ARADCOM Site 99

While the cold war was raging in the 1950's, the U. S. Department of Defense constructed "supersonic rings of steel" ... Nike missile batteries ... around most major metropolitan areas of the United States.

The U. S. Army Air Defense Command's (ARADCOM) 24th Artillery Group ... twelve batteries strong ... set up shop. Its mission - to defend hiladelphia and environs against attack by Soviet bombers.

An essential component of the Philadelphia defense was Site PH-99, located at Eureka, Warrington Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It eventually became the only double Nike/Hercules-Ajax site in ARADCOM. (Click here to see page from the April 17, 1955 issue of Warrington News - PDF).

Left click anywhere on above photo to see text of inscription on marker.

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On Memorial Day 2000, the people of Warrington Township held dedication ceremonies for a bronze and granite marker which serves as a permanent reminder of the service rendered by those who came from all parts of the nation to defend the Philadelphia area.

The marker is located in the former IFC area, now known as the Igor-Porter-Wellings Memorial Park, named in memory of three young men from the community who died in combat in Vietnam. The facility is comprised of soccer fields.

The newspaper article in photo above right tells of the "teardown" of Site 99 in 1991. (left click on photo to see full-size version).

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