Speaker

April 28, 2026: Dennis Vernacchia, N6KI: Calling home from the Vietnam War: Ham  Radio’s Role

PLEASE  NOTE: As was mentioned last month, our standard location for in-person meetings is available once again, the Kaiser Permanente Walnut Center in Pasadena. Our monthly meetings are also viewable on Zoom. (See top of this  page for details.)

Dennis Vernacchia’s story took a remarkable turn in 1967 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Trained as a radio-teletype operator, he was assigned to an elite unit of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division. In VIetnam he put his ham radio skills to work building and operating an Army MARS (Military Affiliate Radio Service) station at LZ Betty near Phan Thiet. From May 1968 to May 1969, he ran HF phone patches on the 15 and 20 meter bands, connecting soldiers with their families back home. That assignment likely kept him mostly out of harm’s way, and he’ll be the first to tell you it kept him sane. He still uses 28.506 MHz on 10 meters as a nod to the 506th regiment he served with.

We will have a slide and audio presentation full of incredible stories and actual voice phone patch recordings – smuggled antennas, midnight requisitioning, and the powerful human moments that happened when a soldier finally heard his family’s voice. It has been featured on the QSO Today podcast (Episode 168) and presented to clubs across the country. You won’t want to miss this.

Dennis Vernacchia, N6KI, has been a licensed ham since 1963, first hitting the air as WN2JDW in New Jersey. He holds a B.S.E.T. from Arizona State University and retired after a 40-year career in RF communications and electronics manufacturing R&D. He has lived in San Diego since 1974, where you can usually find him contesting on the HF bands most weekends or elmering new hams.