Memorial Day Activation

Saturday, a friend from the radio club asked me if Memorial Day bothered me. I immediately answered, no, and it doesn’t. But it does, but not how he’d think. I can’t speak for all vets, but I also can’t consider myself unique. It’s not the lost friend or even their families, it’s the overwhelming sense of shame, of self-loathing for living when your brothers defined the human limits of dedication without you. To most Marines, there’s nothing more despicable than a Marine who doesn’t carry his load. He jeopardizes the mission and everyone’s survivability by forcing others to do his job. And that’s how it feels to return home when others don’t. Though certainly unjustified, many vets might feel this shame of surviving, of somehow “skating” and getting away with it. It’s a hard thing to shake, unshakable for some.

Duke University reported in 2022, “24 veterans a day die on average from suicide; an additional 20 die by “self-injury mortality,” otherwise known as overdose.” So, the object of Memorial Day is growing, every day. I’d like to say I don’t get it, but I do. I think most of us have stood at the edge of that dark hole and considered the absolution at the bottom of it.

There’s no call to action here, no plea to give to Wounded Warriors. Bracelets, hope ribbons and window decals won’t help. I only ask that on this Memorial Day and those following, you take a quick moment to acknowledge that warriors are still dying from battles the rest of us have long forgotten. If you pray, ask God to show them the love and lives they destroy by quitting. Ask God to remind them of the grace he’s given them and grant them the courage to carry on.

On to the activation!

Set Up
I hit Hagerman early, about 0800, local. I anticipated deploying my Wolf River Coil and Sporty 40 but I couldn’t get the SWR down to what I think is reasonable. I blame it on the wet grass and soggy soil. I put a 40-10 wire up high in the Rudolph tree and SWR was fine. I call it the Rudolph tree because I broke off a bright red throw bag in the fork of a branch and it stayed there like the nose on Rudolph for about a year. Until W5DRT, David Turner, poked it down with an extended pole saw and gave it back to me.

Loadout

• Yaesu FT-891
• ExpertPower 12V 20Ah Lithium LiFePO4
• Begali Expedition
• Packtenna EFHW
• ABR Industries RG-8X w/ ferrite beads and orange sheathing

Activation
I listened to 40m for a few minutes, called QRL, spotted, and called CQ POTA. Two minutes later, N5JST was first to come back at 1354 UTC. I called on 40m for about another 15 minutes, making four more Qs before I QSY’d to 20m. All in all, 20 performed as expected, steady. I took several breaks and it still gave me 31 contacts. I hopped up to 15m, just because, and found six contacts there before I called the day with 42 contacts.

40m 5
20m 31
15m 6

While 42 isn’t my biggest day, there’s still some meat there.  You might notice I’m running the -891 and QRO lately.  I guess I’m becoming a coup counter.  Whatever, it sure beats working.

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