"What hath God wrought!". This was the first message sent via Morse code from Washington DC to Baltimore in 1844 by Samual Morse himself. It was also contained in the final message sent in Morse code from Coast Guard station NMN on 1 April, 95 sent by Sergio Morales, TC3, USCG.

I do not have a military background, so much of what was going on went over my head, but these are my observations.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but Bob and Jack sure seemed excited as the guard waved us through the gate at NMN. I guess Tim was unusually quiet because I was driving his vehicle, and he was relieved to be there. Observing the 15 MPH speed limit was no problem, as there was much to see. Soon after clearing the gate, I was instructed by the veterans in the vehicle to drive towards the log periodic antenna. I looked around briefly for what looked like a TV antenna, but saw nothing of the sort. A puzzled look over at Jack caught his eye, and he motioned to a building about a quarter mile away. In the yard of this building was the log periodic I was supposed to be heading for. How did I miss it? Well, it was a mis-calculation of scale you might say. Kinda like looking for a house fly, when you are seeking a space shuttle. This antenna is big...no HUGE. Situated more than 100 feet above the ground is this log periodic, with a boom length of 125 feet. The longest element pair is well over 100 feet, and the shortest looked to be about 10 feet. It was pointed out to sea.

As we arrived at the building, we were greeted by people in uniforms who ushered us to the VIP parking area. I guess they recognized Bob. Word was sent inside the building that some hams from Raleigh have arrived for the ceremony, and directly, a Telecomm Specialist came out to meet us. His name was Sergio Morales and I could tell from the greetings going on that I was the only one of us who has not met this fellow. I was told that Sergio was a TC3. Hmm...sounds good to me. What I did understand was that he is also KP4FFW, Extra class amateur operator. It was mid-afternoon and Sergio was not on watch but would be later on in the evening. In fact, he would send the final HF CW message from NMN during the ceremony later.

With about 3 hours to go before the opening of the ceremony (at 6:00p) there was more time than necessary to set up the recording equipment we brought to capture the event. A casual mention of that by Jack netted us an invitation to tour the facility. I had been hoping it would happen that way. We were first led to a trailer that is used for emergency communication at remote locations. It didn't look like the stuff in war movies as I expected. Instead, it was full of computers, CRTs, modems, and radios that had no knobs and dials on them...just keypads. The place was aglow in LEDs. As the various modes, antennas, and frequencies were discussed, Bob, Jack, and Tim were all nodding knowingly while I was standing there feeling pretty puny cause I didn't understand a word of it. What I got out of it, is that they run some program on a computer, wait a few seconds and then pick up the mic and talk. Supposedly, they are on the band with the best path. Neat stuff.

Next, we were led inside the building. We entered a lobby and there were a few small administrative offices off to the sides. Down a hall was a secure looking door marked operations room. That's where we headed. Upon entry to this room we were required to sign in their log book. We were introduced to a fellow with lots of stripes and stuff, and Sergio said this was his boss. This room was neat. It was well lit and had lots of maps on the walls. Down the center of the room was a long double sided console with a few operators on both sides of it. I don't know what mode they were working...something I've never seen, but that's not saying much. Around the perimeter of the room were about a dozen smaller rooms with sliding glass doors for access. These were doors just like you might have going to a deck at home. In each of these small rooms was a console and a busy operator. Several were working morse code. The rest were other non-recognizable modes. One fellow I noticed in particular was using a straight key, quite fast, and seemed to become very nervous when he noticed us watching him through the door. I guess he thought we were important. Heh heh. Once again, I watched as Bob, Jack, and Tim chatted with some of the guys about equipment and modes that I have never heard of. We were introduced to many people in uniforms with varying numbers of stripes, ribbons, and other decorations on them. Since I have no military background, I was at a loss for what part they all played.

With about an hour or so to go before the evenings attraction, we decided it was time to get some equipment set up if we were to be successful preserving this event for future historians. We thanked our hosts, and took our leave to Tim's van to get things set up. The receivers used would be a Kenwood TS-50 on 5870 khz to catch the machine sent message that would go at 18 WPM, and a Kenwood TS-450S for the message sent on 8471 khz live from the ceremony tent. Recording equipment included a cassette deck on the TS-50 and a ten inch reel-to-reel deck on the TS-450. All equipment was powered by Tim's trusty Honda generator, and everything worked flawlessly. Both tapes started rolling about an hour before the start of the program at 6:00p.

With minutes to go, we took our seats in the second of about 6 rows of chairs, and near the center. The ceremony was held in a tent set up in the parking lot in front of the building. There were three operator positions set up: one in each of the front corners, and one in the center next to the small stage. The tent was about 80 by 40 feet, and had seating for about 200 people.

The ceremony began promptly at 6:00. As various speakers were introduced and said their bit, CW continuously filled the air as the three operators up front took over the final hour of watch. The operators used no headphones, and sometimes the CW was louder than others. I guess I spent more time straining to hear the radio at the center position than listening to the evenings speakers. Seated at the center position was none other than Sergio. During the final hour, I could hear him work several ships, one of which was off the coast of Pakistan. The messages seemed to be mostly farewells.

The keynote speaker concluded his speech at about 7 minutes before 0000z, the end of the radio day. As people were getting up from their seats and beginning to move about, I took the opportunity to run over to Tim's van and check on the tapes. Bob was already there and seemed satisfied that all was well. With minutes to go before the sending of the final message, Jack and I quickly speculated on the best place to be to copy it. Bob had decided to stay at the van and copy the message off the air. I'm not sure where Tim was, but Jack decided that the best place to be, for this historic event, was at the side of Sergio's console, so we could hear the sidetone of his keyer. Nobody noticed us. In fact, I think few paid attention to what was about to happen. For most, it was already over.

Seconds after 0000z, the fellow they all called "Chief" gave the order to send the final message. The two operating positions in the corners were silent, and Sergio alone keyed the message from the center operator position. The message was sent at about 22 WPM and that's about the limit of my writing speed so I didn't get a chance to have a look at the mood of the crowd. For about fifteen minutes, the sounds of the Vibroplex Iambic Deluxe and MFJ 407C filled the tent. Then with a slow dit...dit...dit...dah...dit...dah, it was over. I don't know who was the first to make a sound next, but it wasn't me. As people began to stir again, I moved around to the back of the tent with Jack to observe the finishing touches of the ceremony. The Color Guard, which had been standing by brought out a finely crafted wooden box and gave it to the Chief. The Chief ordered the operators to secure their stations. As the Chief proceeded to the operating positions in the front corners of the tent, the operators there unpluged their keys and laid them in the box. The Chief then went to the center console, and Sergio, with trembling hands, unpluged his key, and laid it in the center of the box. I was looking through tears as the Chief gently closed and locked the box, and presented it to the Color Guard to be carried away.

What had just happened was VERY difficult to watch. I guess I'm just easily affected by pomp and circumstance. After finding the other guys, an official looking chap sought us out and invited us to a reception in a club just outside the gate. Bob accepted the invitation on our behalf and we were on our way off the base for probably the last time.

The reception was a fancy do, complete with tongs in the chip bowl. Now I can tell you that I can waste a sack o chips by myself during a sports event on TV, but on this occasion, I let the chips be. No way was I going to have a go at them with tongs. Needless to say, I have never felt more out of place in my life. Jack was quite enjoying it, reflecting on how long its been since he's been in a Chief's Club, and all. We stayed long enough to be polite, and then headed out. I would have liked to say good-bye to Sergio on the way out, but he was heavily involved in an interview with some FCC guys. I would have to write a letter later.

So that's about how it happened. Now the trip up and back with Tim, Bob, and Jack...well, that's another story. Perhaps in time that tale will be told but for now just let me say that at least for one weekend, I feel like I really was running with the big dogs. Thanks guys.