Come Sunday, after lunch with our friend APROUDVETERAN, I will be leaving home and comfort for the devastated Gulf Coast. Every prayer you, my friends, can utter will be appreciated, as I do my best to provide communications from the area.

I have been a ham radio operator since I was 12, and besides flying, it is one of my favorite hobbies. (My call sign is W1FKY) I am now getting my radio equipment ready, and loading survival supplies, food, and water, into my van for the trip. This is not my first time. It started in 1961, with Hurricane Carla, while I was at Lackland AFB, TX. I rode out that storm at the base MARS station, passing messages, and ever after I was hooked. I did the same in 1962 at Keesler AFB, and in 1979, while living in New Orleans, went to Mississippi and Alabama to provide communications for Sheriff’s offices and emergency operations centers.

In 1989, when Hurricane Hugo hit the Carolinas, I took Nurse Jenny with me and we spent nearly a month camped out in a washed-out fire station, not only operating radios, but giving Emergency Medical Services in the small town of McClellanville, SC. That was one for the record books!

I expect to spend 2 weeks in the area, and will blog as much as possible, but I may not be able to get an internet connection until I get back out of the area. OK, guys, here we go!