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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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