Alaska short wave radio operator was first to hear news of Pearl Harbor attack

Though the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii killed more than 2,400 people, sank the U.S.S. Arizona and marked the U.S. entry into World War II, history has all but forgotten Alaskan Augie Hiebert’s unique role in the events of Dec. 7, 1941.

Hiebert’s daughter Robin A. Chlupach of Willow preserved the story in her 1992 book “Airwaves over Alaska: Story of Pioneer Broadcaster Augie Hiebert.” And the story is also part of the U.S. Senate Congressional record from June 26, 2003, when Hiebert’s actions were commended by the U.S. Senate.

Hiebert came to Alaska in 1939 and was operating a radio station in Fairbanks for Capt. Lathrop when he heard the first report on the raid on Pearl Harbor.

“He was operating his own short-wave radio when he heard the news,” his daughter said. “That’s what he did every morning — he got up every morning and got on his shortwave radio.”

When he heard he news, he called the top military commander in Fairbanks and reported the radio transmission he’d heard, she said. His report was the first word military leaders in Alaska had of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Hiebert was a pioneer in radio and television broadcasting in Alaska. He also helped to establish Alaska’s first satellite station activated in 1970. He died at the age of 90 on Sept. 13, 2007.