Messages from home
Radio, not just operations support.
Deployments are tough for many reasons. Separation from family and friends is toughest. How does the ship’s radio figure in?
Receiving actual letters from home while underway is sporadic at best. Submarine life means even less mail runs. Port calls are exciting just for the mail bags.
Radio helps in the between with one way notes from home – family grams. Family grams are short messages your loved ones draft for sending over the Navy radio system. Stateside commands would take a note from a spouses, screen it for ‘flagged’ words, and send it off to every ship in the Navy.
Yes. Every ship.
Radio men screened the initial note for overly sexualized language, death reports, and other potentially emotional words. No use in having a guy go AWOL over such a message, or everyone reading about how ‘satisfied’ they will be once they get home.
Receiving these wasn’t limited to in port time. Family Grams were broadcast on a schedule. We’d wait anxiously in the galley if they were supposed to be coming in. It was a nice surprise though to be woken up and handed one.
Do you have fond memories of family grams? Was there one that really stands out? Did your spouse have a secret code for those provocative topics?
Rex Dixon Said,
July 5, 2010 @ 08:21
Being that I was a Radioman in the Navy, I was also my ship’s MARS operator. Which was basically like talking on a walkie talkie over the HF freq spectrum. It was fun stuff, and when you were deployed for awhile the MARS Op always had people hit them up for favors.
My favorite MARS call I patched through? The night Miss America was celebrating her win at home in Nashville, TN at some big ta-doo party and her daddy (our ships Captain at the time) was able to make the call home to Nashville where they were celebrating. In fact they put the call up live over the PA system to over 2k people at that party from what I heard.
Hey – all I can say was – I’m glad the freq held up that night and there was no AT&T drop call happening!
Rex Dixon recently posted..The 7 Websites for Free Patriotic Wallpaper
Todd Jordan Said,
July 5, 2010 @ 16:13
Being a Radioman must have been dang interesting. I was a nuke Machinists Mate. Our Radiomen were cool guys and fellow geeks.
Sharon/ MM-Mate Said,
July 5, 2010 @ 17:03
I think my favorite story about FamilyGrams for the subs is:
We were at a wives meeting and an officer was telling us how they work.
I think the limit was 50 words, maybe even less and you only got to send so many, depending on the length of time out.
So choose your words wisely. Leave out the words like… the, a, and, etc… Don’t be afraid to tell them how much you were missing them and so forth, but be careful how you put it.
We want you to tell your man how much you love him, but do it discretely.
He gave this example:
This woman was so descriptive about how much she missed her husband, that by the time he edited out what he couldn’t send, all was left was the husbands name, I love you,and her name!
Jim Collins Said,
July 10, 2010 @ 14:26
It’s been 20 years since I got out as a ET (SINS tech, USS America). Did some inertial nav work on new construction subs and carriers for a while at Newport News and now I’m a soft HS history teacher that doesn’t miss those hours!
This blog is a welcome addition to the web. Thank you!
Jim C.
Phil Edwards Said,
July 10, 2010 @ 20:21
In the mid 70′s, I was an RMC on a boomer. It was the year that Pope Paul VI died and, within 30 days of his election, Pope John Paul I died unexpectedly. Then Pope John Paul II was elected. This all happened within a span of two or so months. Anyway, I happened to see a family gram that said: “…….. not saying you’ve been gone long, but we’re on our third pope.”
Well, I thought it was funny.
mln84 Said,
July 10, 2010 @ 20:40
One of the guys in my division got a gram from his wife that said, “Watching the dog bury his bone in the yard; can’t wait for you to get home and bury yours.” Would not have thought that would have passed screening, but I saw it myself.
Todd Jordan Said,
July 10, 2010 @ 22:29
@Jim – thanks kindly for the welcome and the memories. Looking forward to stumping around here with you and on your blog as well. Dad was an ET. Communications type though.
@Phil – thanks for dropping by and commenting. Oh yeah, sub life.
That’s hilarious about the third pope comment. Wow. My wife will get a kick out of that. She always struggled with how to say things.
@Min84 – welcome and LOL around the bone story. Ha. Good on her.
Guys, thanks for the visit, comments, and stories. Be sure to send your friends if you would and your wives as well. They have stories no doubt.