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Radio Operators Heroes After Storm
By JIMMIE BELL
Daily Herald Staff Writer
The short wave ears of the nation suddenly tuned in to the Mississippi Coast the morning, of Aug. 18—after Camille had; torn down transformers whole-; ■sale and rendered many tele-j phone lines beyond use — andj what they heard were the relays of sporadic but instant clusters of citizens Band radio transmitters beeping out of the stricken Coast trying to get messages abroad.
One of the first to reach Gulfport was a Mobile, Ala., operator who, at his own expense,
■	took down emergency messages and ‘land-lined’ them by long; distance telephone over greater distances to the homes of relatives and friends of surviving or injured Mississippians. Soon 35; units were “on the line” in Mobile, relaying.
Now that the Gulf Citizens Band Club has had time to tally the fantastic activities that occurred that morning and in the weeks that followed, the sTory has mounted into one of the heroic operations of the disaster. C-B Club officials have recounted the following log in the history of their efforts:
The stricken and the survivors knew, because of extensive advance publicity of the Open Gulf Watch, that such radio; units were in existence. It was only a matter of finding one in their neighborhood, and with ; members throughout the Coast, they seemed to be in operation everywhere. Long Beach city officials at one point said the work of the relay messengers there “could not be measured.”
C-B had seven major base stations set up on the Coast-two in Mississippi City, four in Gulfport and one in Long Beach. One member, Jim Moll-ere, lost all his belongings except a car and radio. Instead of showing concern over his losses, he simply pitched in and re-
(Cont. from Pg. 1, Sec. Section)
mained at his transmitter 24 hours the first day and many 'hours beyond that point.
The C-B unit encountered the tragedy of reporting five deaths, all of them strictly confirmed before the messages were sent.
Alt over the United States, C-B operators were listening for the, call. The log of the C-B identifies some of the members who worked extremely long hours only by their code names
—	for example, “the milkman” handled . 100 calls at Mobile.
After the first couple of days, word spread; many from the debris line came and waited in line for a chance to get their message through, i By 8 a.m. Monday the various C-B units were handling calls for the Civil Defense and police departments. When the final count was made, the units had dispatched 65 of the “1033” emergency messages over the nation and relayed 325 of the 10-5’s.” Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Biloxi and Ocean Springs individual units were alive and working in the first hours.
—All volunteers and willing to put in long hours-
With its own Big Watch antenna down, atop the Mississippi City fire station, the group set up seven major base stations on the Coast — two in Mississippi City, four in Gulfport and one in Long Beach.
So impressed was the commanding officer at Keesler AFB with the work of the Citizens ! Band that one of the C B members, Sgt. John Hess, was sent back home after the hurricane so he could operate a radio transmitter for the group.
At the disastrous aftermath began mounting, C-B moved into Memorial Hospital, Long Beach Police Station and Handsboro, among other places. Some members worked 18-22 : hours with no sleep, helping the stricken reach the “outside world,” and one man held up a remarkable 72 hours.
The Open Watch group said it wanted no credit as an organi- ] zation — even though in a test ' it came through in flying colors
—	but wanted to establish the fact that the volunteers th r o u gho u t the Coast who owned Citizens Band units re- t sponded to make the entire op- ; eration a widescale success.
One man, Slim Ladner, De ■ Lisle, where the storm perhaps 1 struck as hard as anywhere, j did not have a radio to operate but volunteered as an errand runner working all day and all night for days in a row. ^
Meanwhile, the C-B clubs in Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee, upon learning the impact point of Camille, traveled swiftly to the area to bring their equipment in so the local residents could use it to reach out.
Not only did the Civilian Band owners send life-and-death messages, they were able to help direct shipments of cio-thing and food from outside into the shelter points along the Coast.
C-B officials, who wished to : remain nameless in the ac- ; counting, said there is one thing 1 certain — in the next hurricane, the nation and the Coast ; radio owners will be on the job ■ within minutes after the storm : passes by. As proof, they point to a log of hundreds of messages bearing comfort and joy to thousands!
(Continued On Paee 32)