Site of the Houlton Army Air Base

Contributed by Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum

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In September 2003, this monument was placed on the site of the former Houlton Army Air Base. The Air Base was established in 1941 because of its proximity to Canada.

Prior to the United States entry into the war, planes were flown to Houlton Army Air Base but U.S. military pilots could not fly the planes directly into Canada, a British ally, because that would violate the official U.S. position of neutrality. Local farmers towed the planes across the border to Canada with their tractors.

In 1944 a major part of the air base was made into Camp Houlton, a Prisoner of War (POW) internment camp. The base was closed in 1946 after the prisoners were repatriated.

When the POWs returned home to Germany, conditions there were desperate. Some former POWs wrote letters to their former farm employers requesting assistance. Some farmers responded to these requests generously, establishing life long relationships.

This monument commemorates the role Houlton and Aroostook County played in World War Two and the human bonds that were created.

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