Congressman Chris Smith met today with Monmouth County Clerk Claire French, who is a Board of Trustees member of the InfoAge Science and History Learning Center in Wall, N.J., once the site of the U.S. Army's post, Camp Evans.

    French presented Smith with an historical account of Camp Evans, entitled "Camp Evans: The Untold Story."

    "The rich history of Camp Evans and the men and women who served their country there must never be forgotten," Smith said. "Though the camp is now closed, it lives on as a science and history learning center."

    Smith helped arrange a a fact-finding visit in 2002 for Army officials to visit the closed camp to see firsthand the special preservation challenges presented by the Camp Evans Historic District. Closed as part of a Base Realignment and Closure action in the 1990s, a portion of Camp Evans has been designated as a National Historic District to honor the men and woman of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and the electronics industry who pioneered early communications at the camp.
  
    In Monmouth County, the U.S. Army Signal Corps developed radar technology that was used in every theater of battle in World War II.  The Allies' use of radar led to a great advantage in WWII and became the foundation of the modern electronics industry. Camp Evans, then a sub-post of Fort Monmouth, was the Signal Corps Radar Laboratory during WWII and beyond.
 
    Smith said keeping alive the history of Camp Evans honors the unique contributions of veterans of Signal Corps who contributed to the defense of the nation and our allies. Many Signal Corps veterans of Camp Evans have been recognized by the United Kingdom for defending it and U.S. military personnel stationed there from Nazi air attacks, as well as by France for the roll radar played in its liberation.