I haven't seen Joe since about 1960. Joe
had been a Navy pilot during World War
II serving in the Pacific theater. I was
a young aspiring ham when I bought a
home-built ssb-capable receiver from Joe
in about 1957. Joe ran a television
repair shop (remember those?) and was my
ham mentor. I remember him telling me
about the stiff requirement to become a
Navy pilot then but I don't recall the
aircraft he flew or the ships he served
on. He may never have told me, actually,
because lots of these guys didn't talk
much about the war. I used the receiver
to listen to ham QSOs on CW and learned
code that way; eventually getting my
commercial radiotelegraph license.
I'll never forget Joe. I never got a
chance to thank him because I moved away
from Spokane, WA in 1962 and never lived
there again.
Thank you Joe! 73s and RIP.