N0ENV_Stories

Cpl 5/71 - 11/71

As a young Corporal in the USMC, and a licensed “ham,” I had the good fortune of being assigned to Marine Corps MARS station N0MJI located at the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan from approximately May, 1971 to November, 1971. Previously, I had been serving in the First Marine Air Wing in DaNang, RVN when my unit, MACG-18 was withdrawn to Iwakuni.

I regret having taken no pictures while I was there, but I would like to share what I can recall to perhaps, help you fill in the record or locate other MARS operators who may have pictures.

The People:

The NCO in charge was Staff Sergeant Dave Littleton who was later joined by Staff Sergeant Art Nace. In the autumn of ’71 Master Sergeant Lee Bradley came on board to take charge.

My best recollection is that the station was manned by:

CPL Mack Fondren (Memphis, TN)

CPL Jon Smock (Glendale, CA)

CPL Dean Grinch (Columbus, OH)

LCPL James ____ (Northern CA)

Sgt. Bob ________ ( )

The station: We had two rooms for operations, plus a waiting room for customers and a maintenance room with a test bench and some very basic tools for minor maintenance and repairs. One operations room was dedicated to SSB phone patches for overseas telephone calls and the other room was set up for radio-teletype traffic.

The operations room for SSB phone patches was connected to the waiting room by a “service window” (a square portal approximately 2’ x 2’ with a sliding glass window, I think...) where an on-duty operator could “take a listing;” i.e., put the customer for a “MARS Call” on a typed list which would be stepped through, in-order at a later, scheduled time when the calls were put through. While there was some “walk-in” traffic, most customers simply called in from around the Air Station and left a number where they could be reached later when it was their turn for a call. Because of the vagaries of propagation, the exact time we could begin running calls could vary quite a bit depending upon atmospheric conditions and the strength of our “gateway” station in the U.S.

During the months I was there, the ionosphere conditions varied greatly. Some nights the gateway signals were so weak, we couldn’t run any overseas calls at all and had to call back our “listings” to cancel and apologize. On the better nights it was virtually perfect with the clear signals taking on an almost eerie quality, the stateside operators and callers sounding as if they were in the room with us.

Our Equipment: Our SSB station was based upon the Collins S-line “separates,” the 75S3B receiver with matching transmitter (32S3 ?) and at different times we used a Henry 3K and Henry 4K linear amplifier. As I recall, the antenna was a wide spaced YAGI at approximately 65 feet, the supporting tower consisting of two telephone poles spaced approximately 12 feet apart with a platform built at the top between the poles with a trap door opening for an operator to climb through upon scaling one of the poles. (I recall that it was always an anxious moment for me when I had to let go of the climbing pegs and place my hands up inside the opening to pull myself up. When I mentioned that it was “kinda scary” for me, Staff Sergeant Nace replied “aw hell, with a platform like that, it’s as good as bringing the ground up with you. “

Our teletype station was built on another S-Line station with an R-390 receiver as a back-up. We used a Model 28 teleprinter with paper tape punch and reader capabilities. One late-morning routine was to collect teletype traffic from one or more Far East stations, add our locally generated messages to the end and then forward them on to another station -- Okinawa I believe.

In the SSB room, there was a telephone switch panel which allowed us to dial out on one or more of 5 telephone lines. We could switch any of the five lines into the radio for relay across the Pacific.

Before the calls began we would “pass the listing” to the gateway station on the other end so that they had a similar list to ours, which included not only the name of the calling party in Japan, but also the stateside name and number which the caller wanted to contact. (More on this later...)

Before delving into mundane details about station life and some minor anecdotes , I would like to relate a serious story which I truly hope you will be able to investigate more thoroughly and include in your history or exhibits.

We typically finished up calls around 0100 local time on a good night. We had just run a large number of calls and I was, as usual, highly impressed by a civilian gateway station in the Los Angeles area, operated by a civilian MARS operator named Chuck. ( I’m pretty sure it was Chuck). He had the most powerful signal from the States and he was always the most flexible when requested to move his transmit frequency by a couple of kilohertz to avoid an interfering station. We were a “low priority” service and were only authorized to work on a few, rather rigidly fixed channels. Nevertheless, in the interest of accomplishing our mission we would often push our limits somewhat and move off our designated frequency slightly to a clearer channel. Usually, the other military gateways would decline to shift frequency, citing the regulations. Sometimes this meant no traffic could run that night.

Chuck, never one to sweat the small stuff, would always answer the request with “You bet! Where do you want me to transmit? Let’s move some traffic!“ When taking listings and working through the list, Chuck had it “down to a science!” He even enlisted the aid of some commercial telephone operators from his local central office, who volunteered to work at his station taking listings and calling folks around the U.S. Around N0MJI, Chuck was unanimously regarded as not only the most powerful and cooperative station, but consequently the most productive gateway partner we ever had. He just seemed to put a lot more of energy into the effort than most folks and was always upbeat.

It was late one night, band conditions were good and we had just finished a particularly productive session. I chatted with Chuck for a couple of minutes, complimenting him on the usual great job his station had done and grumbling about some petty aspect of USMC life. I asked Chuck what it was that motivated a civilian volunteer such as he to be there for us, often for hours, day after day. After all, I got paid for it. It was my job. But Chuck..?

He told me, “Dean, I had a couple of boys who were Marines and somehow they both managed to get themselves killed over there. I wanted to do something in their memory - something to help other Marines.” Chuck told me that he had not been a licensed ham operator before that time- that he took up radio specifically to join MARS after he lost his sons.

It’s been thirty years now and I haven’t forgotten the moment he told me that story so matter-of-factly and then got back to business. I recall that I had a lump in my throat back then, but now, after parenting two children myself, I find it hard to keep my eyes from misting heavily when I recall the energy that Chuck put into running those telephone calls.

I’m sorry I cannot recall his station call letters at this time. I hope from past log books or other contacts, in this historical endeavor, you’ll be able to identify and interview Chuck or other folks who knew his history. I mustered out of the Corps about one month later and returned home to Ohio, seldom looking back. I have no idea how long he continued to serve the MARS system, but I never forget those evenings working the radio with Chuck and I certainly hope that Chuck’s efforts were recognized by others or some organization. If not, I’d like to nominate him now as someone who really gave it all. I truly hope that he knew his efforts were worthwhile.

Operation

It took a fair amount of coordination and “mental multiplexing” to operate the SSB station because the operator had to throw the “push-to-talk” switch manually (via a foot pedal) during the on-going conversation when the calling parties said the word “OVER.” Our foot-pedal was two-sided. There was the push-to-talk switch for the transmitter and there was another switch that would connect the audio from the operator’s mic into one of our five telephones lines, if it was necessary to talk to a customer.

While this was going on, the same MARS operator would dial the next two, three or even four local customers on his list and ask them to “stand by for your MARS call.” By forming a queue of customers “on hold” we were able keep calls moving in rapid succession, thereby completing the highest possible number of calls. The operator(s) at the gateway station would go through a similar calling process on their end, queuing up, perhaps two parties (long distance charges applied from the Gateway to the called party in the states).

As soon as one call ended, the Gateway operator might interject “ okay- we have Private Jones’ party on the line, and Captain Johnson’s party (the next on the list after Jones) party is a DA.”

Upon hearing this, the Japan MARS operator would know that Captain Johnson’s party “Didn’t Answer” and would note that on his listing. He would then punch the telephone switch for, say Line 2 and state, “Private Jones, go ahead, your party is on the line.” Now, while Private Jones was on line 2, making his MARS call, the operator would “listen with one ear” in order to hit the footswitch when Jones or his party said “OVER” from time to time. I stress that the operator was only listening with one ear because it was literally and figuratively so. Simultaneously, the operator would be on local landline 3, quickly telling Captain Johnson that his party in the US was not answering and he would try it again later. The operator would then call Corporal Smith, the next person on his list, to line up another caller on the local line just vacated by Captain Johnson.

And so it went, typically for 4 or 5 hours. On a good night we could run in excess of 50 calls. Both sides typically had two to four parties queued up “on-hold,” awaiting their turn, with one call in progress over the radio link. As long as the Japan operator and the gateway operator stayed synchronized on their listings, the calls never got out of order.

I would say, most of us were pretty good at this and made few errors.

During the rare times when the operators did get out of synch, the results ranged from minor nuisance to major embarrassment for the callers and the MARS Op’s. Sometimes it was pretty funny.

Many calls were, not surprisingly, very similar. They usually consisted of a male voice from Japan conversing with a female in the states.

He: Hi Honey - How ya doin? ~over.

She: Oh, I’m just fine. How are things over there? ~over.

He: Oh, the usual stuff. It’s goin’ okay here but it’ll sure be nice to get home. ~over.

She: You sound a little different over this connection. It doesn’t quite sound like you . ~over

He: Well, it’s going a long way over a radio. That’s just how this equipment works. How’s the dog doin’ ? ~over

She: The dog is fine but he does seem to know that things are different around here with you gone. He misses you almost as much as I do. ~over.

He: Is the car runnin’ okay? Is it still actin’ up? ~over.

She: Oh, the car is running okay, I guess, but it still has that same problem as before. The guys at the dealer said they couldn’t find anything wrong. ~over.

He: Aw geeze, I never liked those guys. Oh well, hey... is your Mom doin’ okay? ~over.

She: Yes, she seems to be doing better than ever. She’s got some new medicine and that helps a lot. ~over.

HE: Well, that’s good. Hell, its about time, heh, heh... Say, - don’t worry about the car, honey. I’ll take care of it when I get home next month. over.

She: Next month!!?? Why that’s wonderful! Is everyone getting to come home early or just you? ~over.

He: Whaddaya mean, early? I’ve been here almost 12 months now.

She: Twelve months? Wha...why... um... Oh my. Randy?!

He: Uhm, uh Randy? ... what the.??.. Oh, m’God. I think we have a mix-up here. perator? ~over.

She: I‘m supposed to be talking to Staff Sergeant Randal Jenkins.

He: Oh no. I’m afraid you have the wrong number. Operator?? Operator! Aw- over!

She: Oh dear! Does this mean you won’t be coming home early? ~over.

MARS Op (to himself): Damn! Got out o’ order somehow. Think fast....musta hit the wrong button! Hmmm, ..no... this must be Gunny Reynolds on line 2. Sergeant Jenkins is still holding on Line 3. Oh, I get it... Reynolds party didn’t answer or was busy and the gateway went ahead with the next call to Jenkins’ party... Aww, jeeze.. Did he tell me that? .... Lessee if I can straighten this out. I hate it when this happens...

Usually the mix-ups were detected before anyone got too embarrassed or put out. I do recall that on at least one occasion an entire conversation between strangers went to its completion and it was only after the two parties had hung up that we realized our mistake! I don’t believe the callers ever knew.

We were a pretty upstanding group of guys and nobody was much of a drinker. That caused a minor dilemma when a favorite Master Gunnery Sergeant of ours came by to get on the list. He would come up to the service window in the waiting room and as he announced that he was there to get on the list, he would reach deeply inside the window and deposit a brown paper sack in the lap of the Marine taking the listings. The sack usually contained a fifth of vodka or some other spirits. We’d always smile and say, “Good to see you Top. Looks like you’re the first one to drop by today. “

Odd thing was, he was often close to being the first person in line anyway. The fact that he was so pleasant and so prompt made it easy to overlook this minor graft. I guess, for him, coming early with a small “gift” was a “belt and suspenders approach” to assure good service. Of course, we enlisted men weren’t supposed to have booze in our barracks or at our workplace so we would stick the bottle up in an attic through a small ceiling access port. Not being big drinkers, we never opened any and the bottles started to pile up in the ceiling over the ensuing months. I think they were still there when I left. Maybe they’re still there.

After experiencing some unintentional cross-connections both local and trans-Pacific, we came up with a mischievous game wherein we intentionally dialed up two three,--up to five different parties and patched them all together just to listen in on the commotion. For instance, we would dial a couple of semi-randomly selected numbers on the base on two different lines and as they were still ringing, we would connect them together on our console. It might go like this at 2300 hours local time. They both answer:

Line 1: Barracks 103, Lance Corporal Graham speaking.

Line 2: {an irritated voice, possibly just awakened} This is Gunnery Sergeant Callahan. What do you want, Graham?

Line 1: Well, I don’t want anything, Gunny. I just answered the phone here.

Line 2: Uh uh. Yeh, well, its awful late to be messin’ around with the phone. ( hangs up)

Well, okay - that first call wasn’t all that funny. The chuckles came as we dialed them both up again about 1 minute later:

Line 1: Barracks 103, Lance Corporal Graham speaking.

Line 2: Damnit Graham, what’s goin’ on over there? I thought I told you to quit calling. Quit screwin’ around with the phone! (hangs up)

Finally ( a last call) :

Line 1: { very nervous } Barracks 103, Lance Corporal Graham speaking.

Line 2 : Aw, What the.. I don’t believe this! Graham - What are you doing over there???

Line 1: Uh, honest Gunny. The phone is just ringing here, and I’ve got the duty and ...

Line 2 : Well, it rang here, too. How can you explain that?

Line 1: I don’t know.. I , I ca...can’t explain it. There must be, maybe some short circuit, someplace...

Line 2 : Well, uh.. Great. Just great . That’s all I need now. Okay. I’ll just take this thing off the hook for now. You better not be doin’ this, Graham. Uh, well, maybe somebody’ll fix it...(hangs up).

At this point we would figure we had pressed our luck and wouldn’t make a fourth call even though we had fun speculating about how it might go. Sure- we knew it was kinda juvenile but sometimes boredom gets the best of you.

I recall that, once - just for sport - we once had 5 different parties on two continents in about 4 time zones all talking to each other trying to figure out who the other parties were (the MARS network was not involved).

There was a one-man MARS station on the island of Iwo Jima, operated by a U.S. Coast Guard seaman. I think he used a Swan 350 or similar low power, commercial transceiver which he may have paid for himself. His “handle” escapes my memory but I remember that I enjoyed our brief conversations. He used to always say that he was going to send me a rock from Mount Suribachi, since he figured a Marine would treasure it. Actually, I would have. I guess I shipped out before he got the chance to mail it. If he should happen to contact you, please tell him that you know the Marine and he’s still waiting for his rock.

Finally, I’d like to say that the MARS guys were terrific and the friendships made there were quite good and lasting. I still keep up with Art Nace who, after a second hitch in the Corps, decided to become an electrical engineer as I had done. Years later, after great success, he told me that he decided to enter the engineering college on the theory that “if Grinch could do it, anybody could do it"!

You can’t make friends like that just anywhere. Back to top