Philip Reed was born in Illinois in 1895. He was the operator in charge of the Alaska Communication System (ACS) of the U.S. Army Signal Corps station at Noorvik, Alaska (1921-1923), and served as operator in charge of the ACS station at Iditarod (1923-1925), as a radio operator at the ACS station at Fairbanks (1925-1927), and as a transmitter technician for the ACS station at Seward (1927-1928). He married Retta Colwill at Noorvik in 1922. While stationed at Noorvik, Philip Reed was the sole contact with Roald Amundsen's expeditions in the Arctic. While at Iditarod, he kept in contact with the serum run from Nulato to Nome during the diphtheria epidemic. The Reeds left Alaska in 1928 for Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and then Washington, D.C. In 1936, they returned to Alaska, where Reed became operator in charge of the ACS station at Anchorage (1936-1939). The Reeds then moved to Seattle, returning to Anchorage in 1943, where he served as radio engineer officer for the ACS (1943-1945). Reed was appointed executive officer for the ACS at Anchorage (February 1945) and then officer in charge with the rank of major (November 1945). He died in 1981.
From the description of Papers, 1907-1981 1915-1981. (UAA/APU Consortium Library). WorldCat record id: 58750905
