Calling home during the Vietnam War

Date: November 10, 2017Author: pdoggbiker

During the Vietnam conflict, there were no individual personal cellular or landline telephones available for soldiers or sailors to use for calling family members back home. To address this, United States MARS (Military Affiliate Radio Service) stations from all branches of the service, Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, were deployed throughout Vietnam. The MARS system offered soldiers and sailors a way to personally communicate with loved ones back home via the use of a “phone-patch” telephone connection over short-wave radio. MARS stations would allow each soldier a free 5-minute personal radio telephone call home to the United States.

The Navy-Marine Corps MARS program was established officially on 17 August 1962, and began operations on 1 January 1963. This follows the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Kennedy’s concern for viable and extended communications capabilities. Each military service had it own MARS program, networks, frequencies, operators and stations. A ham could apply for MARS membership and help service members call home.

One of the operators explains the process in making a patch. First the band would have to be open to patch quality conditions. Then a MARS operator would call the MARS station in Vietnam for a “Listing” of service members who wanted to make a call, to whom and what phone number. The only cost was a collect call charge the family had to accept from the ham’s location. The HAM operator in the states would then get a telephone company operator on their home phone line and have the collect call placed. Once the charge was accepted and the family member was on the line, the operator would instruct the family member that only one person could talk at a time and they had to say “over” when they were finished talking and not start talking until after the service member said “over.” Then the operator would call Vietnam for the service member to come on line. The call then proceeded.

When using this system, soldiers were required to follow a certain protocol. Since this was a non-secure band, we were not to mention anything about where we were or what we were doing in Vietnam. The time limit was also strictly enforced – the crew member would hold up his hands and count down from 10 before terminating the call.

The most difficult part of the conversation was in remembering to say “over” when completing your comment, this was required for the ham radio operators listening in to switch back and forth. I remember speaking with my mother once when she forgot to say “over” after her comment and there was a longer than usual silent pause. I hollered into the handset several times for her to say “over” but she couldn’t hear me until the circuit was switched. Finally, after what seemed to be almost a full minute of silence, I heard her gulp and quickly respond, “oh, over,” which then allowed the switch to take place so I could talk again. In just about all cases, MARS was the only way soldiers could call home from Vietnam. In other words, “MARS was the soldiers’ Telephone Company.”

When wanting to place a call, there was a sign-up list for your name, the name of the party you’re trying to reach and that phone number. For us grunts, sometime. we weren’t able to use the system because of an exceptionally long waiting list or the MARS group was unable to get a decent connection. Both required time, a luxury that grunts on stand down did not have. I should mention that in any location where field hospitals were present, a patient wanting to place a call always got to skip to the front of the line.

The process was a science! Operators on both ends had to know:

when the peak of the sunspot cycle would ionize the ‘E’ layer of the ionosphere
when to point an antenna at exactly the right spot a hundred miles out in space
how to reflect a high frequency radio signal off the ionized layer, over the curve of the earth, and into a similar station in the United States
how to hook it all up to a telephone line for the call to take place.

Sometimes, when the signals became too weak to be ‘phone patch quality’, they sent and received written messages for the troops in the form of MARSGRAMS by ‘CW’, or Morse Code, that could blast through the interference.

Photo courtesy of Gardina-mars7-454

A network of more than 80 Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine MARS stations in Vietnam transmitted more than 2.5 million phone patches and handled more than 1 million MARSgram messages to several hundred stateside MARS stations, some in the homes of volunteer ham radio operators and the others on military bases.

Station	Location(s)	Sponsoring Units	Years
AB8AB	Qui Nhon	HHD, QNH Sub-Area Command	66-72
AB8AC	Cam Rahn Bay	C Co 41st signal	67-68
AB8AD	Di An	121st Signal Battalion, 1st Infantry Division	66-70
AB8AD	Kontum	Task Force #2, ADV	70-72
AB8AE	An Khe	509th Signal Battalion	66-67
	An Khe	41st Signal Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Division	67-70
	DaNang	142nd Trans	71-73
AB8AF	Soc Trang	52nd Signal Battalion	67-70
AB8AF	Long Binh	USARV Headquarters	70-73
AB8AG	Nha Trang	54th Signal Battalion	66-73
AB8AH	Phuoc Vinh	1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division	66-69
	Bien Hoa	HQ, 11^th Armored Cavalry Regiment	69-70
	New Port (Saigon)	USS LTC Page	70-72
AB8AI	Bac Lieu	MACV Advisory Team 51	66-69
AB8AI	Ca Mau	MACV Advisory Team 51	69-72
AB8AJ	Cu Chi	125th Signal Battalion, 25th Infantry Division	66-71
AB8AK	Phan Rang	3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division	67-68
	Camp Eagle (Hue)	HQ, 1st Brigade. 101st Airborne Div.	68-71
	Song Be	MACV Advisory Team 28	71-73
AB8AL	Lai Khe/Thu Dau Mot	MACV Advisory Team 70	66-71
AB8AM	Bien Hoa	173^rd Airborne Brigade	66-68
AB8AM	Due Pho (LZ English)	173rd Airborne Brigade	68-71
AB8AN	Can Tho	13th Aviation Battalion	66-72
AB8AO	Xuan Loc	MACV Advisory Team 95	66-71
AB8AO	Cao Lanh	MACV Advisory Team 84	71-72
AB8AP	Hue City	Special Forces Advisory Group	66-70
AB8AP	Camp Eagle	MACV Advisory Team 3	71 -72
AB8AQ	Phu Bai	8th Radio Research Field Station	66-73
AB8AR	Cam Ranh Bay	1st Trans Battalion, USNS Corpus Christi	66-68
AB8AR	Off of Vung Tau	1st Trans Battalion, USNS Corpus Christi	68-72
AB8AS	Pleiku	4th Infantry Division	66-70
AB8AT		Co A 53d Signal Bn, II Field Force Vietnam	66-68
AB8AT	Long Binh (north) The Plantation	Units of the 25th Infantry Division	68-70
AB8AU	Camp Bear Cat / Dong Tam	9th Signal Battalion, 9th Infantry Division	66-69
AB8AU	Bien Hoa	HQ, II Field Force, USARV	69-71
AB8AU/AZ	MOBILE Unit Traveled throughout AOR	9th Signal Battalion, 9th Infantry Division	68-69
AB8AV	Vung Tau	369th Signal Battalion 36th Evacuation Hospital	68-71
AB8AW	Nha Trang	HQ, 5th Special Forces Group	66-71
AB8AX	Hoi An (Hawk Hill)	196th Light Infantry Brigade	68-70
AB8AY	Phan Thiet (LZ Betty)	MACV Advisory Team 37	67-68
	Phan Thiet (LZ Betty)	3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division	69-70
	Tan Son Nhut (Saigon)	224th Aviation Battalion	70-73
AB8AZ	Dong Tam	9th Signal Battalion, 9th Infantry Division	67-69
AB8AZ	Phu Bai	501st Signal Battalion, 101st Airborne Division	69-71
AB8AAA	Long Binh	1st Logistical Command	68-70
AB8AAA	Saigon	Headquarters, MACV	70-72
AB8AAB	Bien Hoa	3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division	68-70
AB8AAB	Bao Loc	MAC V Advisory Group	70-71
AB8AAC	Bear Cat Mountain	4th Infantry Division	68-70
AB8AAC	Dau Tieng / Phuoc Vinh	587th Signal Company for 3rd Brigade 25th Infantry 1968 13th Signal Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Division	70-71
AB8AAD	Chu Lai	523rd Signal Battalion & 27th Evacuation Hosp & Americal Division	67-72
AB8AAE	Camp Eagle (Hue)	501st Signal Company, 101st Airborne Division	68-71
AB8AAF	Tuy Hoa	261^st Signal Company	68-71
AB8AAG	Camp Evans (north of Hue)	1st Air Cavalry Division	67-68
AB8AAH	Duc Pho	11th Infantry Brigade	67-71
AB8AAI	Dong Ha (near DMZ)	Units of 101st Airborne Division & 5th Mech	69-71
AB8AAJ	Pleiku	43rd Signal Battalion & 71st Evacuation Hospital	68-71
AB8AAK	Camp Red Devil (Quang Tri)	1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)	69-71
AB8AAL	Phu Loi	520th Transportation Battalion	69-72
AB8AAM	Pleiku (Camp Frank Jones)	146th Signal Company	70-73
AB8AAN	Dalat	5th Special Forces Advisory Team	69-72
AB8AAO	Dong Ba Thin	Co. D, 43rd Signal Battalion	69-72
AB8AAP	Vinh Long	7th of the 1st Air Cavalry & 164th Aviation Group	68-71
AB8AAQ	Camp Evans	3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division	69-72
AB8AAR	Firebase Mace	199th Light Infantry Brigade	69-70
AB8AAS	Phu Bai	XXIV Corps HQ & 101st Airborne Division	69-71
AB8AAT	Da Nang	37th Signal Bn Compound 69-70 China Beach 71-73	68-73
AB8AAU	Phu Lam (near Saigon)	Stratcom HQ, USARV/MACV	69-73
AB8AAV	Song Be (Phan Rang)	MACV Advisory Team	69-71
AB8AAW	Cat Lai	MACV Advisory Team	68-71
AB8USA	Long Binh	Headquarters, USARV	65-72
AB8USA	Tan Son Nhut (Saigon)	69th Signal Battalion, USARV	72-73
AB8SG	Saigon	U.S. Embassy	73-75

The last MARS facility to go off the air was probably AB8SG located in the American Embassy in Saigon during the evacuation of the Embassy in 1975. Just about every Army unit in the field had a MARS station, including Airborne Brigades, Special Forces Advisory Groups, Infantry Divisions, Transportation Battalions, Medical Units, Aviation Battalions, and of course most Signal Corps units.

The traditional land or sea band MARS Radio Phone Patch is largely a thing of the past because land and sea based MARS stations have been dismantled in favor of Satellite Phones. However, modern military aircraft are still equipped with HF radios, and many military aircrews still use MARS Phone Patches as a backup or substitute to Satellite Communications. The USAF MARS Phone Patch Net provides 24/7 HF Radio Phone service to all branches of U.S. military aircraft worldwide.

Today, satellite phones and using Skype with a laptop makes it much easier for soldiers around the world to keep in touch with families.

I think I used the MARS system twice during my tour in Vietnam. Anybody else?

I did receive an email (11/11/21) from a former officer of one of the MARS stations with some history and a funny story which I’m including here:

I say MY station because I was the Officer-In-Charge who first established MARS station AB8AAO in Dong Ba Thin in April of 1969. Back then, the AB8AAO call sign was assigned to D Co, 43rd Signal Battalion in Dong Ba Thin, on the east side of highway QL1 across the road from the heliport, north of the town right near the westward bend in the primarily north-south QL1. We functioned as an independent signal company and actually reported to the 73rd Signal Battalion headquartered about 12-miles away in Cam Ranh bay.

Back then, our MARS station consisted of two AN/FRC-93 systems (essentially a civilian commercially available Collins KWM-2A high frequency transceiver, the matching 30L-1 kilowatt amplifier, a 516-2A power supply, and the 312-B5 station control module containing phone patch circuitry and an outboard variable frequency oscillator for the transceiver) all of which I obtained/signed for from 1st Signal Brigade headquarters in Long Binh and flew back to our company headquarters in Dong Ba Thin on the same helicopter with the equipment. The army also issued us a HUGE log-periodic antenna that tuned from 7 to 30 MHz that arrived a few days later compliments of an Air Force C-130 flight to Cam Ranh Bay. We mounted it on an 80-foot telephone pole that we “acquired” from the local engineer unit just down the road and they installed the pole for us with their truck mounted 20-ton crane in exchange for a certain number of “priority” phone patches. We set up the station in an unused Quonset hut across the street from our company headquarters.

Funny story …

To get a full kilowatt out of each amplifier, we wired each one to a 240v main while the rest of the station and the lighting ran off of usual 120v “house current.” Because of our proximity to the heliport, we were required to install a red light on top of the pole. During our first week on the air, one of the operator/electricians was doing some work cleaning up the wiring and inadvertently tied the light on the pole to the 240v circuit which vaporized the bulb. Since we needed to rotate the antenna about 30-degrees from where it had first been installed, I asked my E-7 platoon sergeant to organize a detail to replace the bulb and loosen the antenna fittings so we could rotate the antenna. The next morning when I went out to check on the station, I found him with the members of the platoon having a meeting and they had thrown all the members names into a hat to see which two members of the platoon would get the privilege of climbing this unusually tall pole with a pole-lineman’s belt and climbing spikes. When I arrived, my sergeant said, “Sir, even I put my name in the hat and you should too. This is a big honor!” I complained that officers do not climb telephone poles but considering the odds (there were 17 of us in the room), I figured what the heck, I’ll be a sport for the troops. I lost! Ultimately, my Hawaiian E-5 specialist and I climbed the pole.

I completed my tour of duty and left Viet Nam at the end of June 1969 so I can’t help you with the history of AB8AAO between then and the MACV control you have listed beginning in 1971.

I would appreciate your making the correction to your listing showing AB8AAO in operation beginning in 1969 under the control of Co D, 43rd Sig Bn, not 1971 as you have listed.

Thank you,

Steven Belasco

back then, a 1st Lieutenant and now a retired Lieutenant Colonel.

Sources:
http://mymilitaryheritage.com
http://ki6cm.bappy.com/catalog_1.html
https://www.geneseo.edu/~scipione/Excerpts/Mars
http://www.vietnamwar50th.com/military_amateur_radio_system

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59 thoughts on “Calling home during the Vietnam War”

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Pete Leonard says:

November 10, 2017 at 3:56 pm

Used MARS several times during my three tours and was really thankful for them. During my second tour we had one helicopter with a HF radio and was able to use it once (before it was removed) to call home from the helicopter though I think MARS was still patched in somewhere. Seemed like magic at the time………….

LikeLiked by 1 person
oneoldokie1 says:

November 10, 2017 at 4:05 pm

Hmm I was in the Nam from early May 1970 until, early May 71. Assigned to the 48th Trans based in Long Bihn / Saigon. Then appx 6 mo. later we joined forces with another Truck Co. & then we took all our equipment to Port Of Saigon. A couple days later we all loaded on C-147z at TonSonNhut and flew north to a landing zone near, Quang Tri. Been so long, I’ve forgotten the, actual day I arrived and left there. I never called, anywhere. However, on my R&R from there to HAWAII. I did try to call, home from HAWAII. Different hours/times meant, I could not talk with the people, I tried to call. I see in 1 picture, a dog with some men. I’m wondering where the Dog, came from. The only animals I ever saw, in Viet Nam was Water Buffalo.

On Fri, Nov 10, 2017 at 3:47 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:

> pdoggbiker posted: “During the Vietnam conflict, there were no individual > personal cellular or landline telephones available for soldiers or sailors > to use for calling family members back home. To address this, United States > MARS (Military Affiliate Radio Service) stations f” >

LikeLiked by 1 person
1. Chuck says:
  
  November 11, 2017 at 4:39 pm
  
  Hi Okie.
  I had an uncle that was a HAM operator and he often was the other side of the MARS calls for soldiers calling home. At the time he was in Harrisburg Pa. In addition, when I ten, our family were stationed at Kadena AFB, Okinawa and we used MARS to call family back in the states. You might say I grew up with MARS and HAM. Okie, I’m glad you are contributing to John’s posts.
  
  John – you did it again with an outstanding post. Thank you, friend.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
oneoldokie1 says:

November 10, 2017 at 4:30 pm

If anyone reads, my comments ? I’d appreciate a, reply. Good / Bad. OK

LikeLiked by 1 person
Robert Oswald says:

November 10, 2017 at 5:05 pm

I took Basic 11/65 at Ft Gordon Ga. Whenever we walked to the ranges we’d pass a large array of tall antennas that had a MARS logo on a sign.

LikeLiked by 1 person
Pete Prokopovitz says:

November 10, 2017 at 5:51 pm

Like I, worked at AB8AQ in 69. Lots of good times on the air, met a lot of great ops.

LikeLiked by 1 person
Michael Engi says:

November 10, 2017 at 7:15 pm

I got one call through around Christmas, finally got through after incoming mortar attack cut me off the first time. When I came home I became a Ham Radio operator and did calls myself for others. You read about it if you go to QRZ.com and look up my radio call sign K2VET. Thanks to those radio guys in 1969, you don’t know how much that meant when your thinking you might not come home. 73’s Michael

LikeLiked by 1 person
Charles H Hallett Jr says:

November 10, 2017 at 7:32 pm

I remember calling my girlfriend who became my wife in mid 68

The funniest thing was at the end I said I love you over, she said your over loving me >>??? No I love you over, say you love me then say over

LikeLiked by 1 person
Artie Cotner (Army Retired Viet Nam Vet) says:

November 11, 2017 at 6:22 pm

All comments are sensible.

LikeLiked by 1 person
Artie Cotner (Army Retired Viet Nam Vet) says:

November 11, 2017 at 6:24 pm

Anytime 2 people are communicating VIA telephone. Some things will come out to be different than what the messenger / sender means. LoL

LikeLiked by 1 person
veteranesquire says:

November 12, 2017 at 9:50 am

Hello! Thanks for sharing this story. As an Iraq Vet, it’s amazing to hear how different things are for my generation. In Iraq, I would sometimes complain about not having cellular service from my combat outpost in Tarmiyah, or an internet connection that could link the video calls quickly enough. I think my unit would have gone bananas had we been required to deal with MARS. Welcome home, and thanks for sharing your stories.

LikeLiked by 1 person
Russell Harrington says:

November 12, 2017 at 7:32 pm

This article surprised me cause Worked a MARS station at Cam RHAN Bay in
1971 with a E 5 I met at the O club
(snuck in ) on the hill. Got a letter of
Reconition from the Base Commander
For the clear communications He had when he made his call home. But there was on thing that got me. In September of 70 I arrived in Nam Got assigned to 65 Engineer Battalion
25th INF DIV 3rd BRDG at DAU TIENG
I was there till March or April of 71
And never knew about the Mars at DAU
TIENG

LikeLiked by 1 person
1. oneoldokie1 says:
  
  November 12, 2017 at 7:42 pm
  
  It’s late, for me. I’m signing OFF
  
  On Sun, Nov 12, 2017 at 7:32 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
  
  > Russell Harrington commented: “This article surprised me cause Worked a > MARS station at Cam RHAN Bay in 1971 with a E 5 I met at the O club (snuck > in ) on the hill. Got a letter of Reconition from the Base Commander For > the clear communications He had when he made his call home. B” >
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
Ken Gunton says:

November 12, 2017 at 11:09 pm

I operated AB8AQ at Phu Bai a few times when they needed help in 1968. Ken W8ASA

LikeLiked by 1 person
1. oneoldokie1 says:
  
  November 13, 2017 at 7:29 am
  
  Never too, late. Sometimes, too early might not be, so good either.
  
  On Sun, Nov 12, 2017 at 11:09 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
  
  > Ken Gunton commented: “I operated AB8AQ at Phu Bai a few times when they > needed help in 1968. Ken W8ASA” >
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
2. DAVID JOHNSON says:
  
  June 6, 2018 at 5:36 pm
  
  Hey Ken. I operated AB2USA on Okinawa 68-69 handle was Dave. I ran net control for all AB8 and stations running phone patch traffic and MARS grams on RTTY. There was an operator at AB8AQ his handle was Chip. Talk to him every night. My brother was stationed at Camp Eagle use to talk with him every Wednesday night through AB8AQ. “Phu Bias is alright”
  
  DJ
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
Dr. Paul Scipione says:

July 23, 2018 at 9:20 pm

John, bravo on your Nam books and website. I am astounded I hadn’t read your stuff before. I got your MARS Nam piece from my MARS Nam buddy Dennis V. (N6KI) who was at AB8AY. I was a PT volunteer op at AB8AQ at Phu Bai during 1969-70 when I ran the 101st Airborne’s Personnel Trans Branch at Camp Campbell (101 Admin) at Phu Bai, just down HW1 from the 8th Radio Research (Spook-Spooky). I had briefly been a ham before college. Dennis got me back on the air in 1989 with the help of his Newark buddy Don (KO2K) and I went from Novice to Extra in 10 months. My FCC callsign has been AA2AV for two decades. I also hold the N0AI club call (November Zero American Italian). Author of two Nam books — the novel Shades of Gray (my life in the Khaki Mafia) 1969 and MARS: Calling Back to ‘The World’ from Vietnam 1994. I wrote the latter book while I was Natl Public Relations Officer of Army MARS during Desert Shield/Storm. My 10th book, A Nation of Numbers, was published by Quirk’s MR Media in 2015. I am now at work on my 11th book, the novel “Three Wise Men,” the sequel to SOG. Three of my short Nam stories have appeared in Vietnam Mag & they just got two more. just finished writing a feature article (Esquire) about the infamous Draft Lottery of Dec 1969, which my buddies and i viewed on a 12 hr delay on AFVN-TV at sunny Phu Bai. I was wounded in early Mar 1970 and spent nearly 2 months at the 249th Army Hosp at Camp Drake, Japan, and then returned to Conus to get my honorable discharge and get back to grad school. You can read my Bio on my author’s website at http://www.nationofnumbers.com. Some of my Nam pix (both during 1969 & during my return trip in 1994 as Chairman of the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission can be found at: http://www.geneseo.edu/~scipione. Sorry for the long post. Once we connect via email we can share our phone# and go from there. For all your other blog readers: my 1994 MARS Nam book will be out soon as an ebook, published by the Vietnam War Center at Texas Tech Univ. No way N6KI and I are going thru the hassle of getting the book out a second time! BTW, it was a great honor to have Sen. Barry Goldwater (K7UGA) write the Forword to my book. Best 73s, Paul AA2AV

LikeLiked by 1 person
1. Michael Sternfeld says:
  
  July 6, 2019 at 5:00 pm
  
  Paul,
  I served in Vietnam in 68-69. For 3 months I was assigned to HQ 125 Signal for duty at AB8AJ. I was promoted to SGT (E5) during that time. The NCOIC, SSG Ray Butler a Korean War vet by the way is still very much alive and kicking. I have a composite photo the 125 SIG BN photog made for us showing all of the personnel at the time. I can make a copy of it if you want. Ray lost his and I recently did that for him. By the way when I returned home I wound up taking ROTC, became a USAR officer and served in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I retired as an LTC in 2006. In 68-69 AB8AJ was the net control station.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
2. Michael Sternfeld says:
  
  May 17, 2020 at 3:53 pm
  
  Paul;
  Here is my email address:
  michael.sternfeld@gmail.com
  
  LikeLike
Theresa Wilson says:

July 27, 2018 at 8:59 am

My parents ran patches out of our house in Hawaii from 1968-70. I think their call letters were KH6GQK. Dad was stationed at Hickam at the time. I’m going to ask my mother for more details!

LikeLiked by 1 person
1. Paul Scipione says:
  
  July 30, 2018 at 1:52 am
  
  Dear Theresa,
  Thanks for your kind words! I guess I really tapped into a rich vain. I want to emphasize that the Vietnam War Center at Texas Tech will be bringing out an updated edition of my 1994 MARS Nam book as an e-book sometime during the next year or so. A lot of the ops from both sides of the Pacific that were listed in the database at the end of my book are probably gone now, including Sen. Goldwater. That is one reason why I decided to research and write the book back in 1994. The book includes a wealth of details, including the Collins transceivers and linears we used, plus the wide range of antennas, phone patch units, small the Nam stations as they were arranged into nets of four to six stations each, even the frequencies that we used. Plus hundreds of fascinating stories of the ops as well as vets and their relatives back home. Both funny and sad stories. Priceless. Yes, now those days are long gone. The guys deployed overseas have lots of much better alternatives for calling home, but we used what we had at the time. Nearly 3 million phone patches were run between 1965-1975. During 1990-1993, while I was Natl Public Relations Officer for Army MARS, I organized a team of nearly two dozen NJ hams who ran thousands of phone patches from the old MARS station at Ft. Monmouth during Ops Desert Shield & Storm. We were using the same Collins tube rigs that had intercepted our Nam calls 2+ decades before! We had an outstanding 1,000+ rhombic antenna pointed at the Middle East that gave us a top signal.
  Best,
  Paul
  AA2AV / N0AI
  ex AB8AQ
  ex AAA9PR
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  1. Michael Sternfeld says:
    
    May 15, 2020 at 9:11 pm
    
    Paul, I just checked my year book from CGSC 1986 as your name jogged my memory (again!) Are you a relative of a class mate of mine John A. Scipione? By the way after leaving Vietnam I never was involved in a working MARS station ever again. Other then keeping in touch with SSG Ray Butler, USA Retired who was the AB8AJ NCOIC I have had no direct contact with any one in the MARS organization as it may exist. We had no MARS facility in Kuwait in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm and none to my knowledge in Baghdad while I was there in 2005-2006 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
    
    LikeLike
    1. Paul Scipione says:
      
      May 17, 2020 at 1:04 am
      
      Michael, no my book only covers MARS operations during Vietnam, although there is a short chapter that discusses MARS ops during Desert Shield/Storm. As AAA9PR, Natl Public Relations Officer for Army MARS during 1990-1993, I organized a group of about 20-30 fellow hams from central NJ and we manned the MARS station at Fort Monmouth for 2+ years. No, I don’t know of any relatives named John scipione, although I had an Uncle John who died during the early 1980s. My family is originally from South Philly, although I have spent more than half my life in WNY. But during the gulf war I lived in Metuchen NJ and was longtime Pres of ETSNJ, the largest ham radio club in Jersey. I was also the longest serving Commissioner on the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission. I just wrote a feature article about NJAOC that will be published in NJ Monthly Mag. Send me our email address and I will zap you a copy. Thank you for your service!
      Paul, AA2AV civilian callsign
      previous callsigns: KB2IPY, N2KCH, KE2SW
      
      LikeLike
      1. Michael Sternfeld says:
        
        October 26, 2020 at 10:50 pm
        
        Paul,
        We have corresponded before. I have a question about the NJ Agent Orange Commission.
        
        LikeLike
      2. Paul Scipione says:
        
        October 27, 2020 at 3:26 pm
        
        Jim, what is your question about the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission? I was a Commissioner for 20 years (4 governors) and was Chairman 2000-2004. Paul
        
        LikeLike
  2. Michael Sternfeld says:
    
    November 3, 2020 at 3:40 pm
    
    I would like to get some of the NJ Agent Orange PDRs into the hands of my 6 fellow Vietnam vet buddies. Does Bernard McAlwee (spelling?) have access to the remaining stock of copies in the National Guard Armory?
    
    LikeLike
    1. Dr. Paul Scipione says:
      
      November 3, 2020 at 4:12 pm
      
      As far as I know he has access. He may be storying some at his office. Bernie is still a CSO. I doubt any remaining copies are still at the Armory in Woodbridge. I think I still have the key to the room where they were stored. I only have about 3 or 4 copies myself & hand them out to doctors I know now i the Rochester & Finger Lakes region. If there was interest and someone to provide $$, we could photographically provide copies from the original. The reason we did the book on health care problems of Vietnam vets was because I did a statewide survey of 500 primary care docters and found out that: (1) only one or two ever served as doctors in Nam and (2) only 5 or 5 corrects identified the two of four medical cases on the questionnaire of my survey that were definitely linked to aO exposure. Someime, if there is a national veterans magazine that would be interested in the whole story, I would be happy to write it.
      Paul, now AA2AV & then AB8AQ
      
      LikeLike
      1. Michael Sternfeld says:
        
        November 3, 2020 at 5:34 pm
        
        I was able to reach Bernie today via phone. I have his current email address and will follow up. He is retired from his veterans service officer position. He is still living in NJ. He will look around and try to get me some extra copies of the PDR. I think you would find a ready audience in the American Legion monthly magazine. The Agent Orange problem is not going to go away any time soon.
        
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      2. Richard Mohr says:
        
        November 4, 2020 at 9:17 pm
        
        Hi, there. I was an interpreter-translator in 330th Radio Research Company in Pleiku and Nha Trang for a couple years. If I wanted to contact another unit, I went to what we called an “opscom” which I guess is properly called a teleprinter. I could stand at the keyboard and type and the person at the other end would type back and I could see what he typed on the paper. I’d like to find information about that machine, pictures, diagrams and the like and the abbreviations we used, such as IMI, BIBIBI, DE and so on. Where should I look?
        
        This probably sounds dumb but I can’t remember if what I typed would show up on the paper in front of me or not. Shows what time can do, doesn’t it?
        
        Thanks for your help.
        
        Richard Mohr Fouintain Valley, California
        
        On Tue, Nov 3, 2020 at 2:34 PM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
        
        > Michael Sternfeld commented: “I was able to reach Bernie today via phone. > I have his current email address and will follow up. He is retired from his > veterans service officer position. He is still living in NJ. He will look > around and try to get me some extra copies of the PDR. I thin” >
        
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Michael Sternfeld says:

December 24, 2018 at 4:48 pm

Great article. Looking for more information on my former MARS station AB8AJ at CuChi. I was in the 25th ID in 68-69 and for 3 months was assigned to the MARS Station. I worked for SSG Ray Butler who I am still in contact with. Looking for other members of the detachment.

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1. Jim Condon says:
  
  November 8, 2019 at 8:52 pm
  
  I was a operator at AB8AAA in 67-68. I was assigned to Mars station at Ft. Monmouth NJ AA2USA after Viet Nam. We may have met for I did go to AB8AJ in CuChi for a period of time. My handle was JC. Take care.
  
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  1. Michael Sternfeld says:
    
    May 15, 2020 at 9:17 pm
    
    JC, sorry it took so long to reply to you. I am still in contact with Ray Butler the NCOIC of AB8AJ in 1968-69 as of April 2020 when I last called him up via “land line” for a buddy check during this time of COVID-19. When I left Vietnam as a SGT finishing a 3 year enlistment and on his way to college little did I imagine that I would have a career in the active and reserve US Army and retire as an LTC.
    We had no MARS stations to my knowledge and observation in 1991 during Desert Storm in Kuwait or in 2005-2006 in Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
    
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Joe says:

July 3, 2019 at 1:27 pm

Was in country 69 – 70. I made one call home from the MARS station in Dalat Vietnam. Wonderful group of guys that ran that MARS station. Wish I could remember their names. At the time it was a “miracle” being able to call home.

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1. Paul Scipione says:
  
  July 5, 2019 at 9:13 pm
  
  Just a short reminder that a new 2nd edition of my 1994 book — MARS: Calling Gack to ‘The World’ from Vietnam — will be coming out soon as an E-Book, published by th Vietnam War Center at Texas Tech. I am having to retype every word & page since I have long ago switched to Macs and my original Word Wndows file has long since disappeared. But the new edition will have the original photographs & technical info, but a lot of new text material. Should be out in 9 to 12 months.
  
  PS to Joe: Glad the guys at AB8AAN at Dalat were able to get your phone patch home. AB8AAN was in Net “6” (the other MARS stations in that net were located at Pleiku, Duc Pho, Dong Ha, Dong Ba Thin and net control station AB8AE at Kontum). AB8AAN was sponsored by the Green Beanies of the 5th Special Forces Advisory Team there at 70-72. Unfortunately I don’t have the names or callsigns of any of the ham radio ops there at that particular station. But when the new edition of my book comes out, it will contain the names of more than 250+ of us who operated the Nam-side stations & nearly 500 ops at the home-side stations.
  Paul, AA2AV (ex AB8AQ, 8th Radio Research Sta ASA, Phu Bai).
  
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2. Dennis F says:
  
  October 15, 2019 at 5:46 pm
  
  I too used the MARS station at Dalat in 1969. January thru September from Lang Bian Mountain, October thru December at Kraus Compound in Dalat. The connections were never very good but at the time it was good enough.
  
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Michael Sternfeld says:

July 6, 2019 at 5:08 pm

Very impressed with this specialized historical review of one of the best morale builders in Vietnam. MARS was a potent force in uplifting solders sprits. AB8AJ used to be able to get a good signal and put patches through to WAR (Pentagon) and Fort Monmouth, NJ quite regularly.
Let me know via email if you would like to get in touch via phone or email or both with Ray Butler. He retired from the Army went back to college for another degree and made himself into an expert on medical equipment technology and maintenance.

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1. Artie Cotner says:
  
  July 6, 2019 at 5:32 pm
  
  Thru my year, in the Nam. I never called anywhere.
  
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2. Paul Scipione says:
  
  July 8, 2019 at 4:00 pm
  
  michael,
  Please e-mail me as many details about Mr. Butler’s various role(s) with MARS as you can recall. Right now my list of ops at AB8AJ (Cu Chi) include just Joe Lynch and Mike Reagan (NI7T) who responded to my original questionnaire in 89-90. Mike helped his buddy in Baker, OR — Joe Rudi — build his top notch contest station. We all know Joe from his days as a star player on the Oakland A’s.
  
  scipione@geneseo.edu
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  1. Michael Sternfeld says:
    
    October 28, 2020 at 5:33 pm
    
    Some years ago, 2003 perhaps I met Lois M. Beck of the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission when we both happened to be at Fort Myer, VA. When she heard that I was a Vietnam vet She took down my address and mailed me the loose leaf book the Commission had prepared to give to all the doctors in NJ. That book was unique and I don’t know of any other group that prepared an educational tool for doctors like it. If you are still in touch with Lois please mention that long ago contact.
    By the way, SSG Ray G. Butler, USA Retired the NCOIC of AB8AJ (67-69) is still alive and well. He is also a Korean War vet so he is a bit older than most of us who served in RVN.
    
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    1. Dr. Paul Scipione says:
      
      October 29, 2020 at 5:02 pm
      
      I was a Member on the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission for 20 years and Chairman from 2000 to 2004. I know of no Lois Beck on NJAOC. But I was the Editor and Organizer of the NJAOC reference book for doctors that you refer to. It’s title is “The NJAOC Physicians Desk Guide” and we published it (10,000+ copies to primary care physicians throughout NJ) in 2001. It contains detailed info on more than 35 diseases that Nam vets and our offspring are more likely to get. When I retired and moved out of NJ in 2004, my #2 on the Commission, Bernie McElwee took over. But NJAOC ended 15+ years ago. But there were still several hundred copies of the book (in a three-hole binder) that we had stored in the Natl Guard Armory in Woodbridge. You can contact Bernie at: 973-297-3226; 973-335-6651; bernard.mcelewee@va.gov.
      
      Paul Scipione: scipione@geneseo.edu
      website: nationofnumbers.com
      
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3. jim says:
  
  November 8, 2019 at 8:38 pm
  
  enjoyed your article. I was in viet nam 67-68. worked as a operator at ab8aaa out side of tan son nhut ab. later at ft. monmouth nj at aa2usa. good times and met alot of good people. I was at ab8aj and stayed with those guys for a period of time.
  
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Raymond Belott says:

November 11, 2019 at 7:58 am

I worked the MARS station in Tan An, AB8AZ, during the 2nd half of 1969. I even took the mobile unit out to Rac Kiem, I think, 50 years ago. I deployed home Christmas Eve 1969. Seems like yesterday.

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1. Artie Cotner says:
  
  November 11, 2019 at 4:42 pm
  
  Hello The plane I was on, arrived in/at Tan Son Nuht airport, Near Saigon. Been so long, I have no re-call of exact Date. I know it was, early in May of 1970. From there we were all transported to, Long Bihn Post. There we went thru a Personnel Office. Which further assigned us all, to various Units. I went to the, 48th Transport Bn. The whole Bn. was located in/on the south side of Post. Once I arrived there, a few of us were even further assigned to, 2 different Companies. Both also located on, the S. End of, the Post. My Co. was the 543d Trk. Co. Which was located next to the, 572d Trans Co.
  Once I made it to the 543d. Someone showed me, a Bunk. Then showed me where I would be in the Bldg. I took the Bunk to the location, that was showed, to me.
  Now Fast Forward
  To November, 1970. Both of the Trans Cos. 543d & 572d merged. We then took Trucks and all to the Port Of Saigon. the next day, We were all carried to, the AB near Saigon. Once aboard C-147zzz we all flew North to, Cam Ran Bay. That was, a Fuel Stop. Then we flew on north to, an LZ near Quang Tri. We would be setting up, not too far from Quang Tri, near the DMZ. For we/us, that was like going from City To Country.
  We were carried to an OPEN space. And there, we slept the first 2 nights, in the open.
  Then we were taken to a Port near there. Where we retrieved all our equipment and Trucks. And not too many, days later. Someone one or, more. Went in to an AMMO dump which was, not more than a mile from us. Set off some explosives, and Blew all the Munitions in the Dump. It lit the sky for a good distance all around , our location.
  I was, like day lite until the Sun Rose. Anyway, from the new location, we re-newed doing what we did from/at Long Bin. Hauling AMMO & other Supplies to outlying Bases. Then again, in early May. I boarded a flight away from that, God Forsaken Place.
  Why we went there, I never understood. And the American people were, never told.
  THIS IS THE END
  At least we had, an AFN Radio Station. And daily the Reporter was, sayIng as he came on the air: GOOD MORNING VIET NAM.
  
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2. Artie Cotner says:
  
  November 11, 2019 at 6:22 pm
  
  I know a telephone call to the USA, from V.N. was, impossible. However on my R&R to HAWAII, I did try. There was a great time difference. So, when I did try, no answer.
  I was on HAWAII for, about 46 hours. Then returned to the NAM. Lawdy Lawdy
  
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Paul Scipione says:

November 11, 2019 at 4:10 pm

Dear JC (Jim Condon)
During Desert Shield/Sword I was National Public Relations Officer of Army MARS (and MARS columnist in then WorldRadio Mag). I was also Pres of ETSNJ (Electronic Technology of New Jersey. I organized about 15-20 hams from ETSNJ who manned AAR2USI, the old MARS station at Monmouth, for the duration of that war. Thousand foot rhombic did the trick & po did the Vietnam-era Collins S-line gear.
Paul AA2AV

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1. Artie C. Cotner says:
  
  November 11, 2019 at 5:13 pm
  
  There is too much time, involved. between you and, I. I Retired in/on 31 May 1878, at Ft. Bliss, TXs. I spent the best years of my life, in the U.S. Army. See during those years, except for the last 2&1/2 yrs. the CONSCRIPTION IE> DRAFT WAS EN-FORCE.
  Then in/on 31 July, 1975, the Draft finally ended.
  
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Artie Cotner says:

November 11, 2019 at 4:45 pm

This article is, better than some.

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1. Artie Cotner says:
  
  November 11, 2019 at 6:24 pm
  
  Well it could be worse, you know.
  
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Artie Cotner says:

November 12, 2019 at 9:28 am

It really will never, make any difference what I think.

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Artie Cotner says:

November 12, 2019 at 9:29 am

So many want to articulate.

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Richard Mohr says:

May 7, 2020 at 12:20 am

Pretty interesting! I was with 330th RRC on Engineer Hill near Pleiku for a year and in Nha Trang for a year. My cubicle mate in the barracks made a MARS call to his wife once a week. I never did it.

Were calls made only at certain times of the day because of atmospheric conditions? I’m writing something and I’m curious about procedures. This article was pretty helpful. Were calls made only during the day in Vietnam?

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1. Paul Scipione says:
  
  May 14, 2020 at 6:09 pm
  
  Richard,
  Be sure to read the new e-book edition of my 1994 book MARS: Calling Back to ‘TheWorld’ From Vietnam when it comes out by Fall 2020. To answer some of your questions: the phone patches went via HF (ham) radio at frequencies mostly in the 14 to 21 mhm range, which allows for international scale commo. The frequencies were just able or below the ham bands. Fortunately the peak years of the war 1968-69 were also the peak years of the 11 year sunspot cycle, allowing for great signal bounce to the States. Comm was strongest when either Nam or there USA were along the light/dark line which occurs twice a day. After a while the MARS ops on both sides of the world knew when the best times were. During a typical day we would have signal strength good enough for phone patches for at least 6 to 8 hours a day. An exceptional day might give us 10 to 15 hours a day, although we would have to switch frequencies to get the best signals. But remember that phone patches averaged 5 mins and that most Nam MARS stations had to share the freq with 3 or 4 other stations in their net. At theater end there was just one stateside station handling the traffic. o your station would get 3 phone patches and then it would be another hour for that station to get another 3 calls thru. In between we could get on the in-country MARS freq down in the 7 mHz range and see if there were other frees we could move to. Of course the other important limitation was how long the stateside MARS op could keep his or her station on the air. Lots of them had to shut down so they could go work 8 hours and then come back after dinner. Very dedicated people. The biggest of all stateside stations, Barry Goldwater’s AF station at his home in Phoenix was manned virtually 24 hours a day because they had a whole club of hams there. Contact my buddy N6KI (San Diego). He was at AB8AY down the coast at Phan Thiet while I was at AB8AQ way up at the 8th RRS at Phu Bai, about 50 miles south of the DMZ. Dennis was just about leaving when I got there in the summer of 1969. Be sure to check out my author website:
  nationofnumbers.com
  
  Best 73s,
  AA2AV
  Paul Scipione
  
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Jim Condon (JC) US Army says:

October 26, 2020 at 7:29 pm

I think the article was very good. I was a Mars operator at AB8AAA in 1967-1968 and also AA2USA Ft. Monmouth N J in 1968. Great time and ran alot of calls .

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1. Richard Mohr says:
  
  October 28, 2020 at 12:33 am
  
  I never used MARS during my two years in Vietnam. My cubicle mate my first year went over to the Pleiku air base once a week and called his wife. I did not know anything about the routine until recently when I started reading about it on the internet.
  
  Then a few weeks ago, I went to the Veterans Museum in San Diego. The retired Marine major showing my wife and me around took us to the room about Vietnam and showed me something I’d never seen before – the piece of equipment used to make the call back then. When it is finally operable, there will be real calls that were recorded long ago that people can listen to. That museum is pretty interesting. I recommend visiting it.
  
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2. Stewart Weiner says:
  
  December 30, 2020 at 5:15 pm
  
  Hi Jim,
  I was a MARS operator at AB8AT 1969 – 1970. I believe your station was part of our net.
  
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  1. James Condon says:
    
    February 14, 2021 at 2:12 pm
    
    Hello Stewart. Sorry for long delay. You are correct about that. I met the guys from AT for the bob Hope Christmas show. Lots of memories. Jim (JC)
    
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Kathy Behrends says:

November 2, 2020 at 9:02 am

My husband was a M.A.R.S. operator in Vietnam 70 to 71 I would love to buy this book for him for Christmas! Having serious trouble finding one can you help?

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Stewart Weiner says:

December 30, 2020 at 5:12 pm

I was a MARS, operator, at AB8AT, while assigned to the 53rd Signal Battalion at Plantation adjacent to Long Bien from 1969 to 1970. It was great duty, working with a group of dedicated guys. We basically worked 7 days a week, 12 hour shifts. The station was maned 24/7. Phone calls weren’t our only function, in fact it was our secondary purpose. We also maintained an ‘in country’ net. This was back up communication in case of an emergency that knocked out our primary source. We also had a backup radio communications with the MARS station at the Pentagon. Their call letters were WAR.
AB8AT was maned be a talented bunch of guys. We average around 1200 calls a month. We operated with a equally group of dedicated operators in the states, along with AT&T long distance telephone operators who took down the list of groups of five of callers. We were a net control station with about 6 other stations in the area. When the atmospheric conditions were right for specific frequencies, we would get up on the air, looking for stations we were familiar with to work. Stations on our net were invited to get in the line and we would take turns putting through 5, 3 minute calls each. We would do this all morning until losing contact.
It as a great experience, one I cherish, with many memorable calls. Mostly good. We had to monitor each call, following FCC regulations regarding language. Those 7 dirty words could get your call terminated prematurely. In addition, the callers were told not to discuss your location, any actions, casualties, troop movement, etc. Anyone with a Single Side Band receiver, including the bad guys, could monitor the calls.
This was a nice opportunity to go back 50 years and share memories I hope are informative and interesting.

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Joe Schafer says:

June 24, 2021 at 4:06 pm

I used MARS once in 1970. At that time we had to provide a primary number, and a backup number, as well as the name of the person we wanted to speak to. I made the connection and spoke to my fiancee. Imagine my surprise when I got a letter from her a couple of weeks later that said she had gone to visit my family In Laredo, Texas, about 150 miles from her home, and when she walked in the house the phone rang and it was for her. I had given her home number in San Antonio as the primary, and my parents’ number as the secondary. When she was not at home in San Antonio the call was then made to the backup number, and there she was.

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