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?