A Christmas Poem

Christmas Poem

    TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,

    HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

    IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF

    PLASTER AND STONE.

    I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY

    WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

    AND TO SEE JUST WHO

    IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

    I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,

    A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

    NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,

    NOT EVEN A TREE.

    NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,

    JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

    ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES

    OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

    WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,

    AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

    A SOBER THOUGHT

    CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

    FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,

    IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

    I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,

    ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

    THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,

    SILENT, ALONE,

    CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR

    IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

    THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,

    THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,

    NOT HOW I PICTURED

    A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

    WAS THIS THE HERO

    OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

    CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,

    THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

    I REALIZED THE FAMILIES

    THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

    OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS

    WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

    SOON ROUND THE WORLD,

    THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

    AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE

    A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

    THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM

    EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

    BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,

    LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

    I COULDN'T HELP WONDER

    HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

    ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE

    IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

    THE VERY THOUGHT

    BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,

    I DROPPED TO MY KNEES

    AND STARTED TO CRY.

    THE SOLDIER AWAKENED

    AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

    'SANTA DON'T CRY,

    THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

    I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,

    I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

    MY LIFE IS MY GOD,

    MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.'

    THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER

    AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

    I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,

    I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

    I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,

    SO SILENT AND STILL

    AND WE BOTH SHIVERED

    FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

    I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE

    ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

    THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR

    SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

    THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

    WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

    WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA,

    IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.'

    ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,

    AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

    'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,!

    AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.'

     This poem was written by a Marine. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable.....

PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men,women, and Canadian Forces for our being able to celebrate these festivities.

    Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.  Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

 

Join us in Dayton November 4th

Hello everyone.

I know it's been a quiet year for us as we gear up for our second child. I appreciate your support and patience. We have attended some brilliant events, however, like the Dayton Hamvention.

Meeting the good folks who make that happen each year was a highlight for us. They've invited us back to speak to their group, Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) on November 4th. We couldn't be happier.

So, if your a member of DARA and at the November 4th meeting, we'll see you then.

Have a superb Fall.

Lisa (and the entire gang)

A Special Review on an Amazing WWII Website

A very special thank you goes out to Mark Terjeson for his email and very thoughtful review of World War II Radio Heroes. Visit his son's beautiful site through this link and spend a few minutes checking it out. An awesome WWII website.


http://wwarii.com/reviews/review.php?book=World-War-II-Radio-Heroes

Book Review. Thanks. And, of course, Hamvention

A big thank you to Thomas Witherspoon for his thoughtful review of World War II Radio Heroes: Letters of Compassion. I met Thomas at this year's SWLFest in Plymouth Meeting. He has a great way with words. I enjoyed and appreciated his review very much. You can read it here: http://swling.com/blog/2011/05/book-review-world-war-ii-radio-heroes/

I plan to see Thomas and many others, maybe you, at Dayton's Hamvention next week. Hamvention is the largest ham fest in the country, if not the world! It will be our first year in attendance and we are really looking forward to it. Join us in our Forum, Room 3 Friday at 9:15 AM. We'll be signing books afterwards.

Thank you so very much for your support over the last several years. We love that we continue to get reviews, and that they are favorable, and that people still ask us to share this story in all sorts of venues with a variety of audiences. Thank you.

Idaho State Amateur Radio Convention April 22-24, 2011

Hello everyone. I hope you'll join me at the Idaho State Amateur Radio Convention in a couple weeks. I'll be the featured Friday night speaker. I understand that several people are flying in just for my talk! What an honor. Learn more about the events and travel details here: http://www.idahostateconvention.com/

USA Today Article on Hams Losing Frequencies

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&loc=interstitialskip

Author Lisa Spahr Visits the Eastern Region of PA... a write up in the Times

Please visit this link to read Elsa's piece on my recent visit to the eastern region of PA. I thought it was nicely done.

http://www.tnonline.com/node/183178

We're Naming Names! Celebrate these SWLs and Hams from 1943!

I am so pleased to provide the best list I can currently come up with that includes men and women who participated in POW message relay during WWII. If you have additions or corrections, please email me. In the coming weeks we'll be asking Congress to publically recognize them for their amazing and compassionate work.

Thank you for visiting and please spread this news to others.

Details are: Last Name First Name City/Town State


Allison Mrs. Thomas Jr. Birmingham Alabama

Denson Otto E. North Birmingham Alabama

Grubbs Mrs. Robert Bessemer Alabama

Harper Kathyleen Birmingham Alabama

Wohlford Ted Wylam Alabama

Badler Mr. Norman Los Angeles California

Bourgeotte (?) Mrs. W.K. Los Angeles California

Hite H.E. Redondo Beach California

Hodson E.C. Inglewood California

Kissinger W.E. Los Angeles California

Muller Mrs. L.F. Cos Cob Connecticut

Vorisak (?) B New Preston Connecticut

Yanowsky Joseph Waterbury Connecticut

Costenbader Marguerite Washington District of Columbia

Maloney Madeline Washington District of Columbia

West Mildred Tampa Florida

Daily Mr. Claud New Albany Indiana

Gordon Mr. Alex E. Indianapolis 4 Indiana

Johnson W.E. South Bend Indiana

McLaughlin Rev. W.G. Montgomery Indiana

Smith Ida Prairieton Indiana

McCann Mrs. Russ Centerville Iowa

McFarland I (?) Dubuque Iowa

Schofalidge (?) C.M. Moravia Iowa

Gabbard Mrs. Charles E. Campton Kentucky

Rapier Edw. D. New Orleans Louisiana

Given Mrs. Fred West Auburn Maine

Heim Mrs. Edna Lovell Maine

Bardfield Morton Brookline Massachusetts

Bell Ella Haverhill Massachusetts

Loomi Mrs. W.G. Holyoke Massachusetts

Woodley Hazel Somerville Massachusetts

Barnes Stuart Detroit Michigan

Finke Walter A. Saginaw Michigan

Hayward Mr. Charles Dearborn Michigan

Miller Miss C.L. Detroit 27 Michigan

Moore Ralph Detroit 10 Michigan

Taylor Mrs. Lyda M. Detroit Michigan

Bettin Mr. Roger Lakefield Minnesota

R.P. Read Hopkins Minnesota

Ryan Mrs. Dorence Marshall Minnesota

Hodges Mrs. Alma Rolla Missouri

Fike John R. Omaha Nebraska

Alvarez Mrs. Jean Newark New Jersey

Barry Mrs. L.A. East Orange New Jersey

Bigler George Camden New Jersey

Cooper Mrs. E.E. Wildwood Crest New Jersey

Jahn H.R. Montclair New Jersey

Kennedy Mr. George Montclair New Jersey

Levenson Mr. L.I. Atlantic City New Jersey

Moore Mrs. H.H. Plainfield New Jersey

Oriolo Nicholas North Bergen New Jersey

Pelton Mrs. K.R. Westfield New Jersey

Smith Mrs. Emily Camden New Jersey

Teeple Miss Ann Nutley New Jersey

Anonymous “a friend” Not given Frankfort New York

Anonymous “a loyal American” Not given New York New York

Beck Miss Tilde New York 28 New York

Coonley William E. Troy New York

Dannemann Mr. F.W.C. Brooklyn 20 New York

Delappe Mrs. Walter Yaphank, Long Island New York

Duncan Walter Brooklyn 2 New York

Fernandez Mrs. J. New York New York

Feye Jack Kingston New York

Finger Mrs. Francis Huntington, Long Island New York

Grace Oliver R. Great Neck New York

Hensen Arthur R. Ithaca New York

Huston Francis E. Tioga Center New York

Kienitz John Brooklyn New York

Lancer Miss Marion Senaca Falls New York

Lande Mrs. George Brooklyn New York

Levins Mr. J. Brooklyn 25 New York

Livingston Mr. & Mrs. Rochester New York

Lowe Mr. Sanford New York 24 New York

Quinn Mrs. Joseph Syracuse New York

Taylor Helen Utica New York

Taylor Mr. Curtis Utica 2 New York

Walters Irene Patchogue New York

Warren Roger Ithaca New York

Washila Mr. J. Leo J. New York New York

Winkler Herman Bronx New York

Wittpen Russell New York 7 New York

Bottorf Charles I. New Bern North Carolina

Propst Mr. David Black Mountain North Carolina

Shelton Mr. W.F. Louisburg North Carolina

Wright Mrs. Edward N. Asheville North Carolina

Arbogast E.F. Stone Creek Ohio

Bamberger Ed. Shaker Heights Ohio

Cartwright Mrs. Mary Akron 5 Ohio

Christiauas Miss Laura Cleveland Ohio

Eggleston Mrs. John Ostrander Ohio

Farrell John R. Cleveland Ohio

Gilli Mrs. Rose Willoughby Ohio

Heck Mrs. John Springfield Ohio

Lewis Mrs. R.D. Cincinnati Ohio

Moran Mrs. A.F. New Athens Ohio

Olson Mrs. B.C. North Canton Ohio

Shonting Martin G. Troy Ohio

Yant Mrs. Don Lima Ohio

Ball Mrs. Kenneth Erie Pennsylvania

Bender Irwin F. Oberlin Pennsylvania

Davis Mrs. Josephine Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Dudley Mrs. Edgar Elizabeth Pennsylvania

Hill Miss Flora L. Lewistown Pennsylvania

Hoffield Magdalene Pittsburgh (N.S.) Pennsylvania

Hoffman Geo. R. Johnstown Pennsylvania

Jankauskas Mr. Flavius Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Kahler Mrs. F.H. Bloomsburg Pennsylvania

Kary (Karagianis) Paul L. Johnstown Pennsylvania

Lees Samuel South Langhorne Pennsylvania

Love G.M. (?) Connelsville Pennsylvania

Schum Mr. LeRoy Reading Pennsylvania

Schwartz Catherine Oil City Pennsylvania

Skilton Mr. and Mrs. C.P. Carbondale Pennsylvania

Spadacene Mrs. Carl Erie Pennsylvania

Sulzer Mrs. G.H. Cheyney Pennsylvania

Susan Mrs. Joseph McKeesport Pennsylvania

Thompson Mrs. Jack Monongahela Pennsylvania

Watkins Morris Ulster Pennsylvania

White Mrs. Newton Bloomsburg Pennsylvania

Zaleski Robert Philadelphia 34 Pennsylvania

Hitchcock A.J. Chattanooga Tennessee

Bird Mrs. J.R. Bowie Texas

Seigle Mrs. Earl Tyler Texas

Allaway Mrs. Unknown Unknown

Grubbs Mrs. Unknown Unknown

Lapan Mrs. George Essex Jet Vermont

Fowler Margaret Charlottesville Virginia

Pickett Mr. Robert Roanoke Virginia

Clark Mrs. V. C. Olympia Washington

Bradford Mrs. J.C. Pennsboro West Virginia

Christian Mrs. Dan Slagle West Virginia

Hazelbaker Miss Mary Pennsboro West Virginia

Keith Mrs. F.E. Parkersburg West Virginia

Murray Mr. & Mrs. John Chester West Virginia

Vickers Mrs. Keith Huntington West Virginia

Let's Get Congressional Recognition for Short-wave Monitors During WWII

While researching POW relay and monitoring for World War II Radio Heroes: Letters of Compassion (2008), I discovered a letter written by Senators (then) Biden and Roth asking the VFW for how many POW message relay monitors there may have been. One of their constituents was asking them to consider congressional recognition for the listeners and writers of the POW messages relayed. That letter dead-ended for all that I can tell. But I believe now is the time to revive the effort.

I have a list of 100+ short wave listeners and hams who wrote to POW families like mine during WWII. I'll publish that list here in the coming days and weeks with the corresponding states they they lived in and wrote from.

I'm asking for help from all of you to reach out to your elected officials and ask them to elevate this issue and ultimately obtain congressional recognition for the role that hams and short-wave listeners played in relaying POW messages back home, letting loved ones know they were alive.

I have drafted a letter that you can use (in whole or part) to send to your officials. Email me for a copy and personalize it as you see fit. Then, please let me know you sent the letter and to whom. I'll keep track on this end as well.

Make sure you subcribe to this blog so you'll receive updates via email and won't have to keep checking back for new content. I sincerely appreciate your interest and thank you for your continued support.

Midway. Robert Leo's Story Shared.

Mr. Leo contacted me about an upcoming event I'm speaking at, the State Convention in Idaho for amateur radio. He shared with me his story from WWII in which he was trained to copy Japanese radio code. I found his story fascinating and asked permission to share it with you. I look forward to meeting Mr. Leo in Idaho in April.

MIDWAY

Written by Robert Leo, Bozeman MT, July 31st, 2010 revised August 22nd, 2010

W7LR, w7lr@aol.com; permission granted to Lisa Spahr for blog posting 1/12/11.

This is a story about the secret Japanese radio codes; the intercept and deciphering of those by our Navy in WW-II; and the use of the radio intelligence from that to make our victory and destruction of the Japanese naval fleet at the battle of Midway in June 1942 more possible. My role in this as a Navy radioman was to be ready and trained to copy that Japanese radio code from the Farallon Islands just off the coast of San Francisco, thus in the continental U.S. in CA and not at Midway nor on a battleship.

I didn’t know what the Japanese radio messages said, but copied their radio signals and wrote down the corresponding Japanese symbols, for our Navy’s translation and use.

My interest in writing this story is as an example of a contribution made towards helping win the war without having been on a battleship or airplane or beachhead, where many men and women showed so much bravery and sacrifice.

The word code has several meanings in this story. One use of this word is to refer to morse code, used by radio operators to send radio messages by dots and dashes. Another meaning is as in the Japanese secret radio codes. Secret codes are used to send information intended to be understood by only a certain audience. Ancient civilizations did this with cave or stone carvings. In WW-II our military utilized the Navajo soldiers as code talkers to send secret messages by voice. The Japanese sent some diplomatic messages by electronically scrambled voice, which were generally easy to decipher. The vast majority of Japanese wartime messages were sent by short wave radio using morse code of dots and dashes. The patterns of the dots and dashes corresponded to the Katakana characters of the Japanese language involved.

There are many different sets of characters used for Japanese writing. These may be somewhat like complex Chinese characters, or as Katakana characters. The complex characters are not suitable for radio transmission, and the 46 Katakana characters are used. These characters have equivalents of symbols, short English letter equivalents, or for radio transmission 46 different sets of dots and dashes. The radio intercept operator hears the dots or dashes in morse code, and then transcribes that by copying those Katakana symbols by hand onto paper. On the paper the symbols are written to begin in the upper right corner of the paper, then continue downward in that first column, and in a similar fashion in columns to the left. This was commonly known as copying the Japanese code. The operator does not know the meaning of these coded messages, but sends those off to be deciphered. That radio intelligence is then forwarded to the fleet commanders to improve their chances in a naval battle. A few of the Katakana symbols are illustrated below. In this example the English equivalents and morse code equivalents are also included. The word Honolulu is used, and written in the downward vertical column as HO NO RU RU. There is no L Katakana character. The example also shows that a message could be sent in plain language and be readable by those knowing that language. In wartime the messages would be sent with scrambled characters, then being able to be quickly decoded by the Japanese, or by our Navy with much difficulty.

(example did not copy; email Lisa or Robert for complete copy)

The secret aspects of these events of 68 years ago, have been declassified for many years, and are described in many books. The best book that I have found on these subjects was by Rear Admiral Edwin Layton, title: “And I Was There, Pearl Harbor and Midway, Breaking the Secrets”, published in 1985, and copyright for the Layton estate by Konecky and Konecky of Old Saybrook, CT. They have given me permission to use extracts from that book in this story.

Some extracts of Layton’s book follow.

The Naval battle of Midway June 4th, 1942 was a turning point towards winning WW-II in the Pacific against the Japanese.

The leadership and strategy of Admiral Nimitz with the U.S. aircraft carriers, Navy airplanes and brave pilots under his command made this possible.

Admiral Nimitz had the advantage of having radio intelligence information from our radio intercept of the Japanese code, and the decoding of that. His belief that the intercept information was accurate allowed him to reach Midway before the battle, and to prepare for that.

Layton, p405, paragraph one. Nimitz trusts Rochefort’s work and results with the Japanese code messages. Rochefort was brilliant with deciphering the Japanese code and may have been one of the most important persons in the Navy with radio intelligence information towards the success at Midway.

Paragraph two. Hypo (the code facility in Hawaii) and those in Washington had many serious personality conflicts, resulting in the lack of vital information being sent back to Hawaii. This could have had an effect at Pearl Harbor, and dispels the myth about knowing of the Pearl Harbor attack ahead of time.

p411. Rochefort figured out that the characters AF in Japanese messages were shorthand meaning Midway. He also had some information in messages about the Japanese battle plans for Midway.

The Hypo crew devised and sent some messages about a fictional failure of the water system on Midway. Following that with several messages back and forth by both the Japanese and Ameicans, Rochefort was able to decode more important information regarding the Japanese Midway battle plans and dates.

Layyton’s book in chapters 32 and 33 give the most interesting views about the battle of Midway, both before and during that event. The U.S. Navy decoders had an office sign that read “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps”. Rochefort and his decoders used 3 million IBM cards a month, as this was before computers. He analyzed 140 messages a day, and could recall information or clue about a code back among the scattered boxes of IBM cards from months earlier. This was all by the amazing ability of his mind instead of a computer hard disk. His code unit Hypo kept trying to pinpoint the estimated date of the attack on Midway. They believed it was between 2 and 4 June, which was correct, but in conflict with the mid June date believed by admirals in Washington. It was imperative for Nimitz and the U.S. fleet to arrive near Midway before the attack. It was only the belief by Nimitz in the accuracy of Rochefort’s radio intelligence that the day was saved. Of course there were many more other decisions than radio intelligence made by U.S. commanders that were also important.

Layton’s chapters on the actual battle are extremely interesting but too long to repeat here. Briefly the U.S. Navy made good decisions and plans and few errors, in contrast with the Japanese errors. It wasn’t easy – Japan had 145 warships, to our 35.
War is hell. The Japanese had lost four carriers, one cruiser, 2,500 men, and 322 aircraft.
We paid a price too, 347 lives, one carrier, a destroyer, and 147 aircraft. Of course there were other big losses at Pearl Harbor, Pacific fighting, and in Europe and Africa.

Midway is a 2.4 square mile atoll, NW of the Hawaiian Islands. There are three islands with a total of 1500 acres, within a 15,000 acre lagoon. Midway is about half way between North America and Asia. In the 1940s the U.S. viewed Midway as an important defense post, and defenses there were improved. The islands are home to about 3 million birds, and 250 marine life species nearby.

How did I happen to do this work, or be prepared for that? I started getting ready at age 12. My father brought home a radio magazine then that showed how to build a simple radio. It had a radio part called a coil, made from wire, and that was wound onto an oatmeal box. It included other simple parts, one small tube, and some batteries.

I would listen to it by the hour and hear radio morse code of dots and dashes sent from commercial or Navy stations near and far. Eventually I could tell a dot from a dash, and then that three dots and a dash was the letter V, which was often sent many times before the radio station sent their call sign. I had many notebooks in which I recorded those call signs. All of this whetted my appetite for radio and engineering and the start of a career in electrical engineering and radio communications. Along the way I discovered amateur radio as a hobby and service where we communicate by morse code or voice to other amateurs all over the world. By 1937 at age 16 I took the exam in SF for the radio amateur license, and received the call W6PBV. By then I had built a 3 tube better receiver, and had bought a used transmitter for $50 by working in a grocery store for $2 a day. I was soon contacting far off places like Manchuria.

In our lives we have many mentors. One in San Mateo, CA, where I lived during the above time, was Doc Redeker. He was our radio instructor at the Junior College, but also a Captain in the Naval Reserve. He encouraged and helped many of us young guys to join the local Naval Reserve Unit in San Mateo. There we attended meetings and classes and learned the Navy message procedures. Our other mentor was Dave Baker, W6WX, who was our instructor. I started in that Naval Reserve unit as a radioman third class, Rm3c, and later in the Navy reached Rm1c. I was in the Navy five years during WW-II from Feb. 1941 to January 1946, all in the continental United States primarily in radio intelligence work. Later after Midshipmans school and staying in the Naval Reserve, I became an officer as LtCmdr.

We jump ahead to Feb 14th 1941. The Navy called me to active duty to operate their radio station NPG in San Francisco. My Navy duty was at their headquarters in SF to operate their morse code circuit 8 hours a day. In one shift I might handle 180 messages, sometimes typing those on an old typewriter or sometimes sending with a radio key called a bug (which is sent by hand to make dots and dashes). I was prepared to immediately take over this very important assignment and task at age 19 due to my radio experience since age 12, the Naval Reserve training in San Mateo, and my ability as an amateur radio operator.
I always feel that some of us have been given special talents, and mine were great ability with morse code, and with typing (I was 26 lessons ahead of my highschool typing class).

The Navy radio station NPG was the headquarters to serve and control Navy communications in the entire Pacific and western North America, and we were in contact with Navy ships in the Pacific, and Navy shore stations in Hawaii NPM, Guam, Canal Zone, Phillipines, Seattle, San Diego, etc. For big shore radio stations the headquarters; transmitters (that send out the morse code), and the receiving stations are usually in separate locations, to not cause interference between locations.

The NPG transmitters were at Mare Island near Vallejo, north of SF. I had a telephone line to that, and if I needed more radio power to contact the Phillipines I could call up and ask for more – the radiomen at the transmitter site could then bring up a 50,000 watt transmitter to do the job. Amateur radio transmitters are limited to 1,500 watts.

NPG had many radio operators, each to contact certain ships or areas. Each operator had a separate circuit with a separate radio channel or frequency and a separate receiver and transmitter and antenna. In the operating room was a small conveyer belt to deliver messages to be dropped off to the operator of a certain circuit. The operator could also use the belt to add messages that he had copied, to be on their way for proper distribution or action. On transmit he would validate each such message by his shorthand notation and date with one hand while sending with the other hand. A few rare operators could copy or send a message and carry on a voice conversation with someone at the same time. I never achieved or had that ability, but could send or receive for hours or an entire shift without error. This was important as many messages were encoded with five letter code groups in English letters.

Sometime in 1941 I was transferred to the Farallon Islands, 30 miles off shore from SF, and about 20 miles distant from Pt. Reyes in Marin County. Describing those islands is a whole story in itself, for another time. The Spanish called those the pointed rocks. The Navy callsign there was NPI. At that time it was part of a direction finding system to help ships enter the Golden Gate and not pile up on the rocks of the Farallones. The system had 3 stations, one NPI on the Farallones, one NLG at Pt Reyes, and a third one north of Half Moon Bay, NMC at Montara. Japanese commercial ships were welcome at that time, and from NPI I would get a message from one of their ship radio operators: “Please Mr. NPI, can you give us a bearing? The three Navy or Coast Guard stations would take bearings to the ship, and we would determine their location and advise them of that. The direction finder system there used an amateur radio receiver the National HRO, and a special direction finder antenna. This was all mounted in the second story of a silo type building. We could measure bearings of distant ships or stations to about one degree.

The Pearl Harbor attack occurred on December 7th 1941. Everything changed after that. Soon I was sent to Bainbridge Island Washington, near Seattle, to learn the Japanese code. I was sent back after that to the Farallones to copy the Japanese code from their ships and shore stations, and to give estimates of their bearings. This was before, during, and after the battle of Midway.

THIS WAS MY MOST IMPORTANT WW-II CONTRIBUTION.
Sometime soon after the above effort from the Farallon Islands, the Navy had other assignments for me. The first one was to send me to Marin County CA, with another navy radioman, Bud Gearhart. We lived in Inverness in a rented house on main street between the post office and the local bar, but our Navy duty was nearby at the AT&T radio receiving station near Pt. Reyes CA. This was on the Pacific coast overlooking the ocean with a giant antenna farm of huge rhombic antennas. It was a quiet location with no radio noise so that we could receive the faintest radio signals from Japan or elsewhere. We used another amateur radio receiver, the Hammarlund SuperPro.

Our duty was to receive and record diplomatic radio traffic from Japan sent to Rome or South America or elsewhere. Radio reception was outstanding at such a location and facility, and you could hear a pin drop radiowise. The messages were scrambled but in a very old fashioned simple manner, and our boss Lt Ray Kempf had designed and built electronics to unscramble those messages. We sent that information on to the Navy for them to forward to our state department for diplomatic radio traffic.

The Navy kept me on the move. They next sent me to the Two Rock Ranch an Army radio facility near Petaluma CA. There were just two of us Navy personnel there, to teach radio intelligence work.

I next heard about the Navy V12 program. That was to send some sailors to a university to obtain an engineering degree, then become a Navy officer, and so be trained for further duty. One of the Navy yeoman (secretary to you) at the SF headquarters let me know of the V12 program and said he could help me to apply for that. There were two openings for radiomen from the entire 12th Naval District. I was selected for one of those and sent to CalTech in Pasadena, where I worked toward a BSEE degree which I received in 1945. I was then sent to Notre Dame for Midshipmens school and became an Ensign. Then returned to CA again to Long Beach Navy yard and taught radio until discharged in January 1946.

At the time of ending Naval active duty, I received a letter from Simon Ramo. He was forming the electronics division of Hughes Aircraft, and had three engineers at the time. The letter offered me a position there to be the fourth engineer. I turned it down for a variety of reasons. It was another turning point in my life.

List of books:

The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II, Stephen Budiansky, Simon and Schuster, 2000

And I Was There, Pearl Harbor and Midway, Breaking the Secrets, Rear Admiral Edwin T. Layton, 1985

Miracle at Midway, Gordon Prange, 1982, Penguin Books

The Farallon Islands, Peter White, 1995, Scottwall Associates

QST amateur radio, October 1943, page 31, The Japanese Morse Radiotelegraph Code, Charles Holden, ARRL, Newington, CT

Maritime Radio Historical Society, Radio Compass Station NLG, Pt Reyes, CA

www.omniglot.com, Japanese Katakana description

some of my Navy records

The Code Breakers, David Kahn, New American Library, 1973

The American Black Chamber, Herbert O. Yardley, Copyright 1931, Ballantine Books, NY. especially Japanese Secret Codes.

The Japanese Morse Telegraph Code, Donald Millikin, QST, p23, Sept. 1942

Also, RELAY, Dec 1942; and RADIO, May 1941 (neither located).

Robert Leo, Bozeman, MT July 31st, 2010 revised August 22nd, 2010

W7LR, w7lr@aol.com