In Memory of Lost Hero's
This page is dedicated to Amateur Radio operators & Other heroes
who have inspired greatness in their piers and now are SK,
With profound regret, Race Across America announces that Dr.Bob Breedlove, competitor #188, collided head-on with a pickup truck at approximately 12.15 p.m. EDT, on June 23, 28 miles west of Trinidad, Colorado. When paramedics arrived on the scene they pronounced him dead. The accident took place on a section of road that sloped very gently downhill for cyclists in the race. According to the driver of the pickup truck, Bob Breedlove appeared to collapse on his bicycle and swerved into the path of the oncoming vehicle.
Cyclists competing in the Race Across America are offered the option of completing the race, should they so desire.
Race Director Jim Pitre said: "Speaking both personally, and on behalf of the entire management and all those associated with the race,
--Dr.Breedlove was 53, he leaves behind his loving wife, 4 children (all in their 20's). Dr.Bob was a prolific RAAM rider with 5 RAAM's (3 solo, 2 tandem) behind him. Both of the tandem efforts resulted in a first place division finish. In 1989, he took 3rd place in solo RAAM, and then turned around and rode back, setting a double transcontinental record in the process! It is with a profound sense of loss of a truly great guy and one of my RAAM hero's that has passed this information on.
I extend my most sincere sympathy to the family of Dr.Bob Breedlove."
George Baker - W5YR - SK March 17, 2005
W5YR, George Baker, known to many of you as the "Yellow Rose" passed away
while undergoing heart surgery Thursday night. George had struggled with
medical problems resulting from a heart valve replacement that was performed
in June of 2004. George was 75-years young.
Many of you know George as a result of his unselfish efforts to help so many amateurs expand their technical knowledge. He was always happy to do a technical training session or make a technical presentation on antennas, baluns, transmission lines, and many other subjects of interest to the ham community. He made many such presentations to QRP Amateur Radio Clubs that were fortunate to number him among their members, and at many hamfests, including Hamcom in Dallas. George was a natural teacher and was more than technically qualified to present difficult topics in a meaningful and understandable manner.
* Oldest US ham, ARRL Member Bill Diaper, KJ6KQ, SK: William F. "Bill" Diaper, KJ6KQ, of Union City, California, died October 10. He was 104 and apparently the oldest radio amateur in the US--if not the world--as well as the oldest member of the ARRL. A native of Great Britain, Diaper had been living in a long-term care facility and occasionally was able to get on the air from a ham shack in the facility's basement. ARRL Pacific Division officials had invited Diaper to attend Pacificon--the Pacific Division convention--this past weekend. "The response was 'ill and unable to travel,'" said Pacific Division Vice Director Andy Oppel, N6AJO. "We had planned to offer a toast in his honor at the convention banquet." Instead, Oppel said, he asked those attending the ARRL Forum to remember and honor all of the seniors in Amateur Radio. An acquaintance, Thomas "Fergy" Ferguson, N6SSQ, said Diaper had been a radio amateur for a relatively short time, first becoming licensed when he was around 75 years old and upgrading to Advanced when he was in his early 90s. Robert Galbasin, W0MHN, of Lakewood, Colorado, apparently succeeds Diaper as the oldest ham in the US. He will turn 104 on December 27.
==>TWO RECENT Iraq WAR CASUALTIES WERE AMATEUR LICENSES
Two of the most recent casualties of the war in Iraq were Amateur Radio
licenses. According to an Associated Press report,
On July 22, 2003
Specialist Jon Fettig, KC0HSQ, of Dickinson, North Dakota, died in an ambush on a road some 50 miles north of Baghdad.
Another soldier from Fettig's Army National Guard unit was wounded in the attack. Both belonged to the 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company based in Bismarck. Fettig, 30, a member of an engineering unit in Dickinson, had volunteered to fill a vacancy in the Bismarck company to bring it up to full strength. A Guard member for some
11 years, Fettig died at the scene of the ambush.
On July 23,2003
which three of the astronauts were.
The seven STS-107 crew members during training: Seated in front are astronauts:
Rick D. Husband (left), mission commander; Kalpana
Chawla, KD5ESI/ SK, mission
specialist; William C. McCool, pilot.
Standing are (from the left) astronauts:
David M. Brown, KC5ZTC/
SK; Laurel B. Clark, KC5ZSU/ SK; Michael
P. Anderson --all mission specialists--and
Ilan
Ramon, a pay load specialist representing the Israeli Space Agency.
The Human Space Flight Web will be updated with the latest information as soon as it becomes available.
ARRL members wanting more detailed information go to the ARRL web site.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew - And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Rest In Peace
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This facility for homeless or
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