The station manager and , capt George c. Larrieu have their problems but they also have quite few things going for them. By Wallace Beenes a Madrid Bureau for one thing we have the first build ing constructed by the air Force specifically designed for a combined radio and to Larrieu pointed Large Well equipped studios Are perched on top of Santa Rita Hill Over looking the Busy Airstrip an Ideal location for transmitting but also an Ideal Placebo catch the full Force of the Gale Force winds that Roar in off the lost the to line from the outside transformer during one storm and some of the boys wanted to go out and try to Moke the repairs while it was still blowing but we would t let them Ennis said we have emergency Power for the radio Sta Tion and Hope to have it soon for the the combined stations Are operated Bya Crew of four technicians and 15 production people. Sgt Jean Guertler head ing up the technical staff. Men Ore switched Back and Forth Between the radio and to operations to make the Crew As versatile As the 21-Inch screens glow Only six hours a Day during the week and eight hours on weekends the radio Side of the shop maintains an open Mike around the clock seven Days a addition to the canned shows brought in from the United states the Lajes to Crew also produces a number of Tive presentations ranging from kiddie and teen shows to a triple barrelled news sports and weather Roundup. The arrival of vips such As vice presi Dent Lyndon b Johnson or Gen Curtis e. Lemay. Brings Forth the camera Crew on the double and sound films Are made for telecasting a Short time later. The stars and stripes while the to station May be the slightly bloodshot eyeball of Lajes the radio stations its voice since the planes criss crossing the Atlantic arrive apr depar6 at All hours. The number of men on night duty is rather Large the radio is their Best continuous radio service has also made Lajes an Ideal base for aspiring disc jockeys. If one of hit boys decides that he wants to do a program we let him Cut a tap and give him a trial. If he s really serious he can develop his own show Ennis explained. Practically All the late Tate shows Are recorded music but the deejays work inquire a bit of variety to help keep the listeners the radio station i operated for the american audience the portuguese on the Island have developed the habit of tuning in to hear the latest american music. the Island audience has now developed to the Point that a portuguese announce comes out and conducts his own. Program of music and local announcements once a listeners have been attracted from even farther afield we be received about15 letters trim of Polei to Norway and Sweden saying they have picked up outstation Ennis added. One thing you Don t hear at the Lajes station these Days is the old pitch stay tuned to this a listener pointed out that the personnel stationed on the Liny Island in the Middle of the Ocean really did t have much Choice of stations and the Man making this observation was Brig Gen e. B. Be Bailly. The commander. Page in
