W3GH Apollo, Pennsylvania

August 3, 1931 - October 15, 2017

Read the tribute to Bob W3GH here!

Date on back of photos: 17 / 7 / 2002
W3GH second from left!

AO-10 QSO
Robert W. King W3WGH, W3GH, Famous DXer "The Green Hornet"

Well, about my military service: 1949. I enlisted in the USAF June 8, a couple days out of high school at 17. Three months basic training at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX. Home for two weeks then returned to Belleville, IL to Scott AFB for nine months of electronics school and communications. After graduating late June 1950 the Korean War broke out Jun 30, 1950. I had thirty days leave and returned to Camp Stoneman, Pittsburg, CA for prep to ship to Japan. 21 days on the Pacific Ocean in a prev mothballed WW2 troopship arrived in Yokohama, Japan. A few days in Yokohama, then shipped by train 600 miles to Southern JA, 90 miles from Korea. I was on a tactical AFB doing comm gear repair and alignment then was in charge of control tower MF and VHF receivers care and land line trouble shooting. Our transmitters were remote so another crew was in charge of their care. We had fighters, bombers and recon planes coming and going 24 hours a day supporting the war effort. Quite a few of these babies returned shot to hell. Hard to imagine how some of them could fly back to base from Korea. After two years, I was sent to a comm detachment in charge of their towers' VHF Rx and Tx gear and LF homing beacon Tx, plus other vhf/uhf gear to be installed. During this time, I became good friends with my CO and had an oppurtunity to fly with him to Korea in the Co Pilots seat of a C47. He even let me take over the control! We Spent some time in Tageu and Suwon, Korea then returned to JA. Got my income tax eliminated for that month as I was in a war zone hi. At this time I was promoted to Staff Sergeant. I had a one year extension applied to my original three year enlistment so called Truman tour. Harry Truman was prez at that time. The Korean War was taming somewhat during the later part of 1952 so my one year extension was dropped to six months. In November 1952 I traveled by train 700 miles north again to Tachakawa AFB north of Tokyo for processing to return to good old USA! Again, on a troop ship for nine days arrived In San Francisco in early December, 1952. On December 8, 1952 was finally discharged at Hamilton AFB, CA after serving three years six months and one day! Four of us spent a few days in CA then boarded a bus for the trip East. After stopping in Oklahoma City, OK I thought about applying for a civil service job at Tinker AFB but met a chic and forgot about it. A week there I boarded the bus with a buddy from NC and traveled to his home for a couple days then returned to Pittsburgh and finally home after a two week trip via bus from CA. Returned home just before Christmas 1952. I had thoughts about re-enlisting and making the AF a career but after being home a few weeks and getting employed in Alcoas' Reserch Lab I forgot about it. Forty years and one month later on February 28, 1992 I was retired and thats my story and I'm stickin' to it. God life is Great!

To see photos of Bob, go to http://hamgallery.com and type W3GH into the search engine located there!

QSL from the estate of W3KH
Photos from the estate of W3WGH / W3GH
Info about W3GH courtesy of K3LR, K3UA