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| Member Profile /
Biography |
 Billy C. Hall, N6EDY
MARC Board Member
I was born in Oklahoma in
the early months of 1926. My parents moved to the Panhandle of Texas when I
was 2 months old, and I lived on a farm till I was 10 yrs old.
We moved into the town of Hereford where I first became
interested in "radio". I hung around the only
radio repair shop in town, built a radio from
"scratch" (wound the coil on a Quaker oat meal
box) for my Boy Scout merit badge, and "played" with
anything electronic. Hereford is where I first
acquired the taste for bicycles, motorbikes, motor
scooters, and dreamed of owning a motorcycle.
I "fibbed" about my age and joined the USMC
in 1941 and was possibly the youngest Marine to ever attend
"Boot Camp". Even then my goal was to
become a "radio man", and after recruit training I
attended Aviation Radio School and became an air crewman
operating radios and machine guns. I
did a short tour as an instructor in the Naval Aviation Radio
School teaching code (mostly to Canadian pilots). Then
came the "call for volunteers" for the invasion
of Guadalcanal to take place in the summer of 1942.
Being "gung ho" I volunteered, and flew in the Solomon
Islands as a radio / gunner in a "dive bomber", and
later as a radio, radar, bombardier gunner in
"torpedo bombers". While on
Guadalcanal I "acquired" an old three wheel
Motorcycle that had been "left" when the Japanese
departed. After a lot of work and "dumb
luck" we got the "thing" to "kinda
work" and had a ball playing with it.
I returned to the States in 1944 and served as an instructor in
a torpedo bomber training unit, first at Santa
Barbara and then south to Orange County where they had just
constructed the El Toro Marine Base. I helped form and
train a new squadron here and then returned to the
South Pacific in 1945. While training at El Toro,
I had married a girl from Santa Ana, California and established
a claim on Orange County as my future home. I had no desire to
return to the horrible weather conditions I had experienced in
the Panhandle of Texas.
This second overseas tour of duty was mostly flying
"Submarine Patrol" in the Palau
Islands, with occasional "bombing runs" on the
"bypassed" islands still occupied by the Japanese. The
stay there was greatly enhanced by me being able to trade a
bottle of whiskey for a "liberated" Japanese
motorcycle. It had originally been equipped with a side
car (which was no longer usable) but it sure made life in
the islands a lot more fun. Even when the roads were
all made of gravel -- gravel made out of live coral.
When the war was over I had enough "points' for
immediate discharge, and returned to Santa Ana. I
initially worked in an auto parts house and went to
Business College. I also worked as a Newspaper
Distributor, accountant, bartender, etc. while trying to find my
"niche" in life. Since there was no Marine
Reserve unit nearby I later joined a rifle company in the California
National Guard and became a "weekend
warrior". Since I had communications experience
and training, I was soon moved up the line and became the
Battalion Communications Sergeant. Eventually I
attended Officer's Candidate School (OCS), was given a commission, and became the
Communications Officer. My Infantry Division was
mobilized for the Korean War
in 1952 and I became an Officer in the US Army. I
attended the Infantry Officer Communication School, and returned
to my unit. We trained in Japan and did a tour of combat
duty in Korea where I advanced up the line to become the
Regimental Communications Officer. When they demobilized
the Guard, I requested and was granted an indefinite
extension of active duty.
Here is where the fun begins, I was selected to attend Army
Flight School and became an Army Aviator. I did a
tour with an Armored Division in Texas, and then was sent
to Alaska flying aircraft equipped with floats, skis, and tandem
gear. Returning to the states I attended the Infantry
Officer Advanced Course, and then served with a squadron of
light transport aircraft in Oklahoma. I finally got the
opportunity to receive rotorary wing (helicopter) training
and was then able to fly both kinds of aircraft.
I became the Commander of an Aviation Operating
Detachment -- whose mission was to establish airfields, air
routes, and control towers. Kind of like civilian Air
Traffic Control (ATC) for combat situations. I later
moved my unit to Hawaii and established an active Army Airfield
at an inactive Air Force Base. I later served as the
Army Aviation Officer on the General's staff for the Hawaii
Islands.
Most of my military career has involved electronics
and communications to some degree ...
Especially communicating by radio. It was while I was
in the Hawaiian Islands during 1962 that I finally got busy and
got a novice ham radio license, upgrading to a General License
the following year. I operated as WB6CQR
/ KH6. and played with 2 meter AM, as well as AM and
Side band on the HF Bands. I also worked with the Army
MARS Volunteer program, and eventually served as the
District Coordinator for the Islands.
During the "buildup" for the Viet Nam War,
I returned to the States and helped form a Helicopter Unit to be
deployed in "Nam". I did a tour of combat
duty in the Pleiku Central Mountains flying "Huey" helicopters.
I had finally been in long enough to meet the requirement,
so after returning from Viet Nam, fighting in my
"Third War", I retired as a Major in 1967.
I had started as a $21 a month Private, worked thru the
enlisted ranks, and then thru the commissioned ranks.
I settled in Orange County and went to college, graduating from
Rancho Santiago -- Kinda backwards
career wise but fun.
After I retired I served with the Civil Air Patrol for a while
doing search and rescue, and later served as the Commander of
the Orange County Senior Squadron . I
became the President of The Orange
County Amateur Radio Club, and then later served as
the President of the Council of Orange County Amateur Radio
Clubs. I served as the VHF coordinator, and
then later as the Section Emergency Coordinator for the Orange
Section of the ARRL
Amateur Emergency Radio Corps serving Orange, Riverside, San
Bernardino, and Kern Counties.
I then took to the "Road" and traveled as a "full
time" RV'er from 1979 till 1991. I utilized 2
meter FM while traveling and communicated with a lot of local
hams as I went from area to area. I have
always had a motorcycle or motor scooter just about all my life,
and even carried a small one with me while traveling.
We would park the RV and take off on the cycle.
It's the best way to "See the USA", and I had a ball
traveling around. While RV'ing, we stopped at
the various military bases and Air Force bases
across the US , and where possible we took side trips via
Air Force "Space Available" flights to Germany,
Holland, France, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand,
Australia, Hawaii, Panama Canal, and Alaska.
I settled back in Orange
County in 1992 . While traveling I kept seeing people
on a real neat motorcycle -- The Honda Gold
Wing. They had been just too large to be able to
take with me while I was still traveling but when I
settled down, I obtained a 1986 "Wing" and soon
graduated to a 1990 SE 1500. I started riding
with a chapter of GWRRA and
started helping out on some of the Charity events.
It was then that a small group of us determined that CB radio
was just not good enough to provide the desirable communications
necessary to adequately serve these charitable events. We
started talking about putting "Ham" radios on the
bikes. I had just about lost interest in
Ham Radio, as such; However, this idea revived my interest
and MARC was "born". I have served
as a member of the Board of Directors since then, and
I can truthfully say that MARC is one of the best
"clubs" that I have ever belonged to.
I ride a 1990 SE Gold Wing , equipped with a Kenwood
741 tri-bander, and feel that providing communications for
Charity and Public Service is an excellent way to "give
something back to our community" for the privilege of being
a "Ham".
Billy N6EDY
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