FORT WAYNE, Indiana—May 24th, 2008 was Memorial Day for many Americans. It is traditionally a solemn occasion on which to honor those who sacrificed their lives in service to the United States as a member of the Armed Forces. Often, the day is marked by special services during worship or visits to cemeteries to place flowers and other markers on hallowed graves. However, one Fort Wayne, Indiana resident is the architect of a different way to mark the day set aside to honor those who served.
Emery McClendon is an unassuming man. He works as a FedEx courier in Fort Wayne and is a veteran, having served four years in the United States Air Force and two more years as a reservist with the Indiana Air National Guard. Yet, he has a remarkable story to tell.
McClendon is also a ham radio operator. He is the 2008 recipient of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) Special Achievement Award. This award was presented for his creation of and devotion to Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day (ARMAD) which provides public service radio communications to veterans and their families around the world.
Emery McClendon, or KB9IBW as his fellow hammers know him, became a ham radio operator shortly after leaving military service. He enjoyed the new hobby but soon was in search of a niche. He often "met" other veterans who were also hams and they discussed the difficulty military people have communicating from long distances at low cost.
McClendon speaks of his military service with some regret. "I came back [from a deployment] and I became a disabled veteran because of injuries that I had received in the regular Air Force, and I could no longer serve in the National Guard…I really regretted that because I wanted to do 20 years."
In 2002, fate intervened in the form of the traveling Vietnam wall. McClendon got to know organizers at the local Veterans Administration cemetery through his FedEx job and they asked if he or members of his ham radio club would be willing to help out.
He agreed on one condition. "I said, give us an opportunity to have a ham radio station set up somewhere near the actual wall so we can let people reminisce and talk to other veterans around the world, around the country—and be able to vent what this means to them."
Although the organizers were skeptical, they agreed and set the local ham radio operators up in the event media tent. The operators sent out their CQ (all call) from the event and received more of a response than they had anticipated.
"We had people crying on the radio. We had people from all over the country. We had people from South America, Europe—Germany—Australia, that were on the air."
A year later, talk show host Glen Beck, contacted a local Ft. Wayne radio station WOWO to see if anyone was planning to have a Rally for America to support the troops, given the military presence in the area. Plans were made and tickets printed, but getting the word out looked financially impossible. Beck made an announcement on the show one day saying he wished there were some way that to get the word out to the troops, to their families, and to people around the country and the world without spending thousands of dollars.
"I was at work and I pulled over in my FedEx truck and went to a gas station and I called WOWO on the phone," said McClendon. "I said, I'm a ham radio operator. I gave 'em my name, and all that, told them what we did. I said I had been at the Vietnam wall...let us try this at your rally, and see if it works."
The ham radio operators went to work contacting people over the air waves, making calls to TV and radio stations, and distributing flyers. The event was held at the WWII Museum in Auburn, Indiana and the ham operators were set up to operate out of the back of an authentic World War II jeep. Although only 5000 tickets were given out, over 10,000 people attended.
Because of the success of these events, McClendon was invited to participate in Glen Beck's final national Rally for America, which was held at Marshall University stadium in West Virginia on Memorial Day. "They gave us a spot on the 50 yard line in the stadium…it worked very well. And during that time we even had some Arabs—ham radio operators—come on, and thank America for what we were doing [in Iraq].
After returning home, Emery McClendon realized he had found the perfect way to continue to serve, he had found his ham niche. He got with other ham radio operators in Ft. Wayne and they decided to make this service a permanent one, choosing Memorial Day as the most appropriate time to show their support of and respect to fellow veterans and their families.
And the rest is now ham history.
For more information about ARMAD and Emery McClendon, call: KC9HAJ or go to http://www.armad.net/
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